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    Unseen
    Unseen
    Unseen
    Ebook263 pages3 hours

    Unseen

    By Mark Graham

    3.5/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Martin and Jenny Johnson chose to do something different with their vacation and went with a team to an orphanage in Southern Ukraine. Once there, the childless couple fell in love with a little girl, Oksana, and made steps to adopt her. But they soon met with mysterious resistance to the adoption and the child went missing for the rest of their time working at the orphanage. Martin made plans to stay behind a few days longer to learn more about Oksana's situation. Then days turned to weeks, and then months. With the help of his taxi driver, Dima, and Dima's friend Sasha (mafia) he learned more than he expected. Jenny worked from America to expedite paperwork in the hopes that Martin would be able to bring Oksana home. Neither could have imagined the strange people and twists and turns that would soon arise. Martin would come to find the depths of a father's love he had never known himself hidden within him.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublishereBookIt.com
    Release dateApr 26, 2016
    ISBN9780989324816
    Unseen
    Author

    Mark Graham

    Mark Graham is a professor in the Art Department at Brigham Young University. Graham is an internationally known illustrator. His research interests include teacher education, place-based education, graphic novels, ecological/holistic education, secondary art education, design thinking, STEAM education, and Himalayan art and culture. Contact: 3116-B JKB, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.

