Well, I'm an idiot. Let's just get that out of the way right from the start.

I began this audiobook months ago from excellent recommendations from JoAnn at Lakeside Musing and Sandy at You've Gotta Read This. Somewhere along the way, I decided to take a break from the story. Don't ask. I have no idea why.

Hildy Good is an older single woman and is the most successful realtor in a small New England town. A descendant of a witch from the Salem Witch Trials, Hildy's also got a knack for finding out what everyone's secrets are, whether they want to spill it or not. With two adult daughters, an ex-husband who is her ex only because she can't really be in a marriage with a man when he's gay, and a little bit of a problem with her wine (she just can't stop drinking it), Hildy's confident that life is now exactly where it needs to be. If a little bit of wine in the evenings takes the edge off of her busy day, what harm can it do? She's never viewed wine as a source of a problem and even when her daughters planned an intervention, forcing Hildy to go to rehab, she always told herself she was only going so her daughter wouldn't stop her from seeing her grandson.

For some reason, something didn't click with me. At first. Was it the narrator or was it the story? I really have no idea. It was just something, and probably something silly and minor, but I took a break from it, resolving to start it back up again one day in the future.

When another audio concluded and I was stuck in the car with another hour to go, I realized I had nothing ready except for The Good House. Deciding to give it another try, I pressed play. And I was floored. I absolutely fell in love with it. The narrator felt like an old friend I hadn't spoken with in forever, the character of Hildy suddenly became clearer to me and her story started to take shape even more. I got the humor, I started to feel her pain, and realized that Hildy's battle with the bottle was something she might never fully come to terms with. I grumbled about Rebecca, Hildy's new friend, a younger mother born into old money, who was just a tad entitled and definitely annoying, but I even changed my opinion of her as well. I loved Frank and wanted everything for him, and then suddenly, I was shocked when I realized I couldn't stop listening to it. I tweeted with JoAnn about this, and I made excuses to take long drives and run random errands just so I could be with Ann Leary's story. And then it all made sense that Mary Beth Hurt 's gravely voice and timely inflection was absolutely the only person on this planet who could deliver Hildy's story, revealing dark pain laced with an unsuspecting humor that seemed to blanket her in some iron-clad defense. This was incredible. One of the best audios I have ever listened to, and one for the books that New England can count as a "win" for stories told of small town life.

Click here for the sample so you can listen and be convinced. Don't be an idiot like me and think you need to take some silly break. The last few foreboding hours set up by an innocent first few chapters will keep you on the edge of your seat, the tale magically composed by Ann Leary and cunningly voiced by Mary Beth Hurt. You won't regret it.

FTC Disclosure: I downloaded this from Audible.com

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Release Date: 01/15/13

Audio Time: 10 hours and 12 minutes

Narrator: Mary Beth Hurt

About the Author

Ann Leary is the author of the memoir An Innocent, A Broad, the novel Outtakes From a Marriage, and the latest New York Times and national bestselling novel The Good House. She is a co-host of the NPR weekly radio show Hash Hags, is a volunteer EMT and competes in equestrian sports. She sounds pretty awesome, so I just might have to read everything else now.

About the Narrator

Mary Beth Hurt is an actress best known for her role in The World According to Garp (1982), Interiors (1978), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Her voice has the perfect gritty stylings that will keep you transfixed to the story. I can't wait to listen to more from her.

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist is creepy horror writing done right. If I end up doing one of those best-of-the-year lists, this would make mine.

And let's get this out of the way first: alcoholism, politics, bullying, and vampires. All this and more are in this story. And yes, vampires. But wait - I don't mean vampires with pretty eyelashes and perfect outfits.

Set in 1981 and taking place over a three week period in Blackeberg, a subdivision of Stockholm, the story weaves in the occasional newspaper article of murder, obscure acts throughout the area, along with a description of  the physical process of turning into a vampire. Using Sweden's vision for planned neighborhoods from the 1950s as a vilified backdrop for the monstrous events and combined with an occasional non-fiction feel, the creepy atmosphere was heightened.

Oskar is a twelve-year-old boy living in these suburbs and is bullied almost every day. He returns each night to a small apartment and to his mother, who loves him, but it's just not enough. He is alone and feels it; the life of the  bullied is a lonely one. To keep himself company, Oskar is a little bit obsessed with serial killers and practices killing his bullies by attacking trees in a forest by the Vällingby neighborhood with a sharp knife. When the brutal murder of a young boy is discovered in these woods, hung upside down and seemingly drained of all blood, Oskar collects the articles of the investigation and looks through the details by himself. Always alone.

But then he meets his next door neighbor, a young girl his age, who shares his interest in puzzles and they seem to click. Building a friendship on Morse code tapped between their bedroom walls, Oskar finally feels he has a friend. Sure, she's a little bit different - after all, what person in Sweden goes outside without a coat in the winter? Who can see in the dark like it's the middle of the daytime? And is that really her father she lives with? But this is a real friend, his first. And it means everything to him.

Fear not, fellow readers. As I mentioned before, this is not just another vampire story with glitter and angst and trivialities overlapping with evil authoritative figures. Deliciously disturbing and frighteningly graphic, it is what horror fiction should be.

Layered into the story are significant secondary characters that are skillfully tied in together. There is the older teenager, Tommy, who doesn't care for his mother's new boyfriend, a police officer investigating the odd murders and attacks in the area. There are the alcoholics who get together as often as they can to drink and commiserate over politics, life, and the like. When one of their own goes missing, it's a tough to believe that a friend saw...a very young child lure him into the woods, never to be seen again.

Normally when characters casually crop up in a storyline as a plot device to move things along, it's annoying. Not so much with this book. In fact, it artfully builds with expert pacing that kept me gripping the book in those last fifty pages.  And although there are multiple characters and story lines, it  isn't confusing; instead, it is masterfully organized and there are no loose ends at all. While graphic and not for the squeamish, Let the Right One In satisfied every urge I had for creepy reading. I highly recommend it and look forward to more horror fiction from this author.

About the Author (from his website)

John Ajvide Lindqvist was born in 1968 in Sweden. After a career as a magician and stand up comedian, he finally became an author of horror stories. His books are published in 29 countries - among them China, USA, United Kingdom, Brazil, Denmark, and of course, Sweden.

Click here to visit the author on his website (English version coming soon).

About the Translator
Excellent translation written by Ebba Segerberg. While I can't read it in Swedish, I feel fairly confident that she efficiently communicated the exact level of tension and discomfort that is in the original. Segerberg is an adjunct lecturer at Washington university in St. Louis, Missouri and noted translator. She has translated seven novels, including books by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Henning Mankell, Kjell Westö, and Kjell Eriksson.

This is my fifth selection for Stainless Steel Droppings' hosting of the RIP Challenge VI. You can read more RIP reviews from other participants by clicking here.







FTC Disclosure: This book comes from my own personal library.