What do you think?
Rate this book
A Flash of Red
A Flash of Red - A Psychological Thriller
What happens when you can't tell the difference between desire, obsession, and reality? Thanks to her husband, Anna is about to find out.
Psychology professor Anna Kline and her architect husband, Sean, are a young couple in a fractured marriage, each struggling with their own misperceptions of reality. Sean seeks solace from his perfect wife in the cold intimacy of love and sex offered online, while Anna copes by offering her own oppressive version of devotion. Becoming an ever more tangible presence in their weakening marriage is the question of Anna's mental state and whether she will follow the same path as her now institutionalized mother.
When Bard, a student of Anna's with a family history of schizophrenia, discovers Sean's addiction, Bard's admiration for Anna morphs into a delusion of special intimacy. Guilt-ridden with his own past failure to protect his older sister, Bard's skewed mind begins to see Anna as another woman in need of rescue.
As Sean and Anna's marriage becomes a battleground of manipulation, Bard privately crafts a strategy to save Anna from her husband, sending their three worlds spinning out of control with irrevocable and deadly consequences. A Flash of Red's driving plot and multi-faceted characters detail the destruction that ensues when mental illness attacks our most intimate relationships.
What happens when you can't tell the difference between desire, obsession, and reality? Thanks to her husband, Anna is about to find out.
Psychology professor Anna Kline and her architect husband, Sean, are a young couple in a fractured marriage, each struggling with their own misperceptions of reality. Sean seeks solace from his perfect wife in the cold intimacy of love and sex offered online, while Anna copes by offering her own oppressive version of devotion. Becoming an ever more tangible presence in their weakening marriage is the question of Anna's mental state and whether she will follow the same path as her now institutionalized mother.
When Bard, a student of Anna's with a family history of schizophrenia, discovers Sean's addiction, Bard's admiration for Anna morphs into a delusion of special intimacy. Guilt-ridden with his own past failure to protect his older sister, Bard's skewed mind begins to see Anna as another woman in need of rescue.
As Sean and Anna's marriage becomes a battleground of manipulation, Bard privately crafts a strategy to save Anna from her husband, sending their three worlds spinning out of control with irrevocable and deadly consequences. A Flash of Red's driving plot and multi-faceted characters detail the destruction that ensues when mental illness attacks our most intimate relationships.
- GenresFiction
234 pages, Paperback
Published December 10, 2016
About the author
Sarah K. Stephens
8 books140 followersSarah K. Stephens is the author of seven novels and a developmental psychologist at Penn State University.
Although Fall and Spring find her in the classroom, she remains a writer year-round. Her writing has appeared in LitHub, The Writer's Chronicle, Hazlitt, and The Millions. Sarah's books include the psychological thrillers A Flash of Red, It Was Always You, The Anniversary, Isolation, The Good Life, The Killing Kind, and The Girl in the Fire.
Sarah loves using her psychological training to craft darkly human stories with killer twists. When she’s not plotting death and betrayal, she can be found enjoying the pleasures of country life with her husband and children in Central Pennsylvania.
E-mail: skstephensauthor (at) gmail (dot) com
Sarah enjoys attending Book Clubs and other literary events. E-mail with your inquiries.
Facebook: @sarahkstephensauthor
Instagram: @skstephenswrite
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 20, 2017
"Not having noticed the warning signs, Anna now saw that she had become embalmed in her carefully constructed life."
A Flash of Red is a thriller about the perils that some marriages face, the difficulty of letting go of the past, and the harsh reality of mental illnesses. As a professor of Psychology, Anna Kline has devoted her life to teaching about mental illnesses and disorders. To her students, her life seems picture-perfect. However, behind the scenes she's harboring some difficult secrets--about her past, about her family, and, most of all, about her marriage.
When one of her students, Bard, learns about some of the realities she's harboring, their lives become intertwined. As the plot progresses, Anna and Bard must come to terms with their realities and with the notion that life isn't always what it seems.
I thought the psychological aspects of this novel were really well-written. I found myself constantly questioning whether or not I could trust each character. The depth of the relationships was also noteworthy. I liked that Stephens focused on the idea that marriage isn't always perfect. The behind-the-scenes look at a marriage in the midst of destruction was deep and thought-provoking. I liked the internal glimpse at both parties in a relationship about to detonate.
The tension was slowly built in the novel, which simmered over the course of the beginning of the story. At first, I was anxious for the pace to pick up; however, once it did, I realized how the slow simmer actually enhanced the events of the story and made the payoff greater.
The only thing I disliked was the ending simply because I could not agree with how it all turned out. However, everyone has their own opinion, and I can relish the fact that the ending did make me think and feel. This is the true mark of a well-crafted novel, regardless of whether or not you morally agree with what happened.
