Let Me In

By: John Ajvide Lindqvist

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

Length: 16 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

John Ajvide Lindqvist's vampire novel Let Me In was adapted into an award-winning Swedish movie and made into an American film and is now a TV show available to stream on Showtime!

It is autumn 1981 when inconceivable horror comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenager 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. . . .Sweeping top honors at film festivals all over the globe, Let Me In has received the same kind of spectacular raves that have been lavished on the book. American and Swedish listeners of vampire fiction will be thrilled!

Following the success in Sweden, this movie was remade in 2010 starring Kodi Smit Mcpheem, Chloe Grace Moretz and Richard Jenkins changing its name from the Swedish Let The Right One In. The story has continued to reach new viewers in a London Musical and John Ajvide Lindqvist's book remains a vampire favorite among its listeners.

©2004 John Ajvide Lindqvist (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Absolutely chilling. This page-turner grabs you from the onset and just won't let go. Vampires at their Anne Ricean best!” —L. A. Banks, author of the Vampire Huntress series

“Readers are familiar with modern Sweden through its distinctive crime fiction. Now John Ajvide Lindqvist is taking a Gothic look at the country's dark side. Henning Mankell's gloomy police procedurals were the first to become international bestsellers in the middle 1990s and spearheaded an explosion, but the latest publishing phenomenon to come out of Sweden seems to be plumping for a different genre. John Ajvide Lindqvist has become an overnight cult figure.” —The Age (Australian)

“It is easy to compare Lindqvist to Clive Barker or Neil Gaiman. When you reach the last page, you are left with the wonderful tingling sensation that only comes with a brand-new love affair or a really great book.” —Dagens Næringsliv (Norway)

horrible, absolute horror, I love it!

do this was elegantly depraved. don't let your children get their hands on this book unless you fancy them vocalizing scenes from the attempted rape of a child and murderous death brought upon both the innocent and guilt

this is one of my favorite stories.

wonderfully disturbing in all the right, and wrong ways. one of the best vampire romance with no sparkly vampires.

New Spin on Vampire!

Absolutely loved this story and the narration of it. Its a new spin on the modern Vampire. Some consider it to be in the "horror" genre, but it was more of a thriller that gripped me until the end. Which, in my opinion, was perfect.

An Interesting New Perspective on Vampires

I thought it was pretty great. Better than the Swedish movie and much better than the US version. I loved the twist near the end that really changed my perspective on Eli's character and his relationship with Oskar. Rereading the book the book after the first time was a different experience

Not very interesting.

This story had so much potential but failed to launch. I kept expecting the story to get started, but it just fizzled to the end; shallow exploration of the characters…even the monster of the story was a tad boring. Also, it was confusing to have various British dialects for Swedish characters. However, the great writing and performance made it worth listening to the end.

Make sure you Let The Right One In...

This book proudly shows off the underbelly of Stockholm and all of its intricate savageries, with liberal sprinkles of first love as well as a tale of coming of age.

The book is brutal, unkind, and shows off possibly the most “realistic” vampire story ever written. The reader brings it all to life with ease, and is easily one of the best out there!


Personally, I loved it from start to finish! If you can’t handle the undertow of child rape, buckets of gore, and many, many ripped-apart bodies, then this book is not for you. If, however, you like elegant vampire tales, chilling storytelling, and root for the underdog, pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed!

review

Overall engaging story and solid performance from Steven Pacey.

It was not the best book I've heard or read but for what it was, it was very interesting and fun to listen to.

great but much unnecessary graphic sexual content

this was a great spin on vampires ... but the child sex content was not needed and seemed very forced.

One of the greatest vampire tales ever

Even if you are familiar with the films "Let Me In" and/or "Let The Right One In", I would recommend reading the novel upon which said films is the basis of.

There's a lot to love here, some things familiar, and many things new. The narration is perfection, and the story is even more horrific on the page. There's a lot more of Eli and her/his past, and a deepened relationship with Oskar. It makes you appreciate the work the screenwriters did bringing the novel to the screen.

"Let Me In" easily ranks as one of the greatest vampire tales ever put to the page. It will haunt your dreams for years to come.

The original movie is better

Great premise, but I found the book version to be unnecessarily off-putting for the sake of it, to the point of laughable. Undead erections? One of the few instances where the movie is actually better than the source material.