Let Him In by William Friend was creepy, y’all! I had a feeling it would be, because the cover was creepy all by itself. But, it was a netgalley book, and I really need to get my queue down so I can start reading through all the books I’ve actually bought.
But, I was in the mood for creepy, and since it ended up being an easy read (in that it only took me about 2 days to finish), it might be good for a horror fan who needs to get over a reading slump?
I mean, for the record, I’m not a horror reader, so don’t know that I would necessarily classify Let Him In as a horror book, but I will say this:
I didn’t read it after dark, with the lights out.
Intrigued? Ok, let’s discuss a little more…
Alfie is a recent widower with twin daughters. He lives in the house his wife, Pippa, grew up in with HER twin sister, Julia. For the first few months after Pippa died, everything was status quo. Until suddenly, one night, Alfie wakes up to find his daughters at the foot of his bed, telliing him there was a man in their room. They wanted to sleep with him, so he allowed it for several months. Every night, they would come in and climb in bed with him.
Until they didn’t.
About 9 months after Pippa died, it all stopped. The nightmares, the nighttime routine, everything.
Black Mamba?
When Marian, the girls’ grandmother, comes to visit and brings tarts, the girls ask for an extra one. When questioned about who the extra one is for, they answer, almost in unison, “For Black Mamba.”
Ummmm….Ok.
Alfie questioned them a bit more, but ended up giving in and handing over the treat. But, he did call Julia to come visit so he could ask her some questions about this new development. She assured him that imaginary friends are perfectly normal at the girls’ age, and combined with the grief over losing their mother, it’s pretty typical.
Unfortunately, Alfie also let slip about the “man in their room.” At this, Julia again assured him that everything was fine, and because nothing ever came of it, to just let it go.
Until she got to her car, when she basically fell apart, saying, “Oh no… it’s happening again.”
Are you really intrigued yet? I was.
Like I said above, I read the book in about 2 days. Maybe 3, since I refused to read after dark. Even if I was safe in my bed. Every noise or shadow made me jump. Is that the sign of a good book? I don’t read the genre much, so I never really know.
What I did enjoy about Let Him in was the fact that Julia is a psychologist, so the various discussions about imaginary friends, and the psychology behind them, were really interesting.
Honestly, though, what I didn’t like was the ending. I won’t give anything away, I promise, but based on what I expected the story to be, I thought the “closure” was just kind of speedy. Everyone who has watched a horror movie, hopefully knows what I mean. It just kind of jumped too quickly and I found myself a little disappointed. I’m not even sure I could explain it accurately with someone who hasn’t read the book.
This is your friendly reminder to go read the book so we can talk about it. Interested? Here’s my affiliate link 🙂
Do I think the rest of the book is worth the risk of that particular ending? Yes, I do. If you’ve ever had an imaginary friend, if you’ve ever been interested in the psychology behind them, or just enjoy a creepy story, then you should totally check out Let Him In. I was talking about this book in my most recent podcast episode with J.C. Murphey, and she bought it almost immediately, based solely on my short synopsis (the same one I gave you above). I can’t wait to talk about it with her, because I need to know if my opinion of the ending is just me, or if it’s because it was just a foible of the book.
I hope it’s just me, because I don’t like saying bad things about books.
OH! And just in case you were wondering, Let Him In is published by Poisoned Pen Press, which is an indie publisher! So, you’re helping to support amazing independent books when you purchase Let Him In! I made a promise to myself that in 2024 I was only going to review indie and self-published books on the blog, so I checked the publisher before I even started reading.
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this new book review layout! I wanted it to feel more like a discussion that I’m having with a friend, rather than a book report I’m writing for school. I was really starting to feel like that with my outlines and headlines and all of that, so while I think they’re super useful (will probably still use them occasionally) I won’t use an outline for every book review. When I’m telling someone about a book, I get excited, and just kind of word vomit everything I can about the book, and I’m really more likely to get someone excited about reading it when I do that.
So, if this type of book review is more up your alley, leave me a comment and let me know why. If you prefer the other way, let me know that too! This is a community, so all opinions are welcome, as long as you stay kind. If you want more content like this, I’d love if you subscribed! There’s a space in my sidebar just for that, and you’ll get an email every time I publish a new post!
Until Next Time, Friends!