This is an excellent debut novel, and I look forward to reading more works by the very talented Sarah K. Stephens.
A Flash of Red is a thriller about the perils that some marriages face, the difficulty of letting go of the past, and the harsh reality of mental illnesses. As a professor of Psychology, Anna Kline has devoted her life to teaching about mental illnesses and disorders. To her students, her life seems picture-perfect. However, behind the scenes she's harboring some difficult secrets--about her past, about her family, and, most of all, about her marriage.
When one of her students, Bard, learns about some of the realities she's harboring, their lives become intertwined. As the plot progresses, Anna and Bard must come to terms with their realities and with the notion that life isn't always what it seems.
I thought the psychological aspects of this novel were really well-written. I found myself constantly questioning whether or not I could trust each character. The depth of the relationships was also noteworthy. I liked that Stephens focused on the idea that marriage isn't always perfect. The behind-the-scenes look at a marriage in the midst of destruction was deep and thought-provoking. I liked the internal glimpse at both parties in a relationship about to detonate.
The tension was slowly built in the novel, which simmered over the course of the beginning of the story. At first, I was anxious for the pace to pick up; however, once it did, I realized how the slow simmer actually enhanced the events of the story and made the payoff greater.
The only thing I disliked was the ending simply because I could not agree with how it all turned out. However, everyone has their own opinion, and I can relish the fact that the ending did make me think and feel. This is the true mark of a well-crafted novel, regardless of whether or not you morally agree with what happened.
This is an excellent debut novel, and I look forward to reading more works by the very talented Sarah K. Stephens.
April 13, 2017
Oh wow loved this novel by Sarah Stephens that focuses primarily on three characters. Firstly there is Psychology Professor Anna Klein and her husband Sean, an Architect. In this couples case one and one doesn't always make two because they are a bit multi layered. Mental illness has been a curse in their families and to put it mildly it certainly makes you think that the gene pool hasn't been very kind to them. It must be a constant worry when, as Anna has seen, a parent can be lost in a shell that looks like who they were but they have already vacated. Anna of course knows all the facts and figures of chances that this may be her one day.
Then Sean thought he had the perfect wife, Anna had never been with a man before Sean so he could mould her into the perfect bed partner for his more diverse needs but when his mother in law went over the edge so did Anna's libido. Tensions run high as the marriage is stretched to its limits when mind games take over.
Bard is the third wheel in this story, the only male student of Anna's, and no one is aware that his mum had schizophrenia. Now is Anna looking at him? he is sure that there is a connection between them. He knows he wants to know more about her and he knows her look says please look after me. See she is looking again.
This is a brilliant story that is a bit of an eye opener because so many mental illness problems are not obvious. You don't get a limp or bandage that other people can see. It can hide behind a smile. This is a super psychological thriller that starts steady and builds into an uncontrollable frenzy of eeny meeny miny mo which of the three is going to blow! Awesome!
Then Sean thought he had the perfect wife, Anna had never been with a man before Sean so he could mould her into the perfect bed partner for his more diverse needs but when his mother in law went over the edge so did Anna's libido. Tensions run high as the marriage is stretched to its limits when mind games take over.
Bard is the third wheel in this story, the only male student of Anna's, and no one is aware that his mum had schizophrenia. Now is Anna looking at him? he is sure that there is a connection between them. He knows he wants to know more about her and he knows her look says please look after me. See she is looking again.
This is a brilliant story that is a bit of an eye opener because so many mental illness problems are not obvious. You don't get a limp or bandage that other people can see. It can hide behind a smile. This is a super psychological thriller that starts steady and builds into an uncontrollable frenzy of eeny meeny miny mo which of the three is going to blow! Awesome!
March 31, 2018
First, I want to thank Sarah K. Stephens and Pandamoon Publishing for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.
A Flash of Red by Sarah K. Stephen’s brought me out of my comfort zone with her overall story and meaning. It is a book that makes you think and analysis what was going on. Her writing style is incredibly descriptive and goes into in Anna’s and Sean’s thoughts and feelings on many different diverse topics.
Sarah K. Stephen’s focus on this book seemed to be mental illness and how it affected relationships. She took us into the lives of Anna and Stephen’s marriage from what it was present day to what it was In the past when they first met. The author concentrated on their sex life in a way most other authors would have not. It was done tastefully and gave you something to think about after the fact. I would have to say that that whole dynamic with those two and how it intertwined with Anna’s realizations about herself was very interesting.
The other relationship Sarah took us into was the bond between Anna and her Mom and how that effected most things in her life.
I really enjoyed this book. It was very different than what I was expecting. However, I would definitely read another book from Sarah K. Stephens again.
