This is a disturbing and courageous book which presents a collection of papers written by well-respected clinicians and field-workers on the controversial topic of satanist abuse. The editor wisely warns the reader in the introduction to ‘go through the book at whatever pace is most manageable’ and it is certainly true that there is a great deal of potentially overwhelming material. Having said this, the way in which the thirty-four papers in the book are presented makes it much more tolerable a read than I had expected. This format means that it is possible to put the book down and start reading again later without losing the thread of the subject matter. Some chapters are very brief and only a few are the length of the average journal paper.