5/5 A disturbing, contemporary twist on vampires
There is so much great Scandinavian fiction around and this novel is no exception. This is a gritty and grungy tale set in the suburbs of Stockholm in Blackeberg, a housing project that is as bleak as its name suggests.
It centers around Oskar a twelve-year-old boy from a broken home who is the target of some vicious bullies at his school. Trying to navigate his way in life is a constant trial and when he makes a new friend, Eli, in the playground outside his apartment one night things start to look up. Eli is mysterious and a bit weird but they find themselves drawn to each other. Two young kids trying to find meaning and understanding. Both lonely and unseen.
The writing was engaging, unapologetic and quite harrowing at times. The characters are flawed and human, all sharp edges and rough surfaces presenting a microcosm of the dingier side of life that we walk past every day and turn our eyes from like the homeless and drunks, who we find in this tale are just as real and human and heroic in their own way. A real-world setting for an ancient tale that shows you the ugly side of humanity.
Oskar is a lost soul with an interest in grim crime and when a brutal murder takes place in a nearby suburb it fascinates Oskar. The Ritual Killer the murderer is named whose own tale is sad and tragic and degenerate and it stirs the community to terror since he cannot be found.
What I loved so much about this story and the horror elements of it was the depiction of the Ritual Killer who transforms into a zombie-like character. The vampire legend was so well realised. The aversion to sunlight was so vividly described you could feel the agony. The threshold barrier a vampire could not cross without invitation was the best explanation I have ever read.
It is a dark tale and there is not much joy to be found in its pages for our protagonist. It is bleak and grim and sad and is oftentimes disturbing but always, always it is compelling. A mirror held up that shows the ugliness of humanity and that the monster lives within us all but for circumstance.
As you might have been able to glean from my review. I liked this book. Not a book I would rush back to but it certainly is one I was pleased to have read.
A D Green 