Helpful Score: 2
As part of a book reviewer program that Thomas Nelson Publishing Company offers, I agreed to read and review The Unseen by T. L. Hines. This is not the kind of book that I would normally read, but I decided to plow ahead with it and see what it had to offer. The following is my review.
The book begins very slowly and yet grabs your attention from the very beginning. Who could resist reading about someone that finds it perfectly normal to hide in the spaces between floors of a building and other tight spaces to "watch" people. Well that is what we find out from the very beginning Lucas does for fun. He spends his time observing people from a hidden location, usually their place of employment. If he feels there is a "connection" between himself and his subject then he takes something that belongs to them as a totem to add to his collection. He is a loner that moves around to different locations in the city to live; anywhere from a sewer room to an abandoned office, etc. I found myself loosing interest in the book about a third of the way through because this is all that has been discussed at this point. Then Hines kicked it up a notch.
The rest of the book was like being on a literary roller coaster. There were times when I would read a few chapters and put the book down and then there were times when I just had to know what came next. The last third of the book had me hooked to the end. Lucas finds himself in a big mess because he has gotten involved with this whole group of "watchers" called the Creep Club. His attempt at intervening in one of their projects, a man and her husband, just makes things worse for him. When he finds himself with only 36 hours to live, Lucas must really make miracles happen with no clues as to how. If you want to know what happens to Lucas then I suggest you go buy the book. As for me, I give it a 7 out of 10.
The book begins very slowly and yet grabs your attention from the very beginning. Who could resist reading about someone that finds it perfectly normal to hide in the spaces between floors of a building and other tight spaces to "watch" people. Well that is what we find out from the very beginning Lucas does for fun. He spends his time observing people from a hidden location, usually their place of employment. If he feels there is a "connection" between himself and his subject then he takes something that belongs to them as a totem to add to his collection. He is a loner that moves around to different locations in the city to live; anywhere from a sewer room to an abandoned office, etc. I found myself loosing interest in the book about a third of the way through because this is all that has been discussed at this point. Then Hines kicked it up a notch.
The rest of the book was like being on a literary roller coaster. There were times when I would read a few chapters and put the book down and then there were times when I just had to know what came next. The last third of the book had me hooked to the end. Lucas finds himself in a big mess because he has gotten involved with this whole group of "watchers" called the Creep Club. His attempt at intervening in one of their projects, a man and her husband, just makes things worse for him. When he finds himself with only 36 hours to live, Lucas must really make miracles happen with no clues as to how. If you want to know what happens to Lucas then I suggest you go buy the book. As for me, I give it a 7 out of 10.
Helpful Score: 1
The premise of the story, a man (Lucas) who lives vicariously by spying on people from inside walls, duct work, and crawl spaces, making up complicated histories/lives for them in his mind, sounds interesting enough. Add in the wrinkle that he runs into a group of people called the "Creep Club" who seem to share his peculiar interest. Throw in the twist that our "hero" has a mysterious background (was he really an orphan? was he part of some weird scientific study he can't remember?) and is being pursued by some shadowy government organization, "mad" scientists and even the Chinese and this should be great, right? Wrong.
Some how, some way this manages to be unbelievably boring! The book at times goes for pages and pages with no character interaction whatsoever, only tediously detailed descriptions of what the main character is seeing and thinking. This might be ok if Lucas was charismatic or compelling in some way, but unfortunately he's just.... boring. He has no home, wandering from building to building setting up his bivouac in perfect position to spy on his chosen subject. He has no family or friends and works at a menial job as a dishwasher. There is absolutely nothing about him that inspired me to "connect" with him, which is rather ironic considering he explains his behavior (to himself) as searching for that electric "connection" that he gets every so often while spying on someone who seems to sense him watching them.
The conclusion was hollow and unsatisfying and, ultimately, I found the book to be much ado about nothing once all was said and done. It wasn't "bad" per se, just not my cup of tea.
Some how, some way this manages to be unbelievably boring! The book at times goes for pages and pages with no character interaction whatsoever, only tediously detailed descriptions of what the main character is seeing and thinking. This might be ok if Lucas was charismatic or compelling in some way, but unfortunately he's just.... boring. He has no home, wandering from building to building setting up his bivouac in perfect position to spy on his chosen subject. He has no family or friends and works at a menial job as a dishwasher. There is absolutely nothing about him that inspired me to "connect" with him, which is rather ironic considering he explains his behavior (to himself) as searching for that electric "connection" that he gets every so often while spying on someone who seems to sense him watching them.
The conclusion was hollow and unsatisfying and, ultimately, I found the book to be much ado about nothing once all was said and done. It wasn't "bad" per se, just not my cup of tea.
Helpful Score: 1
For many years Lucas Freund has lived his life by mostly being unseen. He has a fascination with hiding small nooks and crannies in buildings all over the city watching strangers through hidden peep holes. He makes up elaborate stories about their lives that give him comfort in between the times when he makes a connection with them. The connection happens when someone either feels his presence without seeing him or when someone seemingly makes eye contact with him again without seeing him.
Lucas is a loner with no permanent address. He sleeps in vacant buildings or underground tunnels. One night, his home for the time being is almost found by another "infiltrator", Donovan. Surprisingly Lucas is drawn to Donovan and meets with him the next day. Donovan introduces him to a group called Creep Club whose members watch and record people in their homes... the one place Lucas never dared to watch.
Soon Lucas is approached by a federal agent who wants his assistance in gaining access to the group. Lucas is torn by this request but when people start disappearing and turning up dead, things start spiraling into chaos and Lucas is forced to figure out a way out of the trouble.
The Unseen pulls you in from the first chapter. Although Lucas has a strange way of life I was rooting for him right from the start. He's such a likable character who is a "do-gooder" at heart. The book is full of surprises coming in the form of plot twists and other characters.
The only thing I felt let down about was a strange character at the end (when you read it, you'll know who I'm talking about). Maybe I just didn't understand the author's intentions with this character but I felt he really didn't belong in story and thought the book could have had the same type of ending without him.
To me the best part of the book was that it brought up a great point. Many of us see without really seeing. I know I'm guilty of being oblivious to my surroundings which drives my husband nuts. Reading this book has made me a little more conscious of the happenings around me and I've been constantly thinking, "Someone could be watching me right now". I recommend this book for all suspense and thriller lovers.
Lucas is a loner with no permanent address. He sleeps in vacant buildings or underground tunnels. One night, his home for the time being is almost found by another "infiltrator", Donovan. Surprisingly Lucas is drawn to Donovan and meets with him the next day. Donovan introduces him to a group called Creep Club whose members watch and record people in their homes... the one place Lucas never dared to watch.
Soon Lucas is approached by a federal agent who wants his assistance in gaining access to the group. Lucas is torn by this request but when people start disappearing and turning up dead, things start spiraling into chaos and Lucas is forced to figure out a way out of the trouble.
The Unseen pulls you in from the first chapter. Although Lucas has a strange way of life I was rooting for him right from the start. He's such a likable character who is a "do-gooder" at heart. The book is full of surprises coming in the form of plot twists and other characters.
The only thing I felt let down about was a strange character at the end (when you read it, you'll know who I'm talking about). Maybe I just didn't understand the author's intentions with this character but I felt he really didn't belong in story and thought the book could have had the same type of ending without him.
To me the best part of the book was that it brought up a great point. Many of us see without really seeing. I know I'm guilty of being oblivious to my surroundings which drives my husband nuts. Reading this book has made me a little more conscious of the happenings around me and I've been constantly thinking, "Someone could be watching me right now". I recommend this book for all suspense and thriller lovers.
