Let Me In - An Opinion

SQT sent me this book because she was so overwhelmed with books to read, a move to complete, and a life to get back in order after moving. All I can say to that is "Thank God!" (You can catch her blog here)This is an excellent book by a new author. Dang, am I glad she was overwhelmed.

Let Me In is purportedly a vampire novel. And it centers around the life of an 11-year old, very human little boy who has no life, no friends, no hope. That is until a child vampire befriends him. Throughout the whole book, the reader is constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. The characters are self-centered, self-serving, are incapable of any type of lasting, loyal relationship. Those that are are trying to build relationships with those that aren't. Its a hopeless, bleak society in very modern Europe.

Into that comes a 200 year old vampire, and all that this condition entails, that inhabits the body of a 12-year old. The vampire has known loss, betrayal and must feed on human lives to survive. But the author conveys that this might be the only character worth surviving. I don't want to give away too many details, but the vampire and the little boy have the only redeeming relationship in the story. It pulls at the readers heart-strings that a little boy, who only wants to be loved and accepted has to work so hard to emotionally get by. There are tragic characters in abundnace in this story, but it ends on a note of hope and redemption.

My recommendation? Read this one. Its not the most descriptive of literary efforts, but the ideas come across and the caharacters are the people you live, work and play with everyday. It will definitely give you pause to think - my highest form of flattery to any story.