The Unseen
By T. L. Hines
Thomas Nelson
386 Pages
The Unseen – Eerily Weird! Strangely compulsive! No matter how you describe T. L. Hines’ latest book to other readers, you’re going to fumble on adjectives. It’s not the typical horror, nor is it suspenseful or a good mystery. It has great action and keeps you turning the pages and in many ways it’s fascinating! But it is definitely—weird!
Lucas is a great main character, though he doesn’t have a last name, since he grew up in an orphanage. We meet him as he hangs in a hammock-sort of bed as he’s looking down on a lovely woman who is working at her desk. Lucas doesn’t have a steady job, he doesn’t have a home and he usually steals his meals out of break-room refrigerators. Right now he’s working temporarily as a dishwasher—he doesn’t need much money of course, so he stashes his pay in various abandoned buildings, where he’s found a cubbyhole that is safe. Right now, Lucas is living in a place near Howard University. He spends most days watching... After the offices close, he leaves his watching space to rummage in the refrigerator for dinner and he steals a picture of the young woman, with her two beautiful kids. The picture will become a symbol of family for him—a totem that he can look at, remember and with it be happy.
Lucas has no friends, except Sarea, who works at the same restaurant where he washes dishes. At the end of the day, they share a cigarette before leaving and going to their respective homes. This is the extent of the relationship.
Readers will compulsively become involved in Lucas’ life!
Deep in the middle of one night, Lucas awakes to a scraping sound! Someone has invaded his place—he is currently staying inside one of the underground tunnels attached to the university’s steam plant. Seeing a light, he moves to find the infiltrator. He realizes right away that the individual is a creeper. “A creeper is someone who loved to explore the hidden spaces” in buildings.
And that’s when he met Donovan...
A member of the Creep Club...
The Creep Club infiltrates private homes as well as public buildings. They tape occupants. And if they happen to see domestic violence happening, they hope the get to tape a murder...
As you can imagine the characters in the creep club...are creepy...
But so are the “good guys!” In fact, Lucas has a hard time deciding who the good guys are! Especially when he meets two that have his face! Or the ghost that is singing to him from the grave! Readers will be caught in the same guessing game, trying hard to keep up with what is going to happen next, especially when Lucas has a bomb attached to his leg, which is set to go off at a certain time unless it is reset!
I admit it...I thoroughly enjoyed reading this weirdly wonderful book! Somehow all of these strange characters are molded together, resulting in a unique story that is captivating! In many ways, it is a “good over evil” kind of book, but no matter what...it’s still weird!
If you liked my review...I highly recommend you get the book! You’ll be glad you did!
G. A. Bixler
A Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger
Books, Reviews, Short Stories, Authors, Publicity, a little poetry, music to complement...and other stuff including politics, about life... "Books, Cats: Life is Sweet..."
Hi, Glenda - Any time I get the words "weird and wonderful" in a review, I'm happy. Thanks for reading, and thanks for offering such a thoughtful review.
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