A Flash of Red by Sarah K. Stephen’s brought me out of my comfort zone with her overall story and meaning. It is a book that makes you think and analysis what was going on. Her writing style is incredibly descriptive and goes into in Anna’s and Sean’s thoughts and feelings on many different diverse topics.
Sarah K. Stephen’s focus on this book seemed to be mental illness and how it affected relationships. She took us into the lives of Anna and Stephen’s marriage from what it was present day to what it was In the past when they first met. The author concentrated on their sex life in a way most other authors would have not. It was done tastefully and gave you something to think about after the fact. I would have to say that that whole dynamic with those two and how it intertwined with Anna’s realizations about herself was very interesting.
The other relationship Sarah took us into was the bond between Anna and her Mom and how that effected most things in her life.
I really enjoyed this book. It was very different than what I was expecting. However, I would definitely read another book from Sarah K. Stephens again.
December 29, 2016
People are seldom precisely how they appear to be from the outside. Sarah Stephens’ debut novel shows us one such example in stark and disturbing detail.
Centered around the deteriorating marriage of college psychology professor Anna Kline, and her architect husband, Sean, A Flash of Red sits neatly between a dark character study and a psychological thriller.
What begins as a seemingly picture-perfect marriage, slowly evolves into something else. Something more complex, and full of emotional booby-traps. As Anna’s self-assuredness erodes, she becomes more controlling and manipulative. Sean retreats into a secretive world where he addictively chases his fantasies.
Enter Bard.
Anna discovers a disconcerting but alluring kinship with her mysterious and intense student. As it turns out, she and Bard share similar pasts. Pasts they both fear may dictate their futures. One soon develops a fixation on the other…
That’s as far as I’ll go. I’ll leave the spoilers to the real critics. I will say that this book is remarkably well-written, Sarah Stephens’ considerable skill with language is on full display, and her characters are of a complexity that eludes many authors.
Oh, and pay attention to the very end. There might be something to be found there, if you’re looking.
Centered around the deteriorating marriage of college psychology professor Anna Kline, and her architect husband, Sean, A Flash of Red sits neatly between a dark character study and a psychological thriller.
What begins as a seemingly picture-perfect marriage, slowly evolves into something else. Something more complex, and full of emotional booby-traps. As Anna’s self-assuredness erodes, she becomes more controlling and manipulative. Sean retreats into a secretive world where he addictively chases his fantasies.
Enter Bard.
Anna discovers a disconcerting but alluring kinship with her mysterious and intense student. As it turns out, she and Bard share similar pasts. Pasts they both fear may dictate their futures. One soon develops a fixation on the other…
That’s as far as I’ll go. I’ll leave the spoilers to the real critics. I will say that this book is remarkably well-written, Sarah Stephens’ considerable skill with language is on full display, and her characters are of a complexity that eludes many authors.
Oh, and pay attention to the very end. There might be something to be found there, if you’re looking.
December 29, 2016
A Flash of Red is the definition of a psychological thriller. It's amazing how drawn in A Flash of Red. At some points, I felt like Bard, I was obsessed with what was going to happen next with Anna and Sean. It felt wrong to read their story, their secrets are so intimate, but that's the exact reason that drove Bard. I love the constant theme of sanity, Anna trying to figure if she is sane or others knowing Bard isn't sane. I want everyone who loves a good thriller to read A Flash of Red. Overall A Flash of Red is five stars!
December 6, 2016
Wikipedia defines a psychological thriller as a story emphasizing the psychology of its characters and their unstable emotional states. A Flash of Red fits this description quite accurately, as the three main characters are definitely unstable adults who seem perfectly normal, but harbor neurotic inner thoughts from their difficult childhoods and backgrounds that emerge as the novel unfurls.
What starts off as an interesting tale about a professor who teaches abnormal psychology, we soon realize that Dr. Anna Kline and her husband Sean are highly emotional adults in a difficult marriage, made all the more difficult by their thoughts, actions, and reactions that fit the definition of "unstable emotional states." (Sean's secretive actions to push his wife over the edge are reminiscent of the classic movie Gaslight with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, another psychological thriller.)
The third character, Bard, enters as the professor’s student whose mother suffered from mental illness and he is worried about this genetic predisposition for mental illness. Bard's fondness for his teacher turns into a decision to protect her from her husband, who he learns is on pornographic sites on his computer and is mistreating his wife. Here is when the three characters’ unstable emotional states come to a head.
A Flash of Red kept me on my toes throughout the entire book as I wondered, “Is everybody crazy here?” Read it and see!
A Flash of Red is published by Pandamoon Publishing and will be available Dec. 13 on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com for $15.99. You can follow Sarah K. Stephens on Twitter at @skstephenswrite or on Facebook.
