You know what you're getting when you pick up a book with Neil Gaiman's name on the cover. Expect the unexpected, expect incredible writing, expect supernatural.
I picked this up in the airport when I realized bringing two books on our Costa Rica vacation was not going to be enough. I've loved one Neil Gaiman book I've read (The Graveyard Book, review here) - and, I've really disliked another (I know I'm supposed to love Good Omens, but it was not for me.) Something about the plot of this book intrigued me, though. And, it turned out to be the perfect balance to the other books I read this week on the beach.
It's hard to explain this book, as it is with much of what Gaiman writes. It's about a man's memories of a mysterious event in childhood. He remembers it only when he heads home - to a childhood home that no longer exists. He finds himself driving down the road to an old house and an old woman, both of which brings him back to a memory he doesn't entirely trust. Was there really a monster who used him as a gateway to enter the world? Did she truly try to tear his family apart?
Most of the book is that memory, which is a supernatural fantasy ride from hell. Somehow, though, Gaiman's writing makes it feel so simply believable that you find yourself wrapped up in the fantasy right along with them.
This is a quick story, hard to describe but remarkably told. It's hard to say if I recommend it because you have to be in just the right mood to appreciate it. But, if you can suspend the disbelief, it's a fun, interesting ride.
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