Teaming up with true crime podcaster Waylon Spencer, Isabelle investigates her son’s case. But Waylon has motives of his own and as long-forgotten memories of Isabelle’s past resurface, doubt begins to cloud her sleepless nights. I feel like in real life, Ben would just get away with it all, so I didn’t mind him getting arrested, though he might get off on trial! 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.

The resilience of the human spirit: Despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles and emotional turmoil, Isabelle’s unwavering commitment to finding her son showcases the incredible resilience of the human spirit. All the Dangerous Things is a story about motherhood, sisterhood, and toxic secrets. It’s about how our need to know more can push against our limitations—and what happens when those limits break. My Thoughts I really enjoyed the inclusion of this past perspective. I felt it gave a lot of insight into who Isabelle was as a character and helped to give substance to her motivations in her present.

Need Help?

And, now Isabelle Drake is the keynote speaker at TrueCrimeCon-the largest true crime conference in the world-drawing a global attendance of over 10,000-trying to keep her son’s case alive, as it grows COLD-still with no leads. She hates that the people who attend sit behind their computers and tablets like this is a just a puzzle to be solved-when it’s the reality of her life-but she does this because they offer her the only HOPE she has left. A couple inherits an apartment with a spine-tingling past in this unputdownable thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six. Isabelle is the typical contemporary thriller protagonist: a woman obsessed with an idea and who assumes herself to be correct while everyone around her has to be wrong. Clichéd to the core! I didn’t understand why she felt that only she could find out what happened to Mason, and yet she was so determined to sabotage her chances of doing so by taking one stupid decision after another. I might have enjoyed this better had I been able to connect with Isabelle.

The identity of the kidnapper and the resolution of the mystery were easily the best parts of the book. It is this section that caused me to push up my rating to 2.5. Until then, I was sitting firmly on the 2 star mark. Isabelle Drake has never been perfect. In fact, she's felt extreme guilt since she was a child. But so much about her childhood seems to be behind a curtain of things she doesn't want to think about and things she can't quite remember. Instead, she moves forward and is thrilled when she is hired at her dream job. All the Dangerous Things is much more than a crime story about a toddler’s disappearance; it’s an examination of motherhood and the expectations of women—the making of a family and the secrets that break them. Where does All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham take place?The influence of media in criminal investigations: The novel highlights the role that media, such as true-crime podcasts, can play in generating new leads and potentially uncovering new information in criminal investigations. All The Dangerous Things Quotes Isabella hasn’t had a full night’s sleep in a year, she stumbles through one day after another, hoping that some clue will be found to lead her to Mason’s abductor. She has been giving speeches, begging for anyone who attends to come forward with some information. It isn’t the money that she makes that she cares about, it’s the names of the people who attend. Isabella is spending all of her waking time making lists and charts of people who attend, known criminals in the area, trying to find a link somewhere to her missing son. As the novel unfolds, Isabelle’s determination to uncover the truth leads her down a dark and twisted path, revealing long-buried secrets from her own childhood. Faced with an ever-growing web of deception, she must confront her own demons and navigate a treacherous world where trust is elusive and danger lurks at every turn. For her though, she just couldn't understand how Ben seemed to move on after Mason. He gave up on him. Isabelle can't do that. She's not going to chalk it up as a loss and move on. Her son could still be out there. She refuses to see him as gone forever. Aren’t all of our lives just stories we tell ourselves? Stories we try to craft so perfectly and cast out into the world? Stories that become so vivid, so real, that eventually we start to believe them, too? —Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things Frequently Asked Questions What is All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham about?