December 21, 2016
Reading this novel was a wild ride. Sarah K. Stephens has created two characters, a married couple - Anna and Sean - who from the outside look incredibly perfect, but things are much darker on the inside. I am still not sure how I feel about Anna. She came off as pretty bougie and was not very likable. Don't get me wrong; Sean has plenty of issues. Together they are a hot mess.
One of Anna's students becomes delusional about their relationship. While Anna is staying professional, Bard starts mentally unraveling and becomes a danger. This story deals heavily with mental illness and how it can be passed down to other generations. I liked how it was told from the perspective of different characters. I found this novel to be fascinating and enjoyable.
One of Anna's students becomes delusional about their relationship. While Anna is staying professional, Bard starts mentally unraveling and becomes a danger. This story deals heavily with mental illness and how it can be passed down to other generations. I liked how it was told from the perspective of different characters. I found this novel to be fascinating and enjoyable.
November 21, 2016
Professor Klein and her husband Sean are successful young professionals living the perfect life until one of Klein's students, Bard, begins to take an unhealthy interest in her. With a family history of mental illness, Professor Klein questions her own sanity as Sean flees behind locked doors and online. Sean is at once an unhealthy presence in Klein's life while somehow remaining sympathetic which is a credit to Sarah K. Stephen's masterful writing. In the end, Bard is the observer through whom Sarah K. Stephens examines the complexities of a modern couple struggling to remain loyal and emotionally monogamous as their vision of a perfect life progression stalls in their 30's.
December 23, 2016
Sarah Stephens wrote a thought provoking psychological thriller. I'm not typically a fan of this genre but A Flash of Red drew me in like a giant magnet. Limiting the book to three main characters was a good thing as it really kept the reader focused on even the smallest details. The ending was mildly disappointing as it seemed to wrap up a bit too neatly. In spite of that I would highly recommend this book and could visualize it on the big screen someday!
December 19, 2016
A Flash of Red is a superb, fascinating read that is wrought with tension. It's exceptionally well written, the characters are fascinating, and their stories are intense. I loved it! Well done, Sarah Stephens!
February 24, 2017
Strong debut. Asks the question of the three main characters: who's contriving, who's insane, and who might be a little of both!? Keeps you guessing.
November 22, 2016
A good read - the characters are intriguing and it leaves you with the question - what is sanity?
July 15, 2022
Psychology professor Anna Kline has secrets. Her mother is institutionalized permanently with a mental illness that is virtually unresponsive to treatment. Anna is beginning to wonder whether she is experiencing the beginning stages of a similar illness herself.
Her husband Sean Kline has secrets. He is hiding his porn addiction from Anna. He also cannot admit to Anna that his mother committed suicide, a suicide that he largely blames himself for. After all, he cruelly taunted her when he was a young teenager. She must have been trying to escape his childish mockery.
Bard, a student of Anna, has secrets. His mother also had a mental illness. His father became an alcoholic. Bard is gay, but he is also devoted to Anna and would do anything to protect her.
Anything.
Stephens tells the story by switching between these three characters as their lives intertwine and their mindsets become more and more desperate. Each of them completely believes that his or her perspective is the right one. Yet each of their perspectives is incompatible with the others. Anna and Sean both believe that the other one has decided to move on without them. Both of them believe that they are right and the other is wrong. Both of them believe that they are fully committed to making the marriage work, but the other one despises them. Can they both be right and wrong at the same time? Oh, yes they can.
Bard’s obsession with Anna grows darker and more complex with time, until he sets a series of events into motion that leads toward danger and tragedy. At the end of the book, I honestly looked back and wondered for each of the characters what was real and what was imagined. And I am not entirely sure I know even now.
Stephens’ books twist and turn and leave the reader guessing until the end--and in this case even beyond. She is a student of the human mind and its ability to change the perception of reality in unexpected and sometimes unimaginable ways. Except, she is able to imagine them and put them into a story that is very tightly crafted and very well written. I love her prose, her characters are devastatingly real, and her plots are intricate.
Perhaps most of all, as someone who has struggled with mental illness personally, the way that these three characters see the world and themselves and each other is frighteningly personal to me. Although my diagnoses would not match any of these characters precisely, there was enough overlap to feel their desperation and confusion and even their (false) comprehension in my gut. I have had periods that felt like clarity but were really deeply confused. I have had times where I could and should not trust my thoughts and my perceptions. Stephens writes about mental illness with both compassion and awareness. Few people can write about someone who is mentally ill from a believable insider’s point of view. Stephens does it extraordinarily well.
A Flash of Red is deep, dark, and twisted. For me, it was almost too intensely personal, perhaps like a pardoned death row inmate might feel about a real-life prison memoir. Mental illness is a prison of its own, and Stephens writes characters within that prison in a way that lets you feel the bars.
