Not too sure how to review this. Dark and an interesting book but found myself forcing myself to finish it

I love a seriously creepy story, and I got my fix with Norah Vincent's Thy Neighbor which was released last week. I was a big fan of her other two books, Self-Made Man and Voluntary Madness, so I was pumped about this book.

Nick Walsh has a rough past--right after his college graduation, his father shoots his mother and then himself. Never understanding what could have happened that night, Nick lives a plush existence in the house in which he grew up. He rises at dusk, writes a little here and there, and spends the majority of his time spying on his neighbors through stealthily hidden cameras in their homes. One day, quite suddenly, pieces of the puzzle start to come together when he is contacted by a stranger that seems all too close.

This book was one of those that I couldn't figure out where the hell it was going and I couldn't put it down until I found out. It was winding and unclear and fascinating and overpowering in my need to discover who this man, Nick, truly is and what his past means. The book was creepy--and I believe it was meant to be. There were moments that I felt slightly uncomfortable, and I appreciate this feeling. It's great to have to examine why it is I am creeped out or uncomfortable.

I found Nick as a character intriguing although not sympathetic; he is a mess and a bit of a jerk and he is not supposed to be loved by the reader. I believe he is supposed to be investigated. In fact, very few characters in this novel are sympathetic; each has pretty horrible qualities and I absolutely appreciated this in a novel. Sometimes I get tired of sympathy--I want raw and real and human and non-linear characters.

So overall I would say this book is pretty great. I am still thinking about it days after finishing it, and to me that is a sign of a story that pulls at sections of my brain that other works of literature do not. I am grateful for stories like these.