Wow, that was really creepy. From the cover to the plot and characters, I was creeped out the entire time. We have a large base of horror readers, so we are definitely going to purchase for the collection.

I was hoping for a creepy read where I needed lights on afterward. I enjoyed the beginning of this book regarding twins who have a “friend” that takes them on adventures.
As the story unfolds, my confusion rises. First, there is the house with a horrid history so you start to think it could be a paranormal twist. Then you add in the grandmother with her religious beliefs and rituals, and now you questions whether it’s a possessive/spiritual problem. The ending gets very chaotic and makes you believe it was all imaginary (except there wasn’t an explanation on what happened to the dad in the cellar. Did he pass out, did he switch bodies with Black Mamba). The end makes the reader decide what they think.

All in all, a decent fast read, but it definitely could have been better.

An interesting, though familiar premise, Let Him In was a quick, fun read. It was trope-heavy, and I expected the story to be a bit 'more horror' than it is, but there are still some creepy moments through the suspense.
It may just be me, but I was a little confused toward the end.
Overall, an entertaining, autumn-ready book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC by William Friend!

"Let Him in" is a well written multiple POV story told by Alfie and Julia.

All Hart House knows is grief. A grieving Alfie is left to fend for himself and twin daughters after the death of his wife.
Unexplainable things start to happen when his daughters speak about the "Man in our Room".
Julia, the twins aunt, arrives at the house to help but soon her own secrets and desires are brought to light.

Mr Friend beautiful dives into the ups and downs of losing someone while maintaining the horror and suspense factor to an all time high. I finished this book in just one sitting since every chapter kept you wanting more.
In overall, I rate this 4.5 out 5 since it left me feeling like some questions were left unanswered.

I will definitely recommend this book.

A unsettling story involving slightly creepy twins, left alone with a single father after their mother’s death. When an imaginary friend makes an appearance, the adults think it’s a normal manifestation of grief. Turns out that it’s anything but normal.

Recommended.

I was interested from the description and actual cover of this book. Once i started i felt like i was on the road to a fantastic read. In the beginning it was just that however, i did find a bit of it slow in the middle of the read. It is well written and a very good story just something about the middle to get to the secret seems slow. I recommend this book to those who enjoy reading to try and discover the ending as you go and staying the path till the end. All in all a good read.

Let Him In follows a widower, raising his twin daughters alone as he questions his own sanity. His twin daughters have an imaginary friend named Black Mamba. It seems Black Mamba is taking over and controlling his daughters. Is this invisible friend a paranormal being or just a figment of the girls' imaginations? The story has you guessing and curious from the first page. I have to say I enjoyed this story, it was quite different and not like most thrillers.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.
Let Him In is about Alfie, a recently widowed father, who finds himself with an unwelcome guest when his twin daughters tell him there’s a man in their bedroom. The story goes down many interesting routes, mainly demon and spooky spirits (if that’s what we want to call him) but nothing overly scary.
I do wish this book had more horror but it still kept my attention at most parts. Some of it was repetitive and made the book longer than it needed to be but I did enjoy the plot twist, cliffhanger ending.
I keep seeing VERY mixed reviews about this book and I was definitely nervous to read it but I’m glad I did. Given this, I would say I think you’ll either really like this book or really hate it. Good thing is that it it’s a relatively short read. I would recommend this book but I know it will not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC. Let Him In will be published October 3, 2023.

I went into this book only knowing what the synopsis was. I had this book finished within 24 hours. It had me on the edge of every page. It's a nail-biting, horror, gothic novel. I would say it is a mix of the movie Hereditary and The Boogieman. So, if you liked those, there is a good chance you'd enjoy this novel.

For most of the book, the reader's perspective is switching between Alfie and Julie. Both who are overcoming a tragic loss and maneuvering their grief. They come even closer together once Alfie's twin girls start to talk about a man figure in their room. While they aren't terrified of him, they start to change their behaviors. More or less, the novel grows to uncover secrets about all of them and leaves the reader guessing who is manifesting this shadowy figure that is taunting the house and the residents within.

For the most part, this book was incredibly written and well thought out. The details were enough to keep the figure and grief a "hidden" secret but well laid out for the reader to understand what was happening.

There were parts of the book that I personally found repetitive. I was so immersed in the story that I just wanted it to go and go and go. I needed to find out what was going to happen next. Yet, that repetitiveness is not a downfall on the storyline whatsoever. I can understand how it keeps emphasizing what is needed for the reader to know.

As a high school librarian, I found that parts of this book could be emotionally disturbing. Thankfully there is not any gore details or prudent remarks about death/suicide/ or other emotional personal trauma. This novel centers around a black shadowy figure, therefore I feel it would be appropriate for 16+ readers who are advanced in their reading comprehension and skills.

