Let Him In by William Friend

I haven't been gripped by a novel like this for a very long time. It is creepy, disturbing and all-consuming, and reaches the pit of the most visceral of emotions.

It is a simple story and immediately identifiable.  A newly widowed man struggles to deal with his grief and then his seven-year-old twin daughters tell him that there is a man in their room. Is this man an intruder or an imaginary friend? They say his name is Black Mamba and he begins to take control of the children with dangerous consequences. Professional help is required, especially as the influence of Black Mamba has now infiltrated the children at school.

This book is  about grief, life and death, religious belief and the afterlife. It looks at power and control, reality and imagination, science and faith. Above all are the gothic aspects of the past, of buildings and places that are so integral to essence of life. Very atmospheric as it is primarily set inside Hart House, a large, creepy, and isolated English country home. 

Tensely written in the first person, the story is told by two characters, alternating between the widowed father and his sister-in-law, who is also a psychotherapist, (so somewhere between a psychologist and a counsellor). She represents the science and logic although, through her upbringing, understands both sides, while the father spirals into a depression.

A powerful book expertly written. For those who like psychological fiction or anyone who has to deal with imaginary friends. Absolutely brilliant.

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Published by Poison Pen Press on the 3 October 2023.
​Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.

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