Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman

Inspired by the McMartin preschool trials and the Satanic Panic of the ‘80s, the critically acclaimed author of The Remaking delivers another pulse pounding, true-crime-based horror novel.

Richard doesn’t have a past. For him, there is only the present: a new marriage to Tamara, a first chance at fatherhood to her son Elijah, and a quiet but pleasant life as an art teacher at Elijah’s elementary school in Danvers, Virginia. Then the body of a rabbit, ritualistically murdered, appears on the school grounds with a birthday card for Richard tucked beneath it. Richard doesn’t have a birthday—but Sean does . . .

Sean is a five-year-old boy who has just moved to Greenfield, Virginia, with his mother. Like most mothers of the 1980s, she’s worried about bills, childcare, putting food on the table . . . and an encroaching threat to American life that can take the face of anyone: a politician, a friendly neighbor, or even a teacher. When Sean’s school sends a letter to the parents revealing that Sean’s favorite teacher is under investigation, a white lie from Sean lights a fire that engulfs the entire nation—and Sean and his mother are left holding the match.

Now, thirty years later, someone is here to remind Richard that they remember what Sean did. And though Sean doesn’t exist anymore, someone needs to pay the price for his lies.

Told on two timelines this story goes back and forth from a child of the 80s who became a media sensation after a psychologist "coached" him to recover memories that never happened, and the man he is today grappling with the guilt and consequences of the lies he told when he was five. 

This book has me trying to put myself in the shoes of younger readers. Would I have enjoyed this book as much if I was not old enough to remember the satanic panic of the 80s? If I were a younger person would I see a connection between the people who so wanted to believe that Satanists were munching on dead babies around every corner and the Qanon cult who believes that people are drinking the blood of children for political gain today? I just don't know the answer to that, because I do remember. I remember the media circus and my mother calling me to the tv to see various talk show hosts cashing in on the never ending parade of "satanic abuse survivors" and I remember we damned near believed it was real at the time. 

I can only give my own opinion, which is that this is a masterfully well written tale that will have you wondering whether guilt has caused Richard to lose his grip on reality or whether someone or something is out to get him.

5 out of 5 stars

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