This book is more of King ala Shawshank and Stand by Me than of Carrie and Cujo. And he didn't kill the dog, so the book got finished. Other than that, I won't say more because there are so many plot twists, I don't want to spoil anything. Very detailed and a fun read, though not quite as suspenseful as I would have expected. In part, we know "who done it" early on, so it isn't a murder mystery. And it helps that the main character is a cop, because he has access to things the normal citizen wouldn't (even though he is retired). Overall, it's a fairly satisfactory read, but not stunning or overly compelling. I cared about the people, I wanted to know how it ended, but I'll have forgotten it in a few days.