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    Reviews for Unseen

    3.5/5

    96 ratings39 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Mackenzie Day finally feels like she has her life in order when she graduates with a degree in music therapy. Music has saved Mac's life. Mackenzie's parents both died when she was young and her aunt, who saw Mackenzie as a burden, raised her. On top of that, Mac has always been different, she is able to read other's thoughts. This talent became too overwhelming for her when she started kindergarten and Mac was given an Integrated Listening Systems to help her tune out everyone else's thoughts, the iLs has been Mac's lifeline throughout her life. Just as Mac is ready to enter the career world, she stumbles upon a man whose mind she is unable to read. With this mysterious man, comes an invitation to join an even more mysterious group called the Unseen, a group of people who can read minds, just like her. I loved the premise of this story and enjoyed Mackenzie's character. It was a quick-paced read. I loved Mac's character for her perseverance. Even though the constant bombardment of other people's thoughts has made Mackenzie's life difficult, she has found comfort with her iLs and was able to graduate with a degree in music therapy with hopes of helping other kids the same way she was helped with her listening system. Everything changes when the Unseen comes along. They offer Mac everything that her childhood did not. Mac is very skeptical at first, but Owen, a very handsome mind reader, helps to convince Mac that the Unseen is where she belongs. I was a little dismayed that Mac gave up her dreams with music therapy to join the Unseen, especially since a hot guy was involved in her decision. However, once Mac starts her training, it is obvious that the Unseen is where she belongs. Part of the reveal at the end was obvious to me, but I'd still like to see where the story goes. This book was received for free in return for an honest review
    • 4/5
      Mind reading is tricky to handle in fiction- either the the mind-reader Knows All, or is a basket case because of too much input.Erickson handled this really well. She dealt with what it would actually mean to read minds, and how difficult that would be until and unless one develops ways to control it.And if there were mind readers, there would definitely be various schools of them, mostly at odds.I think this was more novella length than novel length, but it was a fast, suspenseful and engaging read, as Mac finds others who share her gifts, and learns the advantages and perils of having such a power.I received this for free from the author's website, and do recommend it to those who find this intriguing- it's well done.
    • 5/5
      I had previously read The Legacy by Katherine Webb and whilst I enjoyed it, I felt it was missing something. However, The Unseen definitely makes up for it, and then some. I thought it was an absolutely riveting read from start to finish.It's the story of the vicar and his wife, Albert and Hester Canning, their new maid Cat Morley, and their new house guest, Robin Durrant. I loved Cat, she's such a strong-minded character, involved with the suffragette movement and so striking a blow for women everywhere. Her exchanges with the hugely overweight housekeeper, Mrs Bell, never failed to make me smile. Albert and Hester are newlyweds and very young, and Albert finds himself totally in thrall to Robin, a theosophist looking for elemental beings in the water meadows. The effect this young man has on the household is catastrophic.The author manages to portray the stiflingly hot summer very well, and uses beautiful prose to describe the surroundings in the small village of Thatcham in Berkshire. I really had a strong sense of the area and how oppressed the characters felt.There is a dual time narrative story, even though it's not mentioned in the synopsis. The main part of the story is set in 1911, but 100 years later in 2011 there is the story of Leah Hickson, a freelance journalist who is trying to find out the identity of a WWI solider. This is an outstanding read. Towards the end every chapter appeared to be left on a cliffhanger, leaving me desperate to get back to it, and I felt quite moved by the end of it all. It's not a thriller (despite the murder), but it certainly thrilled me.
    • 4/5
      Oh Katherine Webb, what are you doing to me? You take some of the most delicious, fantastic ideas and put them into a story that I cannot resist and then you mix it with the most frustrating, aggravating details. But I can't stop reading and I struggle with myself because I want to give your story five stars, but then there are so many little nagging elements that drag it down for me!Okay, now that the rant is out of the way, let me tell you what I loved and what I hated about The Unseen.First of all - mystery in 1911/2011 England? Yes please. Throw in mildly supernatural elements, prim and prissy Victorian-style husband and wife, maid with a bad-girl vibe, and shyster and it's the recipe for a delicious, dark, romantic English story. What Katherine Webb does remarkably well is set her story up. I loved Cat and her addition to the household, I loved the dynamics between Hester and her husband, and the little scraps of letters which served as a catalyst to move the story forward. I loved the romance which flares up and the backbone Cat displays and the slowly unraveling story of what happened in Cat's background. Everything about each one of these things was perfectly paced and beautifully described. I couldn't ask for more.Here's what I hated though, and though these were BIG things for me during the reading, upon reflection they are just nagging, I really wish she would have done better because I believe she could have! I felt as if Webb was underestimating the intelligence of her reader a bit. The entire 2011 setting was boring, and frankly toward the end of the book I was actually tempted (although I didn't) to skim or just skip it completely. I felt as if it's sole purpose was to give us a reason to investigate the story and that the book would have been completely fine without it. There was no real resolution that made it absolutely necessary.Also I was a bit confused about how detailed a 100 year old corpse could be when it was found. Maybe I just don't know enough about corpses - so I'll leave that one be.I think a lot of the things that bothered me about this book also bothered me in The Legacy by Katherine Webb, so I'm wondering if it's just her style of writing. If you like authors such as Kate Morton, I think it's possible you will love Webb's books as well, just don't expect the same level of story-crafting that is available in Morton's books.
    • 5/5
      This was my second ER book, and definitely way better than the first. It's one of those books that makes me so glad I sign up for ER books, because I might never have heard of or read this great book otherwise.[The Unseen] contains two storylines, one set in the 1900s, one set in 2011. A woman in 2011 is trying to identify the body of a dead soldier, found with two mysterious letters on him. This man, and the letters, are connected to a rectory in the 1900s that, while peaceful perfection on the surface, contains many harmful secrets within.What I especially liked about this book was how it explored how small moments, and the entrances and exits of people into each others' lives, led to deception, cover-ups, and even murder. Exploring everything from fairy photographs to the suffragette's movement to love itself, this is a book I would strongly recommend.
    • 4/5
      I have read and enjoyed the Legacy and was keen to read this one. The book takes place in both 1911 and 2011. Leah is contacted by an old boyfriend and asked to help solve a mystery and find the identity of a dead soldier. The soldier has two letters on him which intrigue Leah and indicate a mystery and she is keen to find his identity. The search takes her to a sleepy English village and the Rev Albert Canning and his wife Hester. During the summer that the story takes place two new arrivals come to the village. Cat Morley, is a young woman recently released from prison after a minor run in with the law, and Robun Durant is a leading expert in the occult enticed to the vilage by tales of elemental beings in the fields nearby. Hester is a kindly naive young woman. Her husband meantime becomes entirelyy caught up in Durant's work. Cat herslef finds love and a place for herself in the village and plots her escape. Leah goes to the village and meets up with Mark Canning a relative of the family and works with him to solve the mystery.The book was full of intrigue, mystery and even murder. It was well written and kept me interested right to the end. It painted a very real picture of life in the village at that time. I felt quite sad at the end of the story, for how things turned out for some of them.
