Let Me In
John Ajvide Lindqvist
St. Martin's Press
Please accept my heartfelt apologies for my most recent post. I submitted it after having had a few (okay, nine) drinks and well, apparently my proof reading skills aren't exactly up to snuff when I've been into the brew. Honestly, I have no idea why I was so desperate to publish the review of that awful work of fiction, but, I'm sure there was a good reason at the time. One of my drinking companions did happen to suggest the word "vomitous" -- maybe I was just trying to go with the flow.
Moving on ... the subject for this entry is a book called Let Me In. I know I promised that I would lay off the vampire novels, but this one is actually worth reading. Set in a Stockholm suburb, the novel tells the story of Oskar and Eli. Oskar is a schoolboy with a lot of problems -- he's lies, he steals, and he keeps a scrapbook of serial killer newspaper clippings. Eli, his next door neighbour, is a little girl who only comes out at night, is impervious to cold, and has fangs. The two form an unusual, disturbing, and often touching relationship.
There is a great deal to recommend this novel. The writing was spare, the story compelling, and the end surprising. A word of warning, however, this book did manage to give me the creeps. Twice I had to stop reading and put it away for another day -- horror is not my thing. Three dripping fangs out of five.
