Audition - Ralph McCarthy, Ryū Murakami I read a lot of horror but Ryu Murakami is one of the few writers that actually scare the hell out of me...not just his books but the actual person. His gift is in writing characters you care about and then exposes them as a horrifying nightmare. In fact they rarely appear evil until the last part of the book when Murakami breaks all the rules and grosses you out. Audition builds slowly, is actually kind of sweet, but he lets off little hints that something is not right. In this short novel, the build-up is the point and the inevitably violent end does not let you down. The author sees terror in the most innocent events which is what makes his books so disturbing. Yes, Ryu Murakami is one hell of a writer but if by some weird event I get invited over to his house...I think I'll pass.