Her husband Sean Kline has secrets. He is hiding his porn addiction from Anna. He also cannot admit to Anna that his mother committed suicide, a suicide that he largely blames himself for. After all, he cruelly taunted her when he was a young teenager. She must have been trying to escape his childish mockery.
Bard, a student of Anna, has secrets. His mother also had a mental illness. His father became an alcoholic. Bard is gay, but he is also devoted to Anna and would do anything to protect her.
Anything.
Stephens tells the story by switching between these three characters as their lives intertwine and their mindsets become more and more desperate. Each of them completely believes that his or her perspective is the right one. Yet each of their perspectives is incompatible with the others. Anna and Sean both believe that the other one has decided to move on without them. Both of them believe that they are right and the other is wrong. Both of them believe that they are fully committed to making the marriage work, but the other one despises them. Can they both be right and wrong at the same time? Oh, yes they can.
Bard’s obsession with Anna grows darker and more complex with time, until he sets a series of events into motion that leads toward danger and tragedy. At the end of the book, I honestly looked back and wondered for each of the characters what was real and what was imagined. And I am not entirely sure I know even now.
Stephens’ books twist and turn and leave the reader guessing until the end--and in this case even beyond. She is a student of the human mind and its ability to change the perception of reality in unexpected and sometimes unimaginable ways. Except, she is able to imagine them and put them into a story that is very tightly crafted and very well written. I love her prose, her characters are devastatingly real, and her plots are intricate.
Perhaps most of all, as someone who has struggled with mental illness personally, the way that these three characters see the world and themselves and each other is frighteningly personal to me. Although my diagnoses would not match any of these characters precisely, there was enough overlap to feel their desperation and confusion and even their (false) comprehension in my gut. I have had periods that felt like clarity but were really deeply confused. I have had times where I could and should not trust my thoughts and my perceptions. Stephens writes about mental illness with both compassion and awareness. Few people can write about someone who is mentally ill from a believable insider’s point of view. Stephens does it extraordinarily well.
A Flash of Red is deep, dark, and twisted. For me, it was almost too intensely personal, perhaps like a pardoned death row inmate might feel about a real-life prison memoir. Mental illness is a prison of its own, and Stephens writes characters within that prison in a way that lets you feel the bars.
November 8, 2019
Psychological thrillers are a bit out of my wheelhouse, but thanks to this one, I may have found a new genre worth exploring.
A Flash of Red by Sarah K. Stephens tells the intertwining stories of three characters: Anna Kline, a psychology professor afraid that she’s traveling down a dark family path; Sean, her husband, who struggles with feelings of inadequacy; and Bard, a student of Anna’s who has a particular interest in his professor and her subject matter, for potentially dark reasons of his own.
To say more would be to give away spoilers, as one of the novel’s greatest strengths is how it reveals its characters’ secrets and how it plays on reader expectations. As a new reader of psychological thrillers, I’m generally unaware of the genre’s tropes, but nonetheless I found myself tricked into making certain suppositions in each chapter, only to be surprised by the truth (or developing truth) of the matter some chapters later.
The chapters are also short and quick, which propels the story along at a healthy pace, and despite their length, they convey a lot of information. Stephens is efficient with her characterization, telling the reader exactly what they need to know when they need to know it, often in lovely turns of phrase.
Characterization is, of course, key in a genre as necessarily character driven as the psychological thriller, and Stephens deftly manipulates how readers view her characters from chapter to chapter, careful to balance their flaws and sympathies. Anna has a very real mental struggle, but she’s also a pretentious intellectual ass; Sean is a manipulative bastard, but he’s also unappreciated by his wife, despite genuine efforts to show his affection; Bard is deeply concerned for his professor and has legitimate reasons for asking her advice about schizophrenia, but he has a manipulative streak as well. Thing is, Stephens writes them so that, from scene to scene, the reader doesn’t know which traits are the dominant traits in each character; in some scenes, they’re all basically sympathetic, but the other scenes sneak a haunting “What if?” into the backs of readers minds.
A “What if?” which lingers even after the final page.
Engaging, fast-paced, and psychologically complex (especially for its length), A Flash of Red is a must-read for people who like to get into characters’ brains - even if they’re disturbed by what they find there.
A Flash of Red by Sarah K. Stephens tells the intertwining stories of three characters: Anna Kline, a psychology professor afraid that she’s traveling down a dark family path; Sean, her husband, who struggles with feelings of inadequacy; and Bard, a student of Anna’s who has a particular interest in his professor and her subject matter, for potentially dark reasons of his own.
