The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Gaiman

Title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Author: Neil Gaiman

Published: 2013
Genre: YA Fiction
Rating: 3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.

Book Source: Library

Recommended if you like: Fiction, YA, Horror tales

What Its About: 

Our narrator, a 50-something man visiting his childhood hometown for a funeral, stops by his old neighborhood for a quick visit. But this isn't just any old visit, or any old home for that matter. As a seven year old boy, it turns out, our narrator experienced a horrible and unexplainable event and this neighborhood, or something, draws him home to remember.

When he arrives, he heads to the big farmhouse and pond, or "ocean" as his friend Lettie used to call it, as the end of his street. He knocks and is confused when an old woman answers. He's not surprised to see the woman, he is just unsure which woman she is. Given the years, it could not possibly be Old Mrs. Hempstock, Lettie's grandmother. It must be Lettie's mother, Ginnie. Except...it's not. And Old Mrs. Hempstock invites him to visit the Ocean and remember...

Years ago, his parents took in a lodger who committed suicide and then things went from uneasy to strange and dangerous. This singular event seemed to have unleashed a spirit, or malevolent force, who wanted to exist permanently in their world. The Hempstock women are left to clean up the situation while ensuring the boy's safety.

The Bottom Line:
A good read. Billed as an adult novel, it reads more like a YA novel. As always, it sucks readers, even adults, into its world and offers the typical Gaiman thrills and chills.