thank you to William Friend, the publisher Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC in exchange for my personal for review.

I like the cover. It's nifty.

This book was not for me. It was toooooo slow in the beginning and middle then whizzed through the end.

But, the writer does a great job with characteristics that make you feel like you were there in the story with the characters. I wish I could give a half star because this book isn't quite a 3 but also not yet a 4.

This was a creative and creepy way to show how grief affects us all differently. The writing was a bit repetitive and slow, but pushing through, I found the ending quite satisfying! I loved the twins they made me feel so uneasy, black mamba was written perfectly in my opinion and Alfie's development throughout the book was great! Although I do understand why the religious aspects were there, I did find it quite dragging, I enjoy this and am still obsessed with the cover!

A recent widower drowning in grielf. His 8-year-old twin daughters. An imaginary friend. Or is he?
This is a slow-burn horror novel with Gothic vibes, a dash of thriller, and a sprinkle of literary fiction. William Friend does an excellent job of creating believable characters who have suffered a real tragedy. The writing is seamless and flowing, but I felt as though the plot moved too slowly at the beginning and middle of the book and too fast at the end. All in all, however, a classic horror read: hauntings/ghosts, occult, creepy old houses? Yes please.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thankful to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. Seeing as it comes out in October it will be perfect for spooky season! Alfie and his twin daughters are adjusting to the loss of Pippa, beloved mother and wife. The twins come up with a seemingly harmless imaginary friend to cope although the situation quickly becomes a bit more sinister. The lines between reality and imagination are blurred and Alfie can’t be quite sure he’s doing his best. Aunt Julia his wife’s twin comes to help and soon finds she’s also not sure what’s a remnant from her past living there or something taking over the twins! Really enjoyed this book and it kept me engaged!

I rather enjoyed this book! It gave me the creeps to the point I had to walk around my house at night with a flashlight because the shadows reminded me of the book. I definitely recommend this book and have suggested friends preorder their own copies.

This atmospheric, suspenseful debut novel grips you tight and doesn’t let go. And, look, I’m just going to say it, twins are creepy. So add to that a recent widower, and a potentially supernatural intruder that destroys the demarcation between nightmare and waking life? You’ve already sold me, and this book lives up to that premise. It really has two central characters, as the narration shifts between their two perspectives, and both feel like full, interesting characters, full of their own secrets and mystery while still being far more than boring archetypes. The secondary characters are all interesting enough too, enough that I never felt like there was anything perfunctory about them. I really enjoyed the writing. Moving between two perspectives but always focused on the same events, it was tight and focused. Yet it also slipped into memories and nightmares fluidly, as the events of the story conjured up events from the past. There were never any clunky information dumps, it was just a dreamlike, almost untrustworthy blurring between past and present that was really delightful to read. None of the writing or dialogue felt forced, it was all convincing and made these characters and their experiences feel real. Also, the book ends and there is still mystery, still doubt, about what exactly happened, and why. There are answers, but also doubts, and the characters’ untrustworthy memories and relationships leave a lot of doors open, but this never feels flimsy, it doesn’t feel like we are cheated. Reading it, it feels confident the author knows exactly what is happening, and how and why, but as mired as we are in out protagonists’ minds we only get a partial glimpse, an incomplete understanding, and that’s ok, it feels open-ended in the best ways. Lastly, there is a creeping dread and growing tension that is really successfully employed throughout the whole book. The creepiness starts happening quickly, it doesn’t wait until act two, which is great. And it starts off with small things, almost innocuous, (of course, as readers we know it is anything but,) and it slowly builds, reaching a great conclusion with some genuinely frightening moments, well-paced and timed just right to keep you hooked. The story itself is not groundbreaking or going to redefine any genres, but it is a great example of what it wants to be, straddling the lines of gothic haunted house vibes and supernatural/occult horror. If you’re someone well-versed in these genres, you might be able to guess where things are going, and if you had asked me at the halfway point how things were end, my guess would have been about 90% right. But this didn’t bother me, because the writing wasn’t sloppy or telegraphed, and everything felt earned, as the story slowly built itself piece by piece. If you are heavily entrenched in these genres and you are looking for something that will totally surprise you and redefine the genres, you will be disappointed. If, instead, you want a really well-executed love letter to the genres, that is full of interesting characters, a lot of heart, and buckets of suspense, then you will have a lot of fun with this story. I enjoyed every second, and devoured it in two sittings.

