Review: Don't Let Him In

Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There’s a peculiar magic in Lisa Jewell’s stories, a way she spins the ordinary into something shadowed and strange, and Don't Let Him In drew me into that spell, though not as deeply as I’d hoped. Having been enchanted by None of This Is True and utterly haunted by The Night She Disappeared, I am forced to give this one 3 stars.

For years, Jewell’s thrillers were secrets in the dark, tense and pulsed with human fallibility. Don't Let Him In is about a man who invades ordinary women's trust and turns their lives around. The setup promises a captivating story filled with psychological tension, heavy with accusations, manipulation and hidden agendas.

Jewell constructs the main character with creepy finesse, his voice the hiss of the snake and yet so irresistible. I read this in two fevered days, unable to turn away from him, just like the women in the book. That voice, that presence, is the book’s truest magic, a thread that held me tight. It’s a presence that recalls the cunning dread of None of This Is True, and I found myself thinking of old tales where monsters wear human masks.

But I wished for more. The suspense, so tightly wound in The Night She Disappeared where secrets unfolded like petals in a storm, felt oddly slack here. The story’s path showed itself too early, its predictability dimming the thrill I craved. Unlike the intricate layers of her other books, this tale leaned too heavily on one dynamic, leaving me longing for a deeper mystery. The characters, too, slipped through my grasp. They remained distant, fading into the mist, lacking the pulse Jewell gave even minor players in her other works.

I’ve watched true-crime documentaries, analysing how vulnerable people fall victims of others without realizing until it's too late, and Jewell captures that fragility quite well, but without a richer puzzle, it felt like a half-told story. Her prose, though, is a quiet gift, flowing like a chat with a friend, warm and easy. It carried me through, even when the story stumbled.

I’d recommend Don’t Let Him In to those who enjoy quick, eerie thrillers and can forgive a thinner mystery. If you liked the pace and atmosphere of None of This Is True, this could work, though it lacks the tightly wound tension of Jewell's best. It's a story that smoulders, but for me didn't burn as brightly as I'd hoped.

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