To say more would be to give away spoilers, as one of the novel’s greatest strengths is how it reveals its characters’ secrets and how it plays on reader expectations. As a new reader of psychological thrillers, I’m generally unaware of the genre’s tropes, but nonetheless I found myself tricked into making certain suppositions in each chapter, only to be surprised by the truth (or developing truth) of the matter some chapters later.
The chapters are also short and quick, which propels the story along at a healthy pace, and despite their length, they convey a lot of information. Stephens is efficient with her characterization, telling the reader exactly what they need to know when they need to know it, often in lovely turns of phrase.
Characterization is, of course, key in a genre as necessarily character driven as the psychological thriller, and Stephens deftly manipulates how readers view her characters from chapter to chapter, careful to balance their flaws and sympathies. Anna has a very real mental struggle, but she’s also a pretentious intellectual ass; Sean is a manipulative bastard, but he’s also unappreciated by his wife, despite genuine efforts to show his affection; Bard is deeply concerned for his professor and has legitimate reasons for asking her advice about schizophrenia, but he has a manipulative streak as well. Thing is, Stephens writes them so that, from scene to scene, the reader doesn’t know which traits are the dominant traits in each character; in some scenes, they’re all basically sympathetic, but the other scenes sneak a haunting “What if?” into the backs of readers minds.
A “What if?” which lingers even after the final page.
Engaging, fast-paced, and psychologically complex (especially for its length), A Flash of Red is a must-read for people who like to get into characters’ brains - even if they’re disturbed by what they find there.
June 23, 2017
I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. I was very thrilled to see the author is a Developmental Psychologist as I am a psychology Ph.D. student who is interested in publishing fiction one day.
My rating is more like 3.5 stars, but I had a lot of trouble getting through the beginning of the book. My suspicion is that the author knew where she wanted the story to go but had to generate the beginning to set the stage, and it seemed awkwardly written. There are many sentences that appeared like they were written to sound "smart," using language that people wouldn't use in real life, adding metaphors or similes that were unnecessary, and giving unnecessary information about academia that just felt like it was there to add words. Bard's chapters were especially difficult for me. He has a Holden Caulfield type persona where he seems to just hate everybody young because he's much better than him. There was one point in which he laughed about the fact the library still had book return boxes because students these days never use books. There were some little things like this that were insulting in regards to students, and maybe I was being sensitive but knowing a professor wrote some of these things about spenders was disheartening, though I acknowledge it was in Bard's voice.
I did end up enjoying the second half of the book. It was definitely a page turner and I wanted to know what happened next between Anna and Sean. It was very difficult to determine whether Anna was losing her mind or if Sean was tricking her into thinking she was. Even by the end I wasn't sure exactly what had happened. Though, I have to say that although I did read through the second half very quickly, I didn't like any of the characters. I was sympathetic to Anna in some ways, but for the most part the redeeming qualities in all 3 main characters were minimal.
A last thing that was strange to me was the fact that Anna's mother Lena was diagnosed with schizophrenia so late in life. It's very rare to be diagnosed later in your life.
All in all, I enjoyed the read. The plot is very unique and I liked reading the different personas. I'd recommend it, but with the caveat that the beginning is a little difficult to make i through.
My rating is more like 3.5 stars, but I had a lot of trouble getting through the beginning of the book. My suspicion is that the author knew where she wanted the story to go but had to generate the beginning to set the stage, and it seemed awkwardly written. There are many sentences that appeared like they were written to sound "smart," using language that people wouldn't use in real life, adding metaphors or similes that were unnecessary, and giving unnecessary information about academia that just felt like it was there to add words. Bard's chapters were especially difficult for me. He has a Holden Caulfield type persona where he seems to just hate everybody young because he's much better than him. There was one point in which he laughed about the fact the library still had book return boxes because students these days never use books. There were some little things like this that were insulting in regards to students, and maybe I was being sensitive but knowing a professor wrote some of these things about spenders was disheartening, though I acknowledge it was in Bard's voice.
I did end up enjoying the second half of the book. It was definitely a page turner and I wanted to know what happened next between Anna and Sean. It was very difficult to determine whether Anna was losing her mind or if Sean was tricking her into thinking she was. Even by the end I wasn't sure exactly what had happened. Though, I have to say that although I did read through the second half very quickly, I didn't like any of the characters. I was sympathetic to Anna in some ways, but for the most part the redeeming qualities in all 3 main characters were minimal.
A last thing that was strange to me was the fact that Anna's mother Lena was diagnosed with schizophrenia so late in life. It's very rare to be diagnosed later in your life.
