Gage Chandler is a true crime writer working on his new book about the sword murders of two victims in an old, abandoned adult store during the height of the Satanic Panic. Choosing to live in the very house where the murders took place, Chandler begins a journey that soon blurs the line between fact and fiction.

I chose this book because it was in the horror/thriller section and the plot seemed interesting enough. It turns out the story is more of a weird meta analysis on true crime storytelling within the actual story. It seemed compelling enough, but the author's style of writing made it very difficult to follow due to the constant changing perspectives. The book kept leaping between the case, the author indulging us on the main character's writing process (which is super boring and nobody cares) and telling us about the first case Chandler covers. This book feels like it is supposed to be making a bigger statement about something, but it really feels like the book is calling me stupid for not being able to catch on. And I found myself constantly reading reviews to make sure I wasn't crazy for not liking the book, but I think the only reason people were praising the book so much is because the author is a musician.

THIS PART OF THE REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

The chapters recounting the White Witch case were FAR more interesting than the actual story, let alone the case that Chandler was supposed to be covering. Even though the White Witch case was Chandler's first success, it wasn't really mentioning the impact he had on the people or the community. I found that weird since the plot of the book made it seems like it was supposed to be an analysis on true crime writers. Also the book kept mentioning how Chandler came from kings. What the f*ck does that have to do with anything? Also the medieval chapter?! Like what even was that? I skipped that part once I realized it wasn't relevant to the story. All the jumping around in the book made it hard to keep my attention.

Then the ending where it was revealed that the teenagers in the story were made up?! I was so mad I decided to keep reading the book when I wanted to DNF so bad. It felt like a slap in the face. Or more like a spit in the face for deciding to keep reading the book and giving the author a chance. If the author wanted to make an analysis on the themes of writing true crime, I felt like he could've did it in a better way.