Review - Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Thomas Dunne Books 2007
Hardback 472 pages



Just in time for Halloween, Let Me In is a terrifically scary tale that kept me up late into the witching hour reading. The story takes place in the quiet suburb of Blackeberg, Sweden. The town is in shock when a teenage boy is found dead in a nearby forest, murdered in a ritualistic fashion and drained of all his blood. Nearby, twelve-year-old Oskar is focused on the murder, living out his own sick fantasies of revenge for the bullying he endures daily at school. But as the murders continue a strange element comes into Oscar's life that draws his attention away from the almost constant bullying. A new girl has moved in next door, a small girl who only comes out at night, has supernatural intelligence and a look in her eyes that is not at all human. As Oscar comes closer to learning the truth about his new friend, the entire town comes closer to perdition.

The story is told mainly in the perspective of twelve-year-old Oskar, with brief interludes by other members of the town, both the victims and the murderers. Yes, there are multiple forms that evil takes in this novel, no character is portrayed as being wholly innocent, each person has their own dark past to contend with. I think that is what makes this book so thrilling, it keeps you guessing about each characters motivation until the last, dramatic scene. And the ending is wonderfully unexpected, but so fitting I couldn't see it closing any other way.