All in all, I enjoyed the read. The plot is very unique and I liked reading the different personas. I'd recommend it, but with the caveat that the beginning is a little difficult to make i through.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2017
4.5 Stars From Underground Book Reviews!!
A Flash Of Red is an intriguing psychological thriller which introduces some rather unlikable characters. On the surface, Anna, a psychology lecturer, is the perfect wife to Sean, an architect. She makes his lunches, leaves him love notes and tries to ignore how much time he spends alone in his home office ‘working’. Sean adores his wife but has a secret addiction to online porn. They have been unable to conceive a child and this perceived failure leads to the slow fracturing of their relationship. Also simmering under the surface is Anna’s fear that she will inherit her mother’s mental illness. When she forgets things, she wonders if this is the start of her mind going downhill. Meanwhile, Sean, distraught by Anna’s sexual rejection of him, finds solace in porn and in playing little jokes on Anna to increase her paranoia. The strange and twisted tale of this couple’s relationship would have been a story enough on its own, but there is a third wheel in this marriage, although neither of them realizes it for some time. Bard is an intense young man who is one of Anna’s students. He too has the suffered the loss of a mentally unstable mother and thinks he has found a connection between himself and Anna. His growing obsession and concern for her safety propels the story towards a suitably climactic ending...Read the full review at UndergroundBookReviews.org !!
May 6, 2021
I have read two other books by Sarah Stevens, but I found this to be the best. “A Flash of Red” is a complex psychological study of its three principal characters. You can actually see the changes in the characters through the novel. The flash of red in the title refers to the bird, the cardinal. It symbolises, among other things, a major change in a relationship.
Anna is a professor of Psychology. She is married to Sean, and we meet them at a time when their relationship is on the verge of being fractured. Bard, a student in Anna’s class sees in her an ideal woman, based on his spiritual readings. Ironically, both Anna and Bard have schizophrenic mothers. They both fear being afflicted by this hereditary illness. As we move along, we find out whether or not this happens. Alongside, Sean now seeks solace in porn sites, and there is a deep dissonance in what he and Anna want from each other. To see how the relationship among the three of them develops, read “A Flash of Red”.
4 Stars
Anna is a professor of Psychology. She is married to Sean, and we meet them at a time when their relationship is on the verge of being fractured. Bard, a student in Anna’s class sees in her an ideal woman, based on his spiritual readings. Ironically, both Anna and Bard have schizophrenic mothers. They both fear being afflicted by this hereditary illness. As we move along, we find out whether or not this happens. Alongside, Sean now seeks solace in porn sites, and there is a deep dissonance in what he and Anna want from each other. To see how the relationship among the three of them develops, read “A Flash of Red”.
4 Stars
October 31, 2020
Sarah K. Stephens has a way of gradually drawing you into the story and her characters. In the first pages, you find out that something is not right, but what is it. The story takes you through the lives of three main characters and how their paths intersect. The ending is perfect and explains everything. I loved it.
December 31, 2023
What a debut! Author Sarah Stephens weaves a tale of a perfectionistic professor who longs to be a mother even as her husband drifts away from her into his own virtual world. One of her students discovers her secret and decides to save her from her floundering marriage. His obsession leads to tragic consequences. Great book club pick!
February 23, 2020
Sarah is the master of vivid description. She promised me a slow burn, this provided that and a tremendous build up. Well done!
January 24, 2024
Interesting description of each character’s point of view, fun to try to figure out who was sane or not. But those characters are awful, and I’m not clear how the cardinal fits in …
March 19, 2017
In A Flash of Red, three main characters grapple with their lives as their genes cast dark shadows on their existence. The dynamic between Anna and her husband, Sean, is one to study in how marriages have sick little challenges. Throw in Bard, a student of Anna's that struggles with mental illness inherited from her mother, and you get a stew of cerebral havoc. Stephens puts in a great debut with some descriptive writing.
March 16, 2017
I love when it is obvious an author knows her subject matter. In this case, Sarah K. Stephens shows off her extensive knowledge of psychology while also crafting a suspenseful tale. Psychological Thrillers are so hot right now. But it is refreshing to read one by an expert in the field. There is so much to learn here about obsession and addiction and the intricacies of relationship. And it's learning done at the edge of your seat.
March 19, 2017
This book grabbed me and made me immediately, deliciously uncomfortable. I had to walk away from the intensity at times, only to pick it up again a few moments later. I read so quickly that I often wander and lose interest, but this (happily) required my full, focused attention. A great read.
May 5, 2017
Anna Kline, a psychology professor, seems to have it all—a great job at a prestigious university, a handsome architect husband, and a devotion to her institutionalized mother. But looks can be deceiving. Anna is consumed by the secret fear that she’ll develop mental illness and become like her mother.
Sean, Anna’s husband, has a secret, too. He views Anna as someone he can mold into whomever he desires. But even though she’s compliant, his true preference is for online sex rather than intimacy with his wife.
