I did not like this book at all. The characters, the plot twist. I thought it was supernatural and it turned out differently.

I got 1/4 of the way through and just gave up. I did not like the style of writing and thw story just didnt grab me. I tried to keep going but I found myself skipping large chunks just to get through it.

Thanks to netgalley for the prerelease ebook,but I just can't recommend it.

I've given this book a 4 star rating as it had a great premise and the ending pulled everything together.
This is a good start for debut author William Friend Really enjoyed his writing style and would definitely read another story by him. He is British and there were some new words that pertained to the country he was from.
The book is written from two perspectives, Julia and Alfie, and bounces between the now time and the past building a foundation for what is going on in the present. The characters all of them engage in very detailed and repetitive dreams. The first 70% of the book is really a slow burn.
Was this book scary - no, creepy -no. Mind you I have a very high tolerance to scary, but honestly I did not find it as a true horror. The story is based on the premise of grief. Alfie and his twin daughters, Cassia and Sylvia, had recently lost their mom, Pippa, to anaphylactic shock. They are all dealing with their grief in different ways including Pippas twin sister, Julia. The twins begin seeing a person they call Black Mamba that can turn into any form of animal and take them to faraway places. To their fathers and Julia’s bewilderment at this revelation, the two make an attempt to dissuade the twins from their vivid illusions of Black Mamba, and specially when it begins to have negative affects on everyone.
The story is steeped in religious undertones pertaining to spirits and demons but not to the point of being distracting from the story. It’s based on the parents of the older characters beliefs, but not the beliefs of the older children. Matter of fact Pippa had discouraged any contact with her twins by her mom due to the stories she would tell the twins. If the religious aspect was over the top, I would not have finished this book as I do not enjoy any book that is reaped in religion.
All in all it is a good thing bought ghost story by an author who clearly has a flare for words and story telling
Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC copy on exchange for my honest review

Meet Sylvia and Cassia. They are twin girls bonded by genetics and isolated through tragedy. All they need is each other; until they make a most dangerous. Discover the power of truth, belief, and love in this dark, gothic psychological horror story. The tone of the book was dismal and desperate, suspending the reader in a spiritual limbo as the truth is revealed. Let him in was provocative and creepy, unique and anxiety-inducing. I am left with many questions and a feeling of unease. Thank you to NetGalley and the Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review .

Let Him In is my first book by author William Friend. I selected this book solely for the cover art. It looked eerie and a bit spooky. Perfect for the beginning of the spooky season. Being a big horror fan, I was all in!

The setting of the book was the creepy haunted house, Hart House. The story follows a grieving father, Alfie, and his twin girls after the death of his wife, Pippa. The twins reveal they have been experiencing visits from an imaginary friend called Black Mamba. Mysterious and sinister things begin to happen that put Alfie on guard, fearing his family is at risk.

While there was a slow buildup of tension, it lacked something for me. This was not a jump scare type of book; it was more psychological suspense. A family dealing with grief and trauma. The book was a bit too slow for me. The book's vibe was pretty good, and I enjoyed it.

Thank you to Netgalley, William Friend, and Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me an eARC of Let Him In. I am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Let Him In was a creepy story that I mostly enjoyed reading. It's perfect for the upcoming spooky season!

The pacing of the book felt a little off to me and seemed to drag in the beginning. I thought the storyline was interesting but I didn't find myself constantly wanting to pick up the book and continue. This did get better in the last quarter of the book when the story gains speed. While it definitely did have creepy moments, there were definitely some underwhelming moments for me as well.

I think this read really depends on the reader. While I did like it I was left wanting more. I have seen many others absolutely love every bit of this book, so I still do recommend for others to check it out! Especially with October coming up soon.

Thank you to William Friend, Poisoned Pen Press, and Netgalley for providing me with a free ARC of this book to read and review.

I was absolutely attracted to the cover of this book. Had to do a double take on it to fully see the creepy details. And the gist felt horrifying enough. But... I am left perturbed after finishing it.

