Let Me In

By: John Ajvide Lindqvist

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

John Ajvide Lindqvist's vampire novel Let Me In was adapted into an award-winning Swedish movie and made into an American film and is now a TV show available to stream on Showtime!

It is autumn 1981 when inconceivable horror comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenager is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last—revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.

But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door—a girl who has never seen a Rubik's Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . . .Sweeping top honors at film festivals all over the globe, Let Me In has received the same kind of spectacular raves that have been lavished on the book. American and Swedish listeners of vampire fiction will be thrilled!

Following the success in Sweden, this movie was remade in 2010 starring Kodi Smit Mcpheem, Chloe Grace Moretz and Richard Jenkins changing its name from the Swedish Let The Right One In. The story has continued to reach new viewers in a London Musical and John Ajvide Lindqvist's book remains a vampire favorite among its listeners.

©2004 John Ajvide Lindqvist (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Absolutely chilling. This page-turner grabs you from the onset and just won't let go. Vampires at their Anne Ricean best!” —L. A. Banks, author of the Vampire Huntress series

“Readers are familiar with modern Sweden through its distinctive crime fiction. Now John Ajvide Lindqvist is taking a Gothic look at the country's dark side. Henning Mankell's gloomy police procedurals were the first to become international bestsellers in the middle 1990s and spearheaded an explosion, but the latest publishing phenomenon to come out of Sweden seems to be plumping for a different genre. John Ajvide Lindqvist has become an overnight cult figure.” —The Age (Australian)

“It is easy to compare Lindqvist to Clive Barker or Neil Gaiman. When you reach the last page, you are left with the wonderful tingling sensation that only comes with a brand-new love affair or a really great book.” —Dagens Næringsliv (Norway)

Slow Paced Thriller

If you are looking for a fast pace horror novel look else where, this book is slow and at times frustrating. However ultimately it tells an interesting story and is well worth a listen for those who have some patience.


Being set in the '80s is an odd choice but with all the references to Rubik's cubes and leather vests it can be amusing and awkward at times. This story is more about the relationships of the characters than the horror of vampires and this is what helps it stand out as different and worthwhile.


On a technical note I had some issues where the first part would play each chapter twice, this may be isolated to my iPhone as downloading the file again did not help. Also, while I initially did not feel that the narrator was right for the book I soon got past it as the quirkiness of his accent fits in eventually.

A very good read!

I was drawn in early to the story, and it kept me interested until the very end. My only complaint is that the book puts a charactor twist on the young vampire, that the movies or other reviews fail to recognize or acknowledge. I happen to think this twist made the story line less enjoyable, but at least be true to the book when using it elsewhere. I think Lindqvist was trying to make some kind of social statement, but it didn't need to be made here. Worth the credit though.

An amusement park of depravity!

This book is completely amazing. It will stay with you long after you finish. A word of caution, however... This discusses explicit and difficult subject matter in great depth. Even without that subject matter, it would still be terrifying. It's not for everyone.

Beautiful and Creepy

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved Eli. Seldom have I met a character who was as ambiguous as Eli is. Eli is complex in unexpected ways and serves (at least for me) as the heart of the story as it is Eli that truly drives many elements and weaves them together.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene had to be where Eli was revealed as Vampire to Oscar.

A proper vampire story

I first saw Let The Right One In and immediately loved the movie, so I decided to check out the book and did not regret it in the slightest. This is such a great story with many emotional layers very wonderfully woven in. This is a proper vampire story and renews my hope for this area in the horror genre. This is a book I will revisit again.

If you liked the movie you'll love this

The book goes into much darker places as precious reviewers had alluded to. Adds a lot of depth to the story. Definitely worth a listen.

fresh take on vampires

I enjoyed this story as it approaches vampires from their perspective and the ramifications of not allowing controled killings by their handlers. I enjoyed this authors style and performance was excellent.

Good overall story, but for the pedophilia aspects

Good overall story, but the pedophilia aspects make my stomach turn. I know that stuff happens, just hard to hear. As for the vampire aspects, I really liked it.

Mature Writing vs. Puberty Materials

After watching the American version of the movie, I really wanted to read the book. It's been on the back burner for a while and I finally broke down and purchased the title. This is not my first introduction of this author. I have read, "Handling the Undead", which was good, but "Let Me In" is what I was waiting for to become a fan of his writing.

Unlike the typical horror story, Lindqvist writes at if it's almost like a dark drama, love story, but without the tween saga. The thriller will gripe you in, where you can't stop turning the pages, or in my case, couldn't stop listening. I usually don't read the book after watching the movie, but in this case, I just knew that the book would be excellent.

This is one of my favorite reads in a while simply because the author could had wrote this book to please teen pop culture, with yucky vampire love and your typical fairy tale, but he didn't. Lindqvist used his own twisted imagination, where the puppy love between the vampire girl and the boy, is not the center point of the plot, but it's a background drop of the story.

After reading this book, one can understand mature writing versus adolescent puberty materials, from the same vampire genre.

The cat scene is awesome. I just wished that it was written in the movie also.

the movie was much better than the book.

It was decent, but the pedo overtones were way more disturbing than the vampires. Also the author cut away from action moments. Reader is good. Movie is better than the book because it focussed on the good parts and trimmed the nonsense out