I want to thank the author, the publisher Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really wish we had the option for a more nuanced number rating system, I probably would have rated this one closer to 3.6/3.7, but I'm rounding up to 4 for sheer enjoyment of the writing style and accurate spelling/grammar/structure. The book is well written, the tension pretty consistently maintained, and it has a good level of spookiness. Based on the synopsis, I was expecting something more along the lines of the metaphor of unmanaged grief in Babadook. While I would have thought it impossible, this book ended up even more ambiguous than that film. I have so many questions about unexplored plot lines, i.e. the religious aspect of the family, was it all in their heads or did a demon really cause these events, etc. Let Him In would have been a solid 4.5 had those avenues been explained more thoroughly. However, I am aware that's probably just a personal preference as I've always favored neatly wrapped endings/explanations.

This was a very quick read for me and perfectly creepy. I read this while traveling and it helped pass the hours on the plane.

I love reading horror and supernatural type books. Let Him In is a good one to add to those Spooktober lists. It's especially good for those who don't enjoy gory or really scary stories. This is an atmospheric read and the way the author writes definitely pulls you in and makes for an immersive experience.

The underlying issue that follows the creepy vibes was well done and the ending fits the scenario. There were a few parts I thought could have used more of an explanation to, but overall this was enjoyable.

Let Him In releases October 3, 2023 so keep an eye out for this one. I sincerely appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

A gothic tale of twins and the bond that stays even after death. An exploration of grief and its power to warp perceptions. I read through this on one sitting and couldn’t put it down. I will definitely buy for my library upon release.

Alfie was a happily married man before his wife Pippa died, leaving him alone with their young twin daughters, Cassie and Sylvie. The three of them now live alone in Hart House, a home where Pippa and her twin Julia grew up(and it’s a rather creepy place). The twins are young and don’t seem to be as upset about their mothers death as Alfie would like. It is all the fault of Black Mamba, their imaginary friend. He seems to mean more to them than Alfie, and he soon turns to Julia, a psychologist, to help sort out what is going wrong in their house.
Hart House has a dark past and the twins insistence that Black Mamba is real,had me looking over my shoulder trying to guess what was going on. The story isn’t filled with overt horror/gore, but rather the sense of some thing very wrong just builds and builds. At only 240 pages, I flew through Let Him In.
Told in alternating chapters by Alfie and Julia, I was quite surprised how it all came together. The ending really made me question what I believed and I expect it will be interpreted by different readers in different ways. I love when that happens. This publishes during October and I think it will be the perfect page turner for spooky season.

This book creeped me out more than anything I've read in a long time, but I couldn't put it down. It starts out as a sad, intimate little family story, but secrets soon begin haunting their family home, Hart House.

Alfie is a widower with twin girls who are tightly connected in their grief and fear after their wife and mother Pippa, suffers a shocking death. Julia is the sister in law that knows more than she's saying. a Psychiatrist, tries to help her nieces but knows more than she's telling about Hart House. Grandmother Marian, a member of a strange religious cult has her own secrets and fills the twin's heads with strange stories of demons.

Hart House has its own secrets of fire. death, and strange happenings. Pippa loved this house, but her twin Julia fears and shuns it. When a weird, shifting imaginary friend moves in with the twins, Alfie turns to Julia to help his girls process their grief and their need for a comforting figure. She must return to Hart House to personally and professionally care for her nieces.

Secrets emerge, and the girls' friend threatens to tear the family apart. Can anything stop the spiral the house and family are descending? The shocking ending will leave you sleeping with the lights on.

I read this gripping novel in two days, unable to put it down. This is psychological horror at its finest.

After the passing of his wife, Alfie is trying to cope as well as parent his twin daughters. Things only become harder when the twins start seeing a man in their room, who can turn into anything he wants, that the girls refer to as Black Mamba.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as I originally thought I would. That’s not to say I didn’t love it, but from the cover and description I thought this was easily going to be a 5 star read for me.
It was in no way bad, I loved the creepiness of the twins and the character development (especially Alfie’s). I thought it portrayed different ways one might deal with grief well and honestly, Black Mamba was such a great character.
The only negative thing for me was that it did feel a bit repetitive sometimes, which in turn made some parts feel slow and dragging.
But then that ending?! I have so many questions!

So while this wasn’t a 5 star read for me, I would give it a solid 3.5

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Psychological suspense, benevolent being, taunted family, struggling father, dead mommy- who or what is haunting the Hart Home?
Alfie, a young recently widowed and struggling father of five year old twins, finds himself drawn into a world unknown and hard to dispell. His twin girls are drawn to an imaginary friend who can shape change, requires them to do bad things, and becomes angry if not obeyed or threatened. Assuming the girls are having nightmares due to their mother’s recent death, the strange behaviors are dismissed or taken lightly as a harmless coping mechanism. That is until. It becomes more intrusive- whispering to them, sitting at the table with them, demanding things, hurting them, and saying he’s going to take them away. Alfie needs this to stop. He calls his dead wife’s twin who is a Psychiatrist to help. Can they stop the haunting? Or are the girls playing a game?
Overall, this was a great, fast read. I tore through the pages dying to find out just what happened next. It was scary, mysterious, thrilling and surprising! I loved it!
I highly recommend this book to psychological thriller and horror lovers. I look forward to more books by William Friend.
Thank you NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and William Friend for this DRC book to review. All opinions are my own!

