Translated from the Swedish, Little Star is a curiously repellent yet compelling read. The story might be seen in various ways: satire on the pop idol TV shows, illustration of the old argument "nature versus nurture," a spooky tale of mental illness and hysteria within a gang of girls, or a sort of dark fairy tale that heads horrifyingly into gory murders.
One thing is certain: this is a long book. I was tempted to reject its weird charms several times. But it continued to lure me on to see where John Lindqvist's weird imagination could possibly lead.
In some respects, because of the Scandinavian connection, the book may be seen as akin to Stieg Larsson's brilliant "Millennium trilogy" about the girl who "kicked the hornet's nest." I would not put it in the same league, though. There is a similar atmosphere of chilling darkness, other-worldly happenings and creeping menace, but Larsson's Lisbeth Salander is more of a brave Robin Hood type of character fighting the corrupt and criminal, so that the reader is drawn on to her side.
The main female characters of Little Star are so twisted or homicidal that I was more sickened than sympathetic.
The story opens with a middle-aged faded pop star discovering an abandoned baby girl in the woods, in a plastic bag, partially buried. He gives her the kiss of life, and her first cry astounds him; a clear, perfect-pitch musical note. He persuades his wife they should keep this remarkable child.
The baby becomes a strange girl (called Theres) due to their decision to hide her in the basement away from the outside world and government departments. When she reaches puberty, a terrifying scene sees her kill both her jailer-parents.
Her adopted brother then cares for Theres, and sees an opportunity to profit from her marvellous voice and musical talent by entering her into a TV reality talent quest. The girl becomes something of a cult figure on the internet as well as with voters on the box.
She gains a friend, Teresa, overweight and bullied at school, who finds comfort in poetry, trawling the internet and learning about wolves.
After a while, the two girls get in touch, and form a close and scary friendship.
Eventually a whole pack of disciples (all disenfranchised teenage girls) tag on to the strange duo and are led down into a scheme of homicidal revenge against the music industry and society.
A bloodbath ensues.
Perfect pitch perhaps, but this book is in a minor key with pervading darkness and discords. A long symphony of macabre horrors.
• Geoff Adams is a former editor of the ODT.
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