Alfie is a single dad to twin girls, after tragically losing his wife. Nine months after her passing, the girls woke him up in the middle of the night, horrifically telling him there was a man in their room. That was the start to erratic and unbecoming behaviours, weird dreams and sightings plus secrets of a family filled with tragic passings and a house with a dark past.

Everything sounded legit good. Even the story had moments of intensity and ominous horror. Friend's writing felt eerie and it had plenty of points which pulled you in deep, making you turn the pages hurriedly, wanting to know more. The pacing was a weebit wonky, high at some points then it dipped and then peaked again.

But 85% into the story, while i was expecting an explanation and getting a clearer picture of the whole haunting or possession or whateverthethingis, i am left even more confused then before. Huh?! And a real eww point involving Alfie and his sister in law just did not sit right with me. Though at the very very last bit,there is a sentence that leaves you hanging in a sense, whoa i felt that part was smart. But as a whole, i was simply too confused by the huh? parts that mask as an explanation/closure. I would say this was a psychological horror which carried much suspense but fell flat in the end for me.

2.5 rounded up.

Let Him In is gothic, spooky, atmospheric, and guaranteed to send chills down your spine. Perfect start to my spooky season reads.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced digital review copy.

I really enjoyed this story and the characters. Creepy at times and did not expect that ending. Would definitely recommend!

Let Him In was well-set up based on the book's synopsis. The cover alone made me want to read this ARC, along with the synopsis. Unfortunately, for me, I did not find this book haunting or scary. If anything, it was more dismal and grief-stricken. This book touches on family death(s), mourning, and psychotherapy. It was hard to distinguish the true angle of the book. Drama? Horror?

The premise was great, but the execution and power of "the man" that could have presented was lackluster. I would describe at as a movie scene where you feel a creepy presence, but then there is a flat line. The story loses mobility; the adrenaline rush does not kick in; the expected enthusiasm is not being generated.

Friend, himself is a good writer. He's descriptive, creative, and I was engaged throughout the story, as it held interest, but it is not a thriller to me. Let Him In isn't a book I'd recommend to someone who wants a scare. I would be interested in other books by the author.

For the classification and confusion of the stories' true genre, I will have to say it was a two-star read for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this Arc.

Let Him In is about twins who develop an imaginary friend after their mother passed away. Their father consults their aunt, his wife's sister, for help as she is a family psychotherapist. The story follows them helping the twins work through their grief and let go of this imaginary friend. But is he really imaginary?
Overall I did enjoy this read. I did feel like the pacing was off a little as the first half of the book felt very slow and I was losing interest, but I'm glad I continued because all of the best parts of the book happen in the second half.
There were a lot of spooky scenes in this book which I loved. This would be a great read for the Halloween season. It was much more of a haunted house story than I anticipated, which was a nice surprise.
I didn't quite understand why the imaginary friend was called Black Mamba. It was never really explained for sure a specific name. I couldn't take it seriously anytime the name was mentioned.
Also, it was much more of a haunted house story than I thought, so I was happy about that personally.
Overall, I thought the ending was great and left room for debate on what actually happened.

A really upsetting, spooky and dark story set in a mysterious house and with creepy twin girls. All that was missing was a clown to make this the stuff of my personal nightmares. To say why I enjoyed it so much would require spoilers so I will do my best. What I liked the most is how the book can have such different interpretations. Are the characters hallucinating, dreaming, lying or is there a supernatural force at work? Alfie just lost his wife and is trying to raise his twin daughters with the help of his sister in law. He tries hard but is barely functioning. Then, the girls suddenly have an imaginary friend. Now that is not that unusual in itself but what is not normal is that said friend is a grown man called black mamba (being named after one of the most lethal creatures on Earth is never a good sign). I liked the way that the characters are written. They are not perfect and I wanted to slap them sometimes, but also empathized with them and understood why they were acting in such ways. I really loved the last part of the story, including the ending. Five stars!
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Poisoned Pen Press!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poison Pen Press for the opportunity to read and review this debut horror from William Friend.