Thank you NetGalley and William Friend for the ARC.

Let Him In is a multi layered story about grief, family secrets, culty legends, nightmares, and the different ways we process these things.

First of all, the creepiness factor in this book is through the roof. As someone who suffered from nightmares as a child, Black Mamba was a formidable antagonist. Mr Friend leaves several things up to interpretation in this book, and that strategy worked well for me. It's one of those books that would make for a good group discussion, as it's easy to interpret through the lens of your own experiences and belief systems.

In the interest of keeping this review spoiler free, I won't get into details, but I thought the ending was PERFECTION.

Daddy, there’s a man in our room...”

Alfie wakes one night to find his twin daughters at the foot of his bed, claiming there’s a shadowy figure in their bedroom. When no such thing can be found, he assumes the girls had a nightmare.



The books is really dark and creepy. It takes us on a stroll to the depths of grief, occult and paranormal.
This read made me feel scared, uneasy on some parts and there is still some questions that weren't answered at the end...
Overall a good read!

Thank you Netgalley for the copy of this book.

Oh oh oh! I loved and was tensed turning every page! I caught myself gripping my toes and tightening my shoulders more and more as the pages turned.

Such a creepy, slow burn, spooky read! There were multiple parts that confused me and/or were not explained, but overall, really kept my interest! Looking forward to the authors future books!

I really enjoyed this one and read it very quickly ... it does have elements of a slow burn, but in that way that keeps you turning pages to see how things may or may not escalate. There are flavors of Hereditary and The Babadook here, with the wonderfully gothic horror tropes of twins (multiple generations of them), eerie houses, odd rituals, imaginary friends, spooky children, and the strange, fraught relationship between a deceased woman's surviving twin sister and her mourning husband. There are some really chilling moments in here, and an enduring sense of dread and ambiguous, creeping threats. I loved reading it during the sunniest days of summer and can only imagine it will be even better read on a chilly, stormy October evening ...

I was so intrigued by the cover of this book I knew I had to read it.

Alfie is a widower trying to raise his young twin daughters Cassia and Sylvie. He is already struggling to hold the family together when he is awaking in the middle of the night by his daughters telling him there is a man in their house. This man can transform into different animals and they begin calling him Black Mamba. When the twins become obsessed with Black Mamba, Alfie reaches out to the girl's Aunt Julia. Julia is a therapist and also a twin. As she counsels the girls about their new imaginary friend, she soon discovers this friend's appearance may be all her fault. Through Julia's character we learn about the history of their house, the fact both her sister and father died in the house and her families fascination with twins. As Black Mamba draws the twins closer, Alfie and Julia both begin having visions and trouble determining what is real. Is Black Mamba an imaginary friend or an entity who is destroying their family?

This book has is all! A haunted house, a supernatural being and events, a family with crazy religious belief and of course, the creepy ass twins. The author did a fantastic job slowly building the intensity of the suspense. The build was so slow I think it made the story even creepier. There were several times I felt uneasy reading this book. Recommend to those who love horror or supernatural thrillers.

Thanks NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and William Friend for a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

This book had enough substance to pull me in but I feel like it fell short in terms of Black Mamba, and the mysteries surrounding the deaths the main characters are mourning.

I do feel like the author portrayed grief well, from the total disconnect to the stuck feeling we get when a loved one passes prematurely or in a manner that’s traumatizing.

I honestly hated Julia. Why didn’t she talk about it from the beginning? Couldn’t bring herself to even help him until halfway simply because she couldn’t handle the house? Poor Allie though endures so much between grieving Pippa and raising a set of twins while living in a house full of ghosts and memories.

Black Mamba and its relationship with the twins, Sylvia and Cassia, was intriguing and outright spooky when interacting with the adults. But I still don’t understand why Allie was completely left in the dark. I feel like that got lost in the grey and could have been a good ending plot twist with the revelations and findings in the last third of the novel.

I will say that Black Mamba and the twins escalated quickly and for that, the pacing was great. I felt there were no lulls or areas that were unnecessary or drawn out. I did have a hard time putting this book down and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.

If you like spooky and supernatural thrillers, this novel is right up your alley.