Gripping and tense, All the Dangerous Things was hard to put down. Once I started listening to the audiobook, I did not want to put it down, as this one seeped in and piqued my interest. Motherhood, a missing child, insomnia, and an unreliable narrator pulled me in. What do you think Stacy Willingham is saying about “mom guilt” in this book? How does Isabelle’s story reflect societal pressures of family dynamics and the role of mother? I don't even remember the exact moment I decided I wanted to be a writer for The Grit, it was just something I had always known, the same way doctors and firefighters carry their childhood dreams over into adulthood, cupping them so tightly they forget to look up and notice what else could possibly be out there. What else exists. holy. fking. batman. AGAIN. WHY??? WHY SO VERBOSE??? And also this math doesn't quite math. So all adult doctors/firefighters dreamed of doing so as a kid? Me thinks tf not. A young boy goes missing from his bedroom while his parents, Isabelle and Ben, are sleeping. Less than a year after his abduction, Isabelle and Ben, separate as they struggle to come to the acceptance of his disappearance. Isabelle continues her desperate search for answers alone.

I remember his lips feeling salty and soft... This is where I threw in the towel for good. You cannot FEEL salty. His lips can TASTE salty. Unless you meant his lips felt grainy, which seems unpleasant, and doesn't fit the context of this ~~romantic~~ scene. Feeling salty... foh!!! As usual, the police didn’t find out anything important. It is our unreliable narrator who manages to resolve the case almost entirely on her own, a whole year after the incident. So basically, nothing much happened for a year, and then every secret started unravelling within a couple of weeks and the mystery is resolved too neatly, tied together with a ribbon on top.

Customer reviews

Eventually she agrees to be interviewed by true crime podcaster Waylon, and they’re soon working as a team. Much is to be discovered, not just about herself, but others too, and a it’s gripping read just wanting to know where it will all end. Recommended! All the Dangerous Things is a psychological thriller about a missing child and his sleep-deprived mother obsessed with finding out the truth behind his disappearance. Isabelle has barely slept in the last year, meaning extreme sleep deprivation makes it hard for her to function, to trust her own thoughts - did she do something wrong on that dreadful night that Mason went missing, she knows that the detective investigating the case looks on her as a suspect. As if she doesn’t have enough to worry about, her husband Ben has ended their marriage - it’s difficult to maintain a relationship when you’re both grieving and are unable to communicate, but whilst Isabelle is unable to move forward in her life, Ben appears to want to do exactly that. Between her extreme sleep deprivation, the strange, glassy-eyed old man she encounters during night-time neighborhood walks, some unexpected discoveries on a laptop, Ben’s new relationship and a dogged detective who seems to treat everything she says with suspicion, Isabelle begins to wonder if she really IS the villain in this story. I did have a couple minor issues. There was a thread involving infidelity which I didn’t love. I understood where it served the story, but I couldn’t get behind why one party was being treated more sympathetically than the other, since it literally takes two. I also had to roll with one major aspect of the ending, which was explained but not realistic in today’s investigative world.

This is a novel of a mother’s worst nightmare, almost unimaginable!! Isabelle Drake put her toddler son to bed one evening and upon awakening she found that Mason was GONE!! No signs of forced entry but a window was open in the nursery. After some thought, Isabelle agrees and Waylon comes to stay in Savannah, to be near her and make the interview process easier on them both. Thus, it begins. Isabelle Drake has barely slept in a year. Not since the night her toddler, Mason, disappeared from their home. Her and her husband were asleep in the next room, but they heard nothing, saw nothing. Stellar suspense at its very best. . . this one will rightfully find itself on many a year-end, best-of list.” – Vulture

One of my most anticipated 2023 releases, this slow-burn mystery thriller with an unreliable narrator by Stacy Willingham does not disappoint.

Isabelle Drake is exhausted and hasn't slept in nearly a year since her toddler son, Mason, was taken during the night. The detectives have no leads so Isabelle spends her time doing research and conducting her own interviews even though the detective has warned her not too. Her obsession with finding Mason is also the reason her marriage to Ben deteriorated. The novel contains a multitude of dangerous things including insomnia and the fear it induces but it also takes a deep dive into the past. All these ‘dangerous things’ arise organically in the plot being expressed and described extremely well. I’ll start with the negatives first since there are only two - and they don’t warrant taking off any stars. The locations and settings add another dimension too as they perfectly match the events, creating a terrific atmosphere and heightening the tension and increasing intensity.

Since that time, Isabelle and her husband, Ben, have split. Isabelle knows the stats, it's not unusual for people who have lost a child to split up. At a recent conference where she discusses the case with the public in the hope of gathering any and all new information she meets Waylon, a true crime podcaster, who offers her his services. At first she's appalled and wants nothing to do with him but after taking time to think about it more she believes he may be able to help so the two work together to try to find Mason. Will they succeed? You'll have to read this to find out. Content warnings: Insomnia and sleep deprivation; disappearance; murder and attempted murder; mention of death by suicide; death and grief; depression; psychosis; postpartum trauma; night terrors; mention of pregnancy loss All the Dangerous Things Book Review / Summary