Let the Right One In

First off, today's workout - Crossfit's Filthy 50 (with a couple of changes to suit the equipment I have):
50 box jumps
50 jumping pullups
50 KB swings @ 16kg
50 lunge steps
50 knees-to-elbows
50 push-press @ 20kg
50 back extensions
50 wall ball shots @ 7kg ball
50 burpees
50 double-unders
24:43 of nasty.

Thought I'd tell you about the book I'm currently reading (not a review, I'm no literary critic), John Ajvide (anyone tell me how to pronounce this?) Lindqvist's "Let the Right One In." The title will be familiar to film buffs - it was made into a film this year, and I highly recommend that you see it - OK, it's in Swedish with subtitles, and it's a vampire film, but it's the best film I've seen all year, pipping District 9 by a hair.
Anyway, the book. The plot is roughly this: 12-year-old Oskar is something of an outcast, bullied at school and with an absent father. He meets Eli, with whom he forms a bond as a fellow outcast. He eventually finds out that Eli is a 200-year-old vampire, trapped as a 12-year-old.
However, this is no cliched genre story, and it's a million miles away from Twilight. What emerges is a tale about friendship, being an outcast, and coping with being different. Sure, there are some moments of gore, and several real scares (as well as a scene involving a zombie attempting to rape a vampire!), but the beauty of this book is the relationship between Oskar and Eli as they try to deal with a hostile world. It captures the bleakness of living in a 1980s Stockholm prefab estate, as well as giving several interesting slants on the well=trodden vampire mythos (for example, what happens when a vampire enters your home without being invited? You find out here). Sure, you could just watch the film, and I did so first, but the book expands on the story and gives more insight into various characters' histories and motivation. Not just for horror fans, this book - highly recommended. I've already ordered Lindqvist's other book in print in English.