It’s 1985 in Southern California, where Samuel McCammon is the devout and fiercely observant only child in a volatile household rife with alcoholism, discord, and domestic abuse. In his strict religious school, his demonic visions have already made him notorious. As children begin disappearing from the neighborhood, Samuel’s visions grow darker and more disturbing, and he experiences supernatural events that he can’t fully understand. His parents interpret these episodes in very different ways. His father, a charming and deeply troubled man with secrets of his own, sees a medical problem to be managed. His loving mother—who calls herself “a prayer in a dark closet”—believes her son has been chosen by God. She encourages him to embrace this destiny. Samuel finds an unlikely confidant in Glen, a rough-edged neighbor boy who harbors unsettling information about Samuel’s father. As the dark mysteries at the heart of Samuel’s family grow more sinister, his visions push him toward a devastating reckoning. As written by Mansouri, Samuel’s voice is by turns hilarious, harrowing, and heartbreaking. The relationship between him and his mother is dynamic and complex, combining a fierce love with a heavy dose of denial. The author walks a tightrope between dark psychological realism and the supernatural, leaving readers uncertain as to whether Samuel’s visions are divine, demonic, or the product of a traumatized mind. Suggestions of the occult add a dark frisson to the proceedings as Samuel tries to uncover the secrets of the past. The action sequences are visceral and hallucinatory, building toward a genuinely shocking climax and an ending that will linger with readers long after the final page. With its considerable length, the novel occasionally loses momentum, but readers willing to surrender to its dark, immersive world will be richly rewarded.
