Review: All the Dangerous Things

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Isabelle Drake is quite possibly the worst judge of character in the history of female protagonists. Author Stacy Willingham has created for readers a woman who wallows in self-doubt, makes impossibly horrible choices and, though she possesses the ability to reflect and react in hindsight, lacks any capability to identify red flags that are very nearly dropped at her feet. Additionally, this chaotic character consistently misinterprets intention, self-flagellates, and has far too many “suddenly retrieved” memories that conveniently surface after years of avoidance. In short, she’s a hot mess. One might expect this from a woman whose son was abducted from his nursery, the kidnapper leaving nary a clue, but Isabelle Drake was a disaster long before baby Mason disappeared. All of her profound character flaws render her wholly unsympathetic and unlikable—not a good foundation on which to build.

The story itself is actually a “tale of two cities”—an attempted melding of the past and the present that never really blends. Instead, the two plot lines meander as if in search of one another. When they fail to connect in any meaningful way, the result for me was a feeling of “bait and switch”—a betrayal by the author after the hours of reader investment.

Three stars for being intriguing enough for me to keep optimistically turning the pages, even if the end result was a slow burn that fizzled out before it gained momentum.

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