“There’s something in the basement.”
Title: Black Water Tales: The Unwanted
Author: Jean Nicole Rivers
Pages: 306
Publisher: JNR Publishing
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS
In the remote, eastern European town of Borslav there is St. Sebastian orphanage, a place where people discard their unwanted children. For the American, Blaire Baker, it’s the perfect place to volunteer her services. Paired with a cheerful volunteer nurse, Blaire is enthusiastic about the possibilities, but is quickly discouraged when she encounters the nefarious nature of the staff and the deplorable conditions of the facility and the children.
Upon arrival, one of the children informs Blaire, “There’s something in the basement.” It isn’t long before strange things begin happening, including Blaire’s flashbacks of the accident that killed her parents. The children soon suffer injuries that Blaire, first, fears may be the deeds of the callous workers but she soon thinks the abuse may originate from a source that is less than human, something unwanted.
The unwanted is coming but in order for Blaire to fight it, she must dig into St. Sebastian and herself in search of truth. Blaire wants nothing more than to help the children, but when discovers the tragedy that happened in the basement and learns that the same evil forces are still at work, it will be Blaire who needs help…There’s something in the basement.
REVIEW
Rating 3.75
If you know me well then you probably know that I don’t usually read horror. The little experience I have had with horror has been not the best, to say the least. A lot of the time I can find it very stereotypical and predictable, but let me tell you this book was NOT that.
The Unwanted tells the story of two American charity workers who volunteer to help out at an orphanage for a year. Sent to a desolate European town, unusually they seem pretty excited to help around and help to improve these children’s’ lives, but of course, it doesn’t all go to plan.
I’m not one to usually be scared while reading/watching something but this book gave me the shivers. Rivers’ descriptive and unique way of writing made sure that you had to notice all the weird happenings going on throughout.
The main characters, Blaire and Travis, were well-written picks for this story. It would have been great to see more development on them but it was their personalities that really helped push this story along. Their compassion and caring natures started to turn against them in all the wrong way.
The choice of writing in the third person was one that was very well thought out. Travis and Blaire’s general trust in people blinded them from a lot that was going on around the. But of course, the reader gets a completely different perspective on that which was something I really enjoyed.
The plot was work of genius in my opinion. Twists and turns everywhere until you were left unsure of what was actually real. By the end, both the characters and reader were still unsure of what had really happened. There was an eerie feeling to everything in this book: the town, the children, the building and eventually Blaire and Travis themselves. This book was a complete psychological mind game and I loved it!
I think this is an amazing book for both people trying to get into horror and avid fans. This was a book that sent shivers down my spine and will probably leave me slightly more hesitant to get up during the night when no one else is home!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jean Nicole Rivers is a great lover of reading and writing. Though she loves reading and writing varied genres, horror/thriller is her favorite. JeanNicole has been writing poetry and short stories since she was a child, but has always aspired to master the art of storytelling through novels. The Unwanted is the second story in her series of Black Water Tales, following The Secret Keepers.
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