4/5 star rating for me. It was absolutely entertaining and well written. and I would love to read more from William Friend.

One night, Alfie awakens to discover his twin daughters standing at the foot of his bed, complaining about a mysterious presence in their chamber. He guesses the girls had a nightmare because he cannot find anything similar.

He is not shocked by their problems. The twins' mother Pippa died nine months ago, leaving Alfie to raise the children alone. Grief has settled in at Hart House. And now, it sounds like a reasonable coping method when the girls discuss a new imaginary acquaintance. However, the circumstance quickly turns into something more cunning. He was given a special seat at the table by the girls. They speak softly to him. They claim he's planning to remove them.

Alfie asks Julia, a psychiatrist, and Pippa's sister, to drive the evil renter out of their lives. However, Alfie starts to wonder about the true nature of the force that has poisoned his daughters' minds, with dark and violent consequences, as he himself is plagued by visions and someone is watching him at night.

Regardless of what this "friend" is, he doesn't want to go. Alfie will have to face his own embarrassing secrets, Hart House's sinister past, and even the limits of reality, or he runs the possibility of contributing to a terrible tragedy.

Do twins have similar thoughts? Is the house possessed? Or is it all due to great sadness?

The Friend's skill in starting strong, increasing the suspense, settling into a lull, and then shocking me with another terrifying twist was what I found most appealing.

Both the characters' and the readers' thoughts are deftly manipulated by the author, keeping them on the edge of their seats the entire time. The author throws a curveball that surprises you just when you think you have the plot figured out.

There are some portions in the book that I really appreciated, especially in terms of the author's word choice and phrasing. Only a few phrases evoke an incredible sense of sadness and hopelessness.

The book is more than just a horror story; it's also a study of sorrow and how it affects the entire family.


3,5/5

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC by William Friend!

I look forward to digging into this work and getting incredibly creeped out! It has been added to my shelf! I can already think of a few library patrons who would pull this off the shelf as soon as it comes in.

Let Him In by William Friend.

Please note that this feedback is for an advanced copy of the story and may not represent the final product.

Something may be wrong with the children. You don't know what it is or how to fix it. It's a parent's worst nightmare. Are the characters, all suffering from the aftermath of an unexpected loss, reliable narrators? Is what transpires over the course of the story real or imagined? You'll need to it to find out.

TLDR; A decent book that starts strong, contains a number of intriguing themes that aren't explored to satisfaction and which includes a few elements that hold it back, but it does manage to wrap things up.

Of the book reviews I've written to date, this has been the most challenging. It's not easy or fun providing feedback that can be construed as negative. Well, that isn't wholly true. It can be fun to lambast, say, an old so-bad-it's-good movie. It's not fun when a promising project falls prey to problems. Most of this story is good. However, a few elements knock it down several notches. Overall, this story is fine. However, it could've been so much more.

An abstract interlude representing the story:

Let's say that when reading a story, the author builds a blue raft, you climb aboard and it begins floating along an engineered river. This is not unlike a lazy river at a comfortable resort, but this one may include rapids, unexpected storms and sharks.

During the course of this story, the rafts encounters several objects hidden under the water. These experiences don't knock you off the platform, but may shift you to a new position. You may see swirling eddies in the water, but don't know what's causing them.

Why is the raft red? Wasn't it blue?

By the time you're halfway through this adventure, the sky may have changed color and the scenery, illuminated by lighting, may include elements you don't care for. You're still along for the ride. Where is the author going to take you? Are the ropes tying the logs that make up the raft beginning to unravel? Will you be delivered safely?

The river begins twisting and turning. On occasion it spins. You're not sure in what direction you're heading and you may feel a bit dizzy. Towards the end of the ride, a whirlpool suddenly appears, sucking the raft underwater.

Everything goes black. You don't know which direction is up. You can't breath. You're being pulled in a variety of directions. You begin to panic. And then the maelstrom of cacophonous disorder ends almost as abruptly as it began.

You're on the green raft again, floating lazily on serene water. Your clothes are dry and pressed. Did you just imagine that? What just happened? The raft continues to float downstream towards a sunset. How Rockwellian. Wait. As your drift toward the disembarking point, you realize that everything seem a bit off. Wasn't the raft red... or was it blue? Green? Why is the sky that color? Are the people waiting for you at the pier your friends? Something in their smiles is disquieting. Oh, it's probably just your imagination.

On returning to solid land:

The opening 20% of the book captured me. I found the story intriguing, wanted to know more and was excited to see where it led me.

However, over the course of the book, things are written that seem at odds with what was relayed earlier. Subtle things. A line here. A line there. This isn't new information, a twist, turn or reveal. It's not an unreliable narrator, source or perspective. It's different.

