Let Me In

Average Rating: 4.5 Stars
by John Ajvide Lindqvist

List Price: $25.95
Store Price: from $13.88
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
ISBN: 0312355289

Product Description

Already sold in ten countries, Let Me In introduces a startling new talent from Sweden whose work is creating an international sensation. John Ajvide Lindqvist has been compared to such top horror writers as Anne Rice, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Whitley Strieber, and last but certainly not least, Stephen King—American readers of vampire fiction will be thrilled!

It is autumn 1981 when the inconceivable comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last---revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.

But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door---a girl who has never seen a Rubik’s Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . . .

Customer Reviews

This vampire doesn't sparkle
5 Stars
I can't even find the words to describe how much I LOVED this novel. But let me start by warning Twilight lovers that this book is not about sexy sparkly vampires and teenage love. If you are not ready to read about ugly realities of human life, do not open this book.

It is not an easy book to read. The story is complex and involves many characters, whose presence sometimes is just momentary. The action moves from one character to another very quickly. But once you understand the pace and get used to foreign names, the story consumes you.

I will not relay the plot here, if you want to know what exactly the book is about, there are many reviews here that describe the story well. What I am going to say is that this is simply the best vampire novel I've ever read. Yes, I am putting it higher even than legendary Bram Stoker's "Dracula." This story is so much more complex and interesting in a way that not only it shows vampires from the point of view of their victims, but it also shows the world through the eyes of the vampires. We find out how very often innocent people become those feared monsters, we go through the transformation with them, we feel their guilt and shame, we learn about their relationships with their "Guardians" (who sometimes are worse monsters than vampires themselves).

But this book is not only about vampires, it explores the world of adolescent boys (the world I know nothing about). Surprisingly, I found out how important presence of a father in a boy's life. Without the guidance a love of a father, boys are lost to violence and abuse.

With all the horridness described in this book, it is strangely full of love and tenderness, understanding and forgiveness.

I highly recommend this book. You simply will not be able to walk away untouched by it.
~ T, NC
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Haunting...Shattering...Beautiful
5 Stars
If Dostoevski had written in the vampire genre, this would be what he'd have written. I even hesitate to lock this novel into a box and call it "vampire" fiction. To be sure, one of the main characters IS a vampire. But this is much more a novel about exploring crushing lonliness, uncontrollable animalistic drives, and how each of us has a choice as to how he/she chooses to live in the void of an empty nihilistic world.

If you have only seen the brilliant, beautiful film then you are in for a richer, deeper, more pure and putrid world than the movie had time to show. There are entire subplots involving Oskar's Dad and his erstwhile friend Tommy which are just touched on or skipped entirely. There is also a gruesome (yet darkly funny) expansion of the Hakan character, which will leave most readers gobsmacked by its horrific conclusion.

Having said all that, Lindqvist (and Segerberg's outstanding translation) manages to create some real warmth (Oskar and his Mom, Oskar and Eli, and even Jonny and his Dad's memory) amid the frozen winter of a cold Swedish landscape and the equally frigid souls who live through it.

There are even loads of charming innocence, as when Eli gains experience through Oskar (solving a Rubik's cube, going to the candy kiosk). Or when Oskar falls for Eli in the way only a deeply psychologically damaged (but naive) child could.

In the background we have a troupe of kind hearted drunks, each of whom still seeks out comfort and joy in something, whether it be a flock of deformed cats or fantasies of settling down on the farm. Then there are others, who really try to find some meaning and order, either through upholding the law in the gym or in the streets of Blackeberg. Each will eventually stare into the face of their own violating demon, vampiric or otherwise. How each fares is what drives this book, as much as Eli's need for blood, or Hakan's need for depravity, or Oskar's need to be loved drive these masterfully written characters.
If you are looking for a carbon copy of "Twilight" or even "Interview with a Vampire" this book may not be your cup of tea. If, however, you want a book unafraid of showing humanity at its brutal base, while giving a flicker of hope to those who need it most, I cannot recommend this book enough. I only wish I could read Swedish so I could enjoy it and recoil from it more.
~ B. Blackburn, Powell, OH USA
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Book Is good; But the Movie is Excellent
3 Stars
This is one of the rare circumstances where a movie based on a book is actually better than the novel itself. The novel does a good job of creating the atmoshphere and dynamics of the characters that the movie borrowed from, but where the novel goes wrong is in the complexity of the plot. The movie simplifies the plot which in turns makes the story have more impact. The novel, for example has WAY too many Characters that really aren't needed and WAY too many different confrontations between those characters.
~ Ja'Maul Redmond, Charlotte, N.C.
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