Book Review: Let the Right One In

Oskar is a typical victim of bullying who reacts in an atypical manner. Feeling isolated over the abuse of his peers, he disassociates himself from the abuse by delving into a darker side of himself. One of the ways he expresses this is by playing an imaginary game called The Murderer. What Oskar doesn't know is that a real murderer has moved into the apartment complex. Oskar's childish knife game has intrigued the killer, and his life will never be the same after he meets Eli.

So begins Let the Right One In, by John Lindqvist. Primarily the story follows the growing relationship between bullied victim Oskar and the permanently underage vampire Eli, but the book also explores the often desperate lives of many of Blackeberg's citizens.

Among the cast is a group of alcoholics who have formed a social club, though in truth, most of the members can't stand one another. They drink together, because it is better than drinking alone. Lacke is a slacker who despises everyone and lives wherever he can, however he can. His only friend is Jocke, and his only love is Virginia, even if he can't live with her.

This is actually a similar story for many of the characters, as Oskar's parents cannot be together either. Alcohol is the poison driving all of these people apart, and yet the characters keep drinking. In doing so, they unleash the animals inside themselves. This monster sucks all the joy out of families; it sucks the life out of a marriage; it sucks the love out of the bond between father and son. Alcohol is the real vampire here, or it was, until Eli and Hakan arrived.

Hakan...Eli's human companion is a whole new level of emotional conflict that will challenge every reader. Here is a pedophile so completely devoted to the object of his affection that he is willing to kill and to attempt suicide to protect Eli. I should agree with the townspeople that he got what he deserved, and yet even at the end, I felt pity for him. This is very much a testament to the writer's skill, in that he can turn a monster like Hakan into a human being.

But because Hakan wants something sexual that Eli is unwilling to give, he attempts to coerce the tiny blood drinker by refusing to kill another victim. This forces Eli to seek out a victim and she kills Jocke. Eli believes that she was not seen, but an honorary member of the "drinking club," Gosta, witnesses the killing.

Lacke of course learns that his only friend is dead. This leads him to seek out the child monster who made the attack, and Lacke's actions in turn set off a chain of events that strip him of everything he holds dear. Through it all, I found myself hoping that at some point he might sober up and think. But Lacke is a monster addicted to the bottle in the same way that Eli is addicted to blood. Alcohol blinds him, making his descent into hell bitterly tragic.

Aside from these main plot points is the subplot of Oskar's neighbor Tommy, a petty thief whose mother Yvonne is engaged to Staffan, the lead detective in the "Ritual Killer" cases. Then there is Jonny, the lead bully who is attacking Oskar most often, and Jonny's older brother Jimmy, who is on the fast track to becoming a hardened thug for life. There's even time to detail the sad life of Gosta, another alcoholic and a "cat person" with 28 inbreeding animals who produce dead kittens.

The book ends in a series of confrontations, with only the third fight being easy to predict. No, I won't explain why. I wouldn't want to spoil such a fantastic ending for anyone. Brutal, tragic, and frequently disquieting, Let the Right One In is a work of art that transcends genre constraints. It is horrifying, and many times emotionally devastating. But it is also deeply compelling, causing me to think about each scene long after I finished them.

I'm giving the book five stars. It is a great example of literary horror, and I would heartily recommend this to everyone. Let this vampire story in, and you won't regret it.