Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Quoted from Goodreads:

“From the author of the international and New York Times bestseller Let the Right One In (Let Me In) comes this stunning and terrifying book which begins when a man's six-year-old daughter vanishes. One ordinary winter afternoon on a snowy island, Anders and Cecilia take their six-year-old daughter Maja across the ice to visit the lighthouse in the middle of the frozen channel. While the couple explore the lighthouse, Maja disappears -- either into thin air or under thin ice --  eaving not even a footprint in the snow. Two years later, alone and more or less permanently drunk, Anders returns to the island to regroup. He slowly realizes that people are not telling him all they know; even his own grand- mother, it seems, is keeping secrets. What is happening in Domaro, and what power does the sea have over the town's inhabitants?”

The book begins with some very good character development and a beautifully set scene. The characters are interesting and real. As the book continued, I began to wonder where it was heading. There were a few things that didn't quite make sense, but not enough to keep my interest. I kept waiting for the “horror” story to begin. It never really did.

While I cared about the characters, and their stories were somewhat interesting, I found it a bit boring. There is some paranormal activity in the book, but it gets diluted as a result of some unnecessary ramblings.

At one point I put the book down and quit reading it. I did pick it up again and decided to read the ending. After reading the ending, I decided to give it another try and read it the rest of the way through to the ending. It felt more like a chore, than entertainment, but I did it! I found myself more confused than terrified. In fact, it just wasn't frightening to me at all. I am not sure that the comparisons to Stephan King are valid, at least based on this novel.

The general idea and plot of the novel were good, but the suspense and terror I was expecting just didn't happen. Overall, it was a disappointing read.

 Thanks to Thomas Dunn Books/ St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel.