So, as part of my attempt to read something scary for Halloween, I wound up grabbing Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman. (It popped up on goodreads, it looked interesting.)
So, we're switching between two narratives; one, Sean, starts in 1983ish, and one, Richard, is self narrated in 2012. Both are the same person, we just wait most of the book to get the full story on what exactly happened to turn Sean into Richard. The long story short here is that Sean got lead down the garden path by a pushy child psychologist and, along with his classmates, winds up implicating his teachers in a Satanic Ritual Abuse scandal.
In 2012, Richard is teaching art at an Elementary school, and lo and behold, we start with him finding a mutilated rabbit with a birthday card for Sean stuck in its chest cavity. Things in the past keep happening in the present. It does seem Richard is being set up to be accused of doing what he accused his teachers of doing.
Having lived through the 80's moral panic, Chapman does a really good job of recreating the mindset of the era during the Sean bits. Deeper digging into the era shows that what Sean endures pretty well reflects what was happening with the children coming forward with wild tales of zombies feeding them flesh after being summoned by teachers.
That being said, the parts in the present of 2012 fall flat. Really flat. It felt a lot like reading an outline of a much better story than actually was presented. Even the big reveal isn't that exciting, as pretty much anyone paying attention will figure it out about halfway through.
Which is sad, since Sean's story is both sad and compelling. One just wishes Richard's story was more fleshed out, and less thin than his created identity.
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