I wish I'd taken notes so that I could list what I'm referring to. This happened a few times and, while subtle, it's impact was felt like a record skipping. While these weren't the type of skips that required one to get up and reset the needle, they threw me out of the groove and it took time to get back into it... but an off feeling remained.

These skips could've become an interesting element of the story, but they weren't addressed. A part of me wants to read the book a second time to fully uncover these seemingly unintentional ghosts that haunt me, but this isn't my job. A few edits and/or additions could exorcise these apparitions or loan them definition. Either way would be fine. Building upon them may be more interesting and, if done well, would add another unsettling aspect to the experience.

I remained invested in the book up to the 50-60% mark. Elements were introduced to the story that came across as a bit hazy. Several of these elements were never wrapped up, which may be what the author intended. Sometimes ambiguity can be a positive. In this instance, it left me feeling unsatisfied.

Towards it's close, the story took a dramatic turn. While aspects of it had been steadily escalating, it didn't seem to be near this point in the race yet. The yarn didn't appear to know how it wanted to unspool, at times leading in one direction and then another. The story then decided to take an abrupt and confusing short-cut. We're suddenly in clear skies and only a few yards from the finish line... and then the story is over. Wait, what? Weren't we only two-thirds of the way through the race? Was something left out?

[And what's with all these metaphors?]

I wanted the book to work. It started so strong. It has such interesting elements. It was wrapped up in the end, but I found the prime catalyst confusing and rushed. It seemed like there were missing pieces to the puzzle leading up the what happened that were never revealed.

What happens wasn't wholly unexpected. It's something I predicted towards the beginning of the book. It just doesn't seem earned in that the escalation over the course of the book doesn't lead to where the book ended up. At least, not all of the dots are connected. Is the final picture going to be a giraffe or the Eiffel Tower? It's as if a few chapters or key passages were left out. The signposts don't direct the reader to this point.

While the story didn't stick the landing after an abrupt turning point towards the end of the book, it managed a graceful recovery of sorts. The story ends with an all-too-brief passage that felt like a Cliff's Notes epilogue of sorts. However, it concludes on a much appreciated disquieting note that I wish were more present throughout the story, not unlike recurring themes in a good movie soundtrack. Every time a moment like this occurred during the story, it was welcome.

All this typed, the author is talented and writes well. I look forward to seeing what the they produce next.

Overall rating: 2.5 stars. This work is closer to a 3 than a 2.


***


Additional notes (which cover some of what's above in a different manner):

* INCLUDES SPOILERS *

The story contains a number of interesting themes, including whether what's happening is real or imagined, as well as the potential of exploring how multiple perspectives interpret what's happening, which includes a shared loss. These perspectives include those of young twins, a child psychologist (also a twin) who secretly pines for a widow, a grieving widow (who was married to the psychologist's twin sister, who died abruptly in a manner that may not be what it seems), and two grandmothers (both with unusual beliefs, one of whom also experienced a loss that may be related to what's transpiring in the story).

I wish all of these themes were explored in greater depth. There's a lot to mine here. Perhaps too much. The story may have been better served had the possibilities been pared.

These perspectives could shift and play with the reader's understanding of the story and subvert the reader's expectations. All of the perspectives are intriguing. Unfortunately, the story only scratches the surface of some of these possibilities. I wish the author picked one or two perspectives (contradicting ones would've added some nice tension) and hopped into the respective rabbit holes.

One of the interesting elements of the story is the "is it or isn't it" trope. Is what's happening real or imagined? Unfortunately, early in the story, it seems to lean in the direction that what's happening is supernatural, but continues to play with the notion that it could go either way. Late in the story, in an abrupt, brief and confusing passage, it's made clear that what's happening is, in fact and fiction, supernatural.

What happened is unclear. There's an entity. It replaces a character. What is the entity? What's it's motivation? Is it one of the characters referred to during the story (the father who committed suicide, the son who drowned, the son who unexpectedly died, someone or something else) and what is the significance of, if any, the baby at the end of the story? What were the beliefs of the cult that the grandmothers were involved in? What was their intent? I've so many questions. I'm fine with ambiguity and even appreciate it when used well, but feel the reader needed more clarity on a number of story elements. They didn't need to be defined, just slightly more in focus. Some of the provided information resulted in a loss of focus (but not always in a positive way).

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an ARC to review!

2 stars!

I love the cover of this!! Stunning!

The premise was also soooo good I was really hoping to get an arc as it really caught my interest.

Sadly the story for me fell a little flat. I wanted the book to be more of one thing than having a mix. If the book was more horror and focused more on that, or if it stuck to being a thriller and just that it would have worked but at some points it felt like it was dragging a little too.