This was a slow burn of a horror novel with a great ominous feel as it is set in a home that comes with quite a backstory. Alfie, the dad, has lost his wife. He is adrift and grieving and not coping well with his rather precocious twin daughters. Add in guilt, a fruitcake of a mother-in=law who has a sister with dementia and the dead wife's psychologist sister and the stage is set. if this isn't enough, the twins have a new imaginary friend (who may not be imaginary) named Black Mamba who according to the twins can take many forms and does. From this the family is set to spiral out of control.
I wasn't really pleased with the ending and a few times my interest lagged but kudos to the author for engaging me enough to continue. I will be on the alert for his next offering for sure!
If you are a horror fan, don't miss this one!

Well that was creepy!
I admit Let Him In started off slow, but it laid the foundation as we got to know the characters and what they were going through. Alfie lost his wife, Pippa, and his twin daughters were also struggling with the loss as they created an imaginary friend who comforted them. His POV accompanied Pippa’s twin sister, Julia, who was also struggling with the loss of her twin and her moms deteriorating health.
The book used grief, the setting of the Hart House, imaginary friends, and the beliefs of Pippa and Julia’s mother to create a fantastic horror novel that felt creepy and atmospheric.
The ending was fantastic… no spoilers, but I really loved the way it ended!
Overall, this one was worth the initial investment and I couldn’t put it down once I pushed through the beginning, so I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a good read this spooky season.

Alfie, grieving the loss of his wife, is now left to care for his twin daughters by himself. One day the girls see a black shadow which eventually becomes their new friend, Black Mamba who brings dark consequences and Alfie is left to figure out if it’s just make believe or if something sinister is at work. Are the children just dealing with the loss of their mother in their own way, or is there more to it than that? Is is paranormal, supernatural, God or demons? Alfie calls upon his sister in law, who also happens to be his late wife’s twin, and is also a psychologist, to come and talk to the girls and to try and get rid of Black Mamba but soon Alfie is also having visions at night and questioning the dark forces at play because whatever this “friend” is, he doesn’t want to leave and Alfie is going to have to face his past and the past of the Hart House in order to be set free.
The idea of Black Mamba and mythology isn’t something I’ve read a lot about so for me it was fairly unique and I wish it had been executed a little better. And the religion aspect should have been flushed out more. But the author does have an interesting writing style and I will look for his future work.
Thanks to the author Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for this Earc in exchange for my review.

This horror novel follows Alfie and his twin daughters - Sylvie and Cassia - 9 months after his wife's accidental death. What starts as an assumed nightmare of the twins seeing a man in their room evolves into a shared imaginary friend, Alfie reaches out to his wife's sister, Julia. Psychologist Julia initially sees nothing out of the ordinary about the girls' behavior but as she spends more time with the grieving family, memories of her own childhood start surfacing. As the situation with Alfie and the girls start escalating - including hallucinations and physical danger - this friend might be more than imaginary after all.

TW/CW: death of a spouse, death of a parent, suicide, child endangerment, child neglect, domestic violence, miscarriage, grief

The atmosphere of this whole read is spot on. The book opens with heavy grief and even the creepy stuff gets circled back to grief. Yeah, the girls and their imaginary friend are a little weird and something feels off, but they're just grieving the way children do. Or that Alfie is overly sensitive due to his own grief. This is reflected perfectly with the family being basically self-isolated in this old and grand home. As we learn more about the backstory of the home and the events that happened in the past, we can't help but see how that could be impacting the current day story. I'd categorize this read as a pretty quiet, creepy read. We do have some moments of action, but for the most part we're in solid creepy kid story territory.

The horror elements were so delicately balanced, I was surprised that this was a debut. I think it would have been easy for this type of story to get over the top with the horror. And while that might have worked very well also, this sort of more subdued, gently escalating horror was great. Creepy kids are almost always a win and them being twins really was the cherry on top. I liked how we get a mix of them being their usually creepy selves - like seemingly able to communicate telepathically - but then the line gets crossed and now there's maybe something supernatural going on. It felt like the type of horror that I could very well imagine happening in real life where it is just unsettling and strange enough that it makes you wonder but if you aren't a believer in the supernatural/paranormal then you also can come up with explanations for the events.