Anna’s student, Bard, harbors a secret as well. He has a family history of schizophrenia. He fantasizes that he and Anna have a connection. When he discovers Sean’s predilection, he imagines it’s his duty to rescue Anna, something he failed to do for his own sister. And when he acts on his impulse, tragic results follow.
“Things are not as they appear” is my favorite theme in psychological suspense stories, and author Sarah K. Stephens delivers. The characters are multilayered and well developed. The story moves along at a steady pace, hurtling toward its surprise conclusion. This was a book I could not put down until I’d reached the final page.
It will appeal to fans of Paula Hawkins’ THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, and A.S.A. Harrison’s THE SILENT WIFE. If you love psychological suspense, this one is for you.
Sean, Anna’s husband, has a secret, too. He views Anna as someone he can mold into whomever he desires. But even though she’s compliant, his true preference is for online sex rather than intimacy with his wife.
Anna’s student, Bard, harbors a secret as well. He has a family history of schizophrenia. He fantasizes that he and Anna have a connection. When he discovers Sean’s predilection, he imagines it’s his duty to rescue Anna, something he failed to do for his own sister. And when he acts on his impulse, tragic results follow.
“Things are not as they appear” is my favorite theme in psychological suspense stories, and author Sarah K. Stephens delivers. The characters are multilayered and well developed. The story moves along at a steady pace, hurtling toward its surprise conclusion. This was a book I could not put down until I’d reached the final page.
It will appeal to fans of Paula Hawkins’ THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, and A.S.A. Harrison’s THE SILENT WIFE. If you love psychological suspense, this one is for you.
February 23, 2017
You think you know people, especially those closest to you. We all think that we have people pretty much figured out, that we are pretty good judges of character. Sarah Stephens book, A Flash of Red, will make you question those abilities. It's a psychological thriller, one that nags at you in the most disturbing, yet satisfying way. A trio of characters is presented, with Anna at their center. She is intelligent and poised, but her carefully constructed persona begins to fray at the edges as the plot unfolds. Her husband, Sean, seems more complex, presenting a facade that soon crumbles as the reader grows to despise him. His actions speak louder than his words, louder than his professions of love. And then there is the grad student, Bard, whose family ties to mental illness connect him to his professor, Anna. The complex characters play out their roles in a slowly churning series of events that leaves the reader reeling, questioning who is sane and who is not, what is real and what is merely perception.
February 20, 2017
A FLASH OF RED is an intense psychological thriller that centers on three characters: an unhappily married couple and a disturbed college student who becomes obsessed with their relationship. The story shifts between the three, keeping the reader guessing as to who is the reliable narrator. It's impossible to put down and sticks with you long after you read the last page.
February 9, 2017
A clever, psychological thriller with sick minds galore, it starts off by really sucking you in to try and figure out who is the more damaged of the characters. If a really pathetic and unsalvageable marriage interests you, the one in this book will remind you of that old Q&A column in Good Housekeeping: "Can this marriage be saved?" If a quirky, whacko undergrad psych student makes you worry about the mental health of your college roommate, there's a good one here. The kind of guy you don't want to wake up and find standing in a dark corner of your room staring at you. But he's got a heart underneath all that psychosis! The story proceeds along with grim husband-wife interludes that makes you want to slap her and him and then bang their heads together. Never did I so wish that two people would just give up and start over. Enter whacko undergrad psych student to save the day. Sadly, he didn't knock their heads together.
I was really looking forward to an explosive climax courtesy of this guy. It did not happen.
Up until the ending, this was a four star read. One star knocked off for a banal ending that wasn't believable. One star knocked off not because of the writing [which was very good] but because I think that ending should have been reworked to fit the rest of this very interesting book.
I was really looking forward to an explosive climax courtesy of this guy. It did not happen.
Up until the ending, this was a four star read. One star knocked off for a banal ending that wasn't believable. One star knocked off not because of the writing [which was very good] but because I think that ending should have been reworked to fit the rest of this very interesting book.
February 23, 2017
You think you know people, especially those closest to you. We all think that we have people pretty much figured out, that we are pretty good judges of character. Sarah Stephens book, A Flash of Red, will make you question those abilities. It's a psychological thriller, one that nags at you in the most disturbing, yet satisfying way. A trio of characters is presented, with Anna at their center. She is intelligent and poised, but her carefully constructed persona begins to fray at the edges as the plot unfolds. Her husband, Sean, seems more complex, presenting a facade that soon crumbles as the reader grows to despise him. His actions speak louder than his words, louder than his professions of love. And then there is the grad student, Bard, whose family ties to mental illness connect him to his professor, Anna. The complex characters play out their roles in a slowly churning series of events that leaves the reader reeling, questioning who is sane and who is not, what is real and what is merely perception.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews