Whisper Down the Lane : A Novel
“A diabolically creepy hybrid of horror and psychological suspense that thrills as much as it unsettles.”—Riley Sager, New York Times best-selling author of Home Before Dark
A pulse-pounding, true-crime-based horror novel inspired by the McMartin preschool trial and Satanic Panic of the ’80s.
Richard doesn’t have a past. For him, there is only the present: a new marriage, a first chance at fatherhood, and a quiet life as an art teacher in Virginia. Then the body of a ritualistically murdered rabbit appears on his school’s playground, along with a birthday card for him. But Richard hasn’t celebrated his birthday since he was known as Sean . . .
In the 1980s, Sean was five years old when his mother unwittingly led him to tell a lie about his teacher. When school administrators, cops, and therapists questioned him, he told another. And another. And another. Each was more outlandish than the last—and fueled a moral panic that engulfed the nation and destroyed the lives of everyone around him.
Now, thirty years later, someone is here to tell Richard that they know what Sean did. But who would even know that these two are one and the same? Whisper Down the Lane is a tense and compulsively readable exploration of a world primed by paranoia to believe the unbelievable.
A pulse-pounding, true-crime-based horror novel inspired by the McMartin preschool trial and Satanic Panic of the ’80s.
Richard doesn’t have a past. For him, there is only the present: a new marriage, a first chance at fatherhood, and a quiet life as an art teacher in Virginia. Then the body of a ritualistically murdered rabbit appears on his school’s playground, along with a birthday card for him. But Richard hasn’t celebrated his birthday since he was known as Sean . . .
In the 1980s, Sean was five years old when his mother unwittingly led him to tell a lie about his teacher. When school administrators, cops, and therapists questioned him, he told another. And another. And another. Each was more outlandish than the last—and fueled a moral panic that engulfed the nation and destroyed the lives of everyone around him.
Now, thirty years later, someone is here to tell Richard that they know what Sean did. But who would even know that these two are one and the same? Whisper Down the Lane is a tense and compulsively readable exploration of a world primed by paranoia to believe the unbelievable.
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Community Reviews
Richard/Sean told a lie when he was about five years old. A big lie that was only supposed to be a "game" between him and his mother. A lie that bred more lies and spread until other people were suddenly playing the "game" too. A lie that destroyed a small community and the lives of many people. As an adult, the lie he told so many years ago has come full circle. The past has found him. Has he committed the crimes he has been accused of? Is he losing his mind much like his mother did? What is the truth? How do you recognize the truth when everything has been one big lie?
This was a fast, entertaining read that takes place in two different timelines - 1982/1983 and 2013. Honestly, I was less interested in the 2013 timeline. The events that transpired were sort of a stretch for me there at the end. I would have much preferred to read the story solely from the 1982-1983 timeline. I've always been fascinated by the Satanic Panic of the 1980s (spanning years before that decade and, really, lasting into the current one in many ways). This work of fiction has just fueled my interest a lot more. I will absolutely be picking up further material on this subject!
Definitely worth a read!
This was a fast, entertaining read that takes place in two different timelines - 1982/1983 and 2013. Honestly, I was less interested in the 2013 timeline. The events that transpired were sort of a stretch for me there at the end. I would have much preferred to read the story solely from the 1982-1983 timeline. I've always been fascinated by the Satanic Panic of the 1980s (spanning years before that decade and, really, lasting into the current one in many ways). This work of fiction has just fueled my interest a lot more. I will absolutely be picking up further material on this subject!
Definitely worth a read!
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