All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

 

A year on from the abduction of her young son Isabelle Drake refuses to give up hope that he's still alive. Isabelle is convinced that someone in her community knows something. The police seem to have given up so Isabelle continues the investigation on her own, including attending True Crime conferences as a keynote speaker. Isabelle is convinced that someone connected to the abduction will be unable to resist the lure of seeing her. Through one of these conferences she meets a podcaster who offers new opportunities in the investigation.

Right from the beginning you are gripped by the story. The thought of a toddler being abducted from his bed in the middle of the night is horrific. Added to this is the thought that a year on, with no clues, we immediately assume the worst.

The mother, Isabelle Drake, is a sympathetic character. Her mission in life is to discover what happened to her son, Mason. Driven to unearth the truth has resulted in Isabelle suffering from insomnia. This insomnia, combined with her obsession, means that you slowly begin to doubt her reliability as a narrator.

As the story progresses memories from her childhood begin to surface. We learn that Isabelle had a younger sister but something happened to her, an event Isabelle cannot remember because she suffered from bouts of sleep-walking as a child. All of this really does throw into question Isabelle's innocence in her son's disappearance. Any sympathy from the opening of the novel slowly leaches away as more of the past is revealed.

The pace of the story is gradual, a somnolent pace to match the sleep-deprived haze of Isabelle. This slow pace adds real atmosphere to the story, slowly building the sense of dread as we learn more about the past and the present. I was filled with a growing sense of unease as the climax of both elements of the story approached.

All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham will be published on 2nd February 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for a review copy.