Obviously wasn't a top read for me but might be for someone else!

I have mixed feelings about this book. Very spooky, but ultimately felt a little flat.

The beginning of this book felt cheesy, like it was trying a bit too hard. But once it got into the actual spooky depth of the book, I was hooked! I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next and it was so unsettling.

The ending felt a bit rushed and jumbled. I have unanswered questions and felt more time should have been put into the explanation of the events.

Overall, worth the read for the whole middle part of the book!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review!

Alfie lost his wife, Pippa, nine months before the beginning of Let Him In, the debut novel by William Friend. Their twins, Cassia and Sylvia, start waking Alfie up as they claim to have seen a man in their room in the middle of he night. This occurs nightly, then seems to settle down until Alfie realizes his daughters have an imaginary friend who they call Black Mamba. The girls start to misbehave, blaming Black Mamba, and Alfie asks Julia, Pippa’s twin and a psychiatrist, to help out. Is Black Mamba imaginary, or could he be real?

I so much wanted to like this book. I’m drawn to the horror tropes of houses with bad histories, and imaginary friends who may be real. For me, the book just didn’t come together. I didn’t experience any sense of fright, much less dread, and just couldn’t get into the story. While I usually don’t mind books with multiple points of view, this style of writing just didn’t work for me in Let Him In. On the plus side, the main characters were fairly well developed.

My thanks to Netgalley and to Poisoned Pen Press, for giving me the opportunity of reading and reviewing Let Him In.

I’m having conflicted feelings about this book. I was initially drawn in by that cover, then the synopsis had me hooked. And I did enjoy the book, for the most part, but it felt a little bit unfinished. I’m still not sure what exactly happened in the end, and there were some plot points during the story that could have been expanded on more. There were several characters mentioned whose deaths occurred before the start of where this book picks up, and they each seemed significant to the plot, however I felt they could have been touched on a little more. There were also some religious elements that were not fully explored, in my opinion.
I did like the characters; The tension between Alfie and Julia felt believable as they both grieved the death of Pippa in their own ways, and the twins and their friend were well written, creepy children.
Overall, it was a quick read with enjoyable characters, it just could have used a few more pages to expand on some of the story lines.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Let Him In in exchange for my honest review.

I had a tough time getting in to this book. It was unsettling, which is what you would expect - but not in a good way. The writing style is definitely not for me sadly. Thank you so much for allowing me to read.

This was really good and had me hooked! There’s just something about creepy kids in these kind of books that get me hooked

✨I’ve never had such a difficult time rating/reviewing a book 🤔

It’s not often I question my book choices. It takes a lot - as I feel I find a way to enjoy any/all my reads - for me to NOT like a book ❌

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy Let Him In. I did. But only when I felt I ✨understood✨ what it was about (this is the biggest problem I expect readers to have).

It’s a peculiar one. I want to say labeling it “horror/fiction” doesn’t seem.. fitting, perhaps? I don’t know - I’m no editor/publisher/marketing exec 🤷‍♀️. But I was EXPECTING something different & I fear readers may think the same (as is proof by the DM’s I’ve received & by the reviews I perused on GR).

My point is I’m not sure it’s being marketed correctly 🤨

With that, see below for my spoiler-free snapshot review of…

LET HIM IN | William Friend | @poisonedpenpress

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(?) / 5

“A recently widowed father is struggling to raise his family alone, when one night he’s awoken to his daughters at the foot of his bed, claiming there's a shadowy figure in their bedroom…”

👻 as mentioned, it was difficult to give any kind of rating because I don’t feel the back cover correctly portrays the plot. I’m still toggling between a 3.5 & 4 star rating. This book is good - it’s simply not my style & not WHY I picked it, hence my struggle.

👻 In my mind, Let Him In is NOT 👏 A 👏 GHOST 👏 STORY. It’s not even particularly scary. Sure, bits & pieces were maybe unsettling but that’s not the point of it. For me, Let Him In is about a family dynamic that’s hanging by a thread, having been shaken, broken, reeling, deep in the throes of grief. It’s about a parents disconnect from their child, a child’s desire for affection, a families search for answers & the root of it all: how humans cope.

👻 loved Friend’s patience, the delicate parsing of his characters psyche

👻 by the end I found the story to be brief + refreshing. I appreciated it once I felt I understood it - which isn’t a spooky bedtime story. However, I’m afraid it’ll attract negative reviews because it’s misunderstood.

👻 reminiscent of The Babadook

& my good-to-knows:
🔪 mild sexual depictions
🔪 mild violence involving children
🔪 covers death & grieving extensively

3.5 stars, this was spooky and unsettling (as all horror involving kids is) but this one just slightly mossed the mark for me.