David Bessent read and liked Belinda's review of Let the Right One In: A Novel:

"Call this one "The Anti-Twilight." They had me at "the Swedish Stephen King." Um, not so much.

Easily the most *interesting* read in a long time. 4 stars instead of 5, or 3, because the story--just the pure story? Me...more Call this one "The Anti-Twilight." They had me at "the Swedish Stephen King." Um, not so much.

Easily the most *interesting* read in a long time. 4 stars instead of 5, or 3, because the story--just the pure story? Meh. In itself, only just compelling enough to keep me reading. But the characters--OH, the characters. I ached for every one of them. For a classic co-dependent like me, looking into the lonely, heartache-ridden lives in this book is pure agony...although most of the characters are hopelessly doomed, no matter what intervention may come.

Sounds cheery, right? Don't read this looking for a pick-me-up. There is not one happy character in this novel. There's no neat and tidy ending, happy or otherwise. Vampires are not romanticized, and they DEFINITELY don't "sparkle." There are many unanswered questions and unresolved conflicts--just like real life. The thing is beautifully crafted, and worth reading just to experience the art of the novel.

It's a real testament to the author's skill that he can create a cast of characters who are at once almost wholly irredeemable and still, somehow, sympathetic. It's a world where all are monsters, to some degree, but have been shaped that way through circumstances beyond their control.

***SPOILER ALERT***

As far as the vampire angle goes, there are far more questions than answers, and no background mythology to speak of. Something that really bothered me was the lack of backstory for Eli. I understood and appreciated the slow feed of mysterious elements from Eli's history as a suspense-building tool (goodness knows this story needed SOMETHING to create suspense, and it relied on the characters instead of the plot for that, almost completely), but what WAS Eli? Why was he castrated? He was only around 200 years old, so it's not like he came from some ancient time with unwritten rituals. Who "made" him? And if he'd "never been dead," then...well, what's up with that? The vampires he created were dead/undead, and all the other "laws" of vampire mythology seemed to apply to Eli, though he seems, despite his age, to be guessing at what's going on a lot of the time (like when he thought that Hakan couldn't come into the flat without being invited, and was wrong).

Anyway, you can tell by how much I want to discuss this book that I found it compelling. Let's just say it's all about the characters. If you're interested in artful writing, you could do a whole lot worse. If you're looking for a pounding, suspenseful, scary, plot-driven STORY, then you might want to just stick to the American Stephen King.(less) "

David Bessent read and liked Manny's review of Låt den rätte komma in:

"You know that bit at the beginning of Amadeus, where Salieri has composed this very uninspired little march, which he and the Emperor play for Mozart? Then Mozart sits down at the keyboard and says, hm, that's not quite right, is it? And he messes ar...more You know that bit at the beginning of Amadeus, where Salieri has composed this very uninspired little march, which he and the Emperor play for Mozart? Then Mozart sits down at the keyboard and says, hm, that's not quite right, is it? And he messes around with it for a couple of minutes, until he's suddenly transformed it into "Here's farewell to the games with the girls" from The Marriage of Figaro.

Well, it's like that Låt den rätte komma in and Twilight. John Ajvide Lindqvist has looked at Stephenie Meyer's book and said hm, that's not quite right, is it? And he's somehow rearranged its elements into a bloody masterpiece. I wouldn't have thought it could be done.

I can hear Mozart's irritating high-pitched giggle. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
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