Twisty! ( )

Some of the context was a little depressing and the other half was a parent's worst nightmare. The down hill of the climax became quite garbled, almost like there were 2 or 3 different routes and they were all intermingled. ( )

Whisper Down The Lane was inspired by the Satanic Panic and the McMartin preschool trials, which was something I wasn't familiar with, so it gets bonus points from me because I got to learn something new.

The characters were really well written and I loved the fact that there was an unreliable narrator. I also liked how the story switched perspectives from Sean in the '80s and Richard in 2013. It was interesting to see how the perspectives fit together as the story progressed. ( )

I was born after the Satanic Panic of the 80s, but growing up in the 90s-00s with super religious parents I feel like I still caught the tail end of it. It was nothing like the outright fear and terrifying public bandwagon action of what's in this book, but while reading I did get flashbacks to misplaced apprehension from my own childhood.

The novel alternates between two timelines: the 80s with a young protagonist named Sean, and then thirty years later with an adult protagonist named Richard. Each storyline is compelling on its own, but when they start to overlap and the threads become more clear the book really hits another level of awesomeness. The first half is unsettling, but the pace really picks up in the second half and I white-knuckled it to the climatic ending.

Each character is also very well-constructed. I really felt for Sean's predicament. It's hard to believe something like what he did could happen (an innocent fib turning into a spiraling web of lies, ending with massive public outcry and a shocking suicide), but the book is based on a true story. I also really felt Richard's increasing anxiety, as his world crumbles around him. I haven't read many books that epitomize paranoia as well as this one.

There are elements of the supernatural here - and with Richard's splintering reality it's harder to tell as he becomes more of an unreliable narrator - but this story focuses more on the "panic" and less on the "satan" of Satanic Panic. It's a fractured tale of dishonesty and terror, and it's sure to please fans of horror, thrillers, and true crime! ( )

Starting out, this book held promise of creepiness, with disemboweled animals and references to satanic panic, I was excited. However, it soon lost steam, dragging its way through until a whirlwind conclusion that was ambiguous and required some rereading to ensure I hadn’t missed anything. The characters lacked depth and personality, the backstory was exhausting and redundant, and the entire story just left me bored and anxious to finish. Not to mention, it all seemed highly improbable, even if some of the story was a regurgitation of real events from the 1980s, it still seemed a stretch in a lot of ways. While I didn’t care for the way the story played out, the writer was able to keep my interest enough, even if it was just to see if the book got better, and I believe could create something better with a little more finesse.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions are my own. ( )