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!