As far as characters go, this felt very much like a snapshot in time. The majority of the story takes place over a 3 day span, but we do get some flashbacks as well. This short time span didn't give a whole lot of time for much character development. We also see the characters being stagnant due to grief, which also doesn't change a whole lot over 3 days. Friend does a good job of giving us details of these characters through their actions and reactions with other characters. We alternate POVs between Alfie and Julia so we do get their internal dialogue during their chapters. What I absolutely loved is that the children actually read like children. They weren't overly precocious or intellectual for their age and the creepy kid factor then hits that much harder when the kids read as realistic.

I think the ending might be a hit or miss with readers. I found it toeing the line of being frustratingly ambiguous in the same way that the ending of Inception was. We spend this whole book following these characters and seeing the escalation of something that may or may not be supernatural. Then it just sort of ... ends. We do get a epilogue that flashes forward a few months and I found that to also end on sort of an ambiguous note. I think what saved this ending for me was that we have enough textual evidence to support the reading in either direction. I'm certainly swaying in one direction but I can absolutely see the argument for the other reading being the 'real' ending. I also found this ambiguous ending to work well as this theme of trying to figure out what is real or not comes up a lot throughout the book.

Overall, this was a great atmospheric, creepy read. The horror elements were balanced well and the ambiguous ending was pulled off well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press. Expected publication date is October 3, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this opportunity to read rate and review this arc which will be available October 3,2023!

Recently widowed father, Twin daughters and an imaginary friend named Black Mamba. It starts off creepy and never ever stops. The writer has got the creepy kids trope down pat and add in constant tension and terror and you the perfect book to add to your spooky season tbr. I had to read this during the day. It had me jumping at shadows!

4.25 stars

This was a bit of a mind f**k. I’m still a bit unsure of what even happened.

Alfie is raising his twin daughters alone after the death of their mother. Recently, they have been coming in his room at night talking about a man in their room. They call him Black Mamba.

Julia, their mom’s twin sister has been somewhat absent from their lives since her passing, but she arrives to see how they are all doing. Clearly, things are not going great. And the increasing presence of the twins’ imaginary friend is putting a strain on things.

When Black Mamba becomes more demanding and bad things start happening, Allie and Julia have to figure out what is really going on. And it’s not good.

There were so many layers to this horror novel. There is borderline religious trauma, supernatural horror, the very creepy twin vibe, and a very unsettling psychological thriller element that had me in circles!

I thought this was fantastic. I love the creepy overall feel I got with this. I didn’t know what was really at play here and I’m not sure I fully get it upon finishing it. All I can say is that it made me uncomfortable to look in the shadowy places in my house.

YO... what a weird one. Always trust little kids who say they see things... Those effers are spiritual masterminds I SWEAR. I jumped when I got audiobook access to Let Him In from Dreamscape Media, and I'm also very thankful to William Friend, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Netgalley for granting me digital access as well. Let Him In is a psychological/paranormal horror that will keep you guessing and wondering what's real until the very end. This baby is projected to hit shelves on October 3, 2023, so get those pre-orders in NOW!

After the sudden death of Pippa, her widowed husband and twin daughters are left in shambles, grieving the way they need to, and for Cassia and Sylvie that means co-depending on their new imaginary friend, Black Mamba... who comes to them in many forms. At a loss, Alfie calls upon Pippa's surviving twin sister, Julia whose a therapist and specializes in these behavioral lapses.

For a short while, Julia moves in to help Alfie out and care for the girls, but what she ends up discovering is deeper and darker, and way more dangerous that an imaginary play friend, there are roots to curses, seances, and dark history that aims to hurt all in its path. Can Julie and Alfie put a stop to this malicious force before it takes more lives?

This title has been selected for coverage in Fangoria Magazine's Nightmare Library column (October 2024 issue). Please reach out to the reviewer directly for more information.