    • 5/5
      The Good StuffAbsolutely, positively engrossing - you are hooked from the very first chapterAuthor is brilliant at setting the mood and setting of the story - you really feel like you are part of the storyLoved the switching back and forth from 1911 to 2011 - gives it a unique twist Fabulous well rounded characters both in the past and the presentLots of suspense, murder and secrets with just a hint of the occultCat is a truly fascinating character - full of strength and fire, trying to fight back against the constraints of being a women in the early 1900'sKept me up late at night reading I so badly wanted to know what happenedWill definetly be looking for a copy of the Legacy by the same authorA perfect story for a cold winters night or to lose yourself in at the cottage (or beach)Loved how the two time period plots intersect without being unbelievable Could see this one being turned into a movie - has it all love, sex, murder, women's rights, past and present intersecting - fabulous stuff The Not So Good StuffDrags a wee bit half ay through - some stronger editing would have made this into a perfect 5 Dewey'sWanted to smack Hester quite a few times, but her character is very true to the women of the time Favorite Quotes/Passages"Cat serves the dinner, digusted by the luxury, the excess; the way the theosophist turns down the meat, his expression blase, sanctimonious. How many others in the world have need of meat? Cat wonders. When now it will go back to the kitchen and spoil, and be thown away and wasted because the cold store is full of this thoughtless young mans' toys.""Would you have been content if you had been told, when you were still a child; you shan't be a poet, or a minister, or a politician. You shall be a cleark in a bank. Would you have been content, never to have been allowed to try other things? Never allowed to find out what you wanted to do, what you wanted to be?"Who Should/Shouldn't ReadMystery/Suspense lovers will thoroughly enjoy this oneFans of historical fiction will also be fascinated by this4.5 Dewey'sI received this from WilliamMorrow in exchange for an honest review
    • 3/5
      This interesting novel intertwines two story lines in one, unfolding a historical mystery.In 2011, journalist Leah is called upon by her ex-boyfriend to investigate the identity of a British soldier found buried in France, having died in WWI. The soldier was carrying with him two carefully preserved letters hinting at a personal mystery in his background. Leah is fascinated despite herself and travels to Thatcham, England, where she finds Mark Canning, a descendant of the letter writer. Mark is dealing with his own problems but also gets swept up in the mystery.And in 1911, one hundred years previous, Cat Morley, a free-spirited, intelligent, and vivacious young woman is sent to be a maid in the house of Hester Canning and her husband Albert, the vicar. Cat has been imprisoned and tortured for the crime of promoting women's suffrage and while she is still haunted by the demons of her experiences in gaol, her convictions are as strong as ever and she fights for her own personal freedoms as much as possible. Meanwhile Hester, despite having been married to Albert for over a year, finds herself still a virgin. Her husband, it seems, is far more interested in Robin Durrant, a charismatic young (male) theosophist who believes in fairies and has come to Thatcham to take photographs of the fairies in the water meadows outside of town--and incidentally, prove to his father that he is just as worthy as his physician brother. When these troubled and turbulent characters collide, disaster is inevitable.An interesting story, with some interesting characters and a well-researched portrait of the time period. I couldn't help but feel, however, that the story was a bit cluttered with random extraneous drama. There was a bit about assisted suicide, a bit about someone sleeping with his step-sister, the possibly-gay vicar and his sexually ignorant wife...put it all together and it starts to sound a bit soap-operaish. The story would have been stronger if the author had stuck to tackling just one or two "big issues." In addition, the story was a bit unbalanced; we see much more of the daily and inner lives of the 1911 characters and relatively little of the present-day characters. In fact, the story would have worked perfectly well with the frame device removed entirely. But those are relatively minor quibbles in the grand scheme of things. This is a perfectly serviceable novel, if nothing terribly exciting or new.
    • 5/5
      This story will intrigue readers from beginning to end. It's filled with mystery, murder and romance, and the ending was a surprise. Although the story transitions between 1911 and 2011, it primarily takes place in 1911. Those who are historical fiction fans will enjoy this book, and I will recommend this book to many of my fellow readers.
    • 4/5
      I liked the historical elements of this book. There is a mysterious feeling that runs throughout the storyline of this book and leaves you guessing as to what is going to happen next and about the characters' pasts. The story did tend to drag in some areas but overall a good book. I enjoyed the characters and thought that the author did a good job developing them. It's hard not to care for the characters and for what happens to them throughout the story. The author tells a good story and I will definitely read her other books in the future. Highly recommend this book if you like a little romance, with intrigue with a hint of mystery all mixed in.
    • 4/5
      Katherine Webb's second novel is easily as good as her first. I loved it! A page turning plot, vivid characters and a wonderful evocation of the life and times of rural England in 1911. Put a repressed vicar, his naive wife, a handsome opportunist and a suffragette together and what do you get? It is a love story, a murder mystery and a criticism of women's rights or rather lack of them. It is also a story about the relationships and barriers between the classes and the sexes in the time before these began to crumble. Her descriptive prose is brilliant, you can feel the hot humid weather and see the mists rising of the water meadows, as well as smell the sweat of the taverns and sense the horrors in Cat's past. It is, in short, a very good read indeed!
    • 4/5
      The Unseen is a book about a fairy hoax, set in 1911 and 2011 Cold Ash Holt, England. Much like another author I enjoy, Kate Morton, Katherine Webb has a talent for blending past with present and telling stories within stories. I thought this book was well-written, well-researched and original. There are many mysteries for the reader to unravel and each character comes to life with his or her own personality and voice. I enjoyed the backdrop of the women's suffrage movement as well and I thought it gave the book another facet to think about. The present-day characters are the least well-thought out in the entire book and it does lean a bit more towards the story set in the past, but, on the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be checking out other books by this author as well.
    • 4/5
      This was another dual story with a historical story set in 1911 and a present day people trying to figure out the events we are seeing unfold in the past. I think these have become my favorite kind of book and this one is no exception Katherine Webb is a true storyteller, if you are a fan of her book The Legacy I know you will like this one too. If you?ve never read Katherine Webb what are you waiting for?The 1911 story centers around the Reverend Albert Canning & his wife Hester, the Theosophy ?expert? Robin Durrant and new maid Cat who is fresh from the gaol but is she a murderer? a thief? Or an innocent Suffragette? Trouble is brewing in this house but does it stem from the Cannings chaste marriage, Robin Durrants overzealous belief that have infected the Reverend to such a degree it is changing his whole outlook on life or does it come from Cat and the un-asked question of what she was in prison for in the first place.In the present day story Leah is called in to help identify a body by, the War Graves Commission, the only hint to his identity are some very cryptic letters he is found with, so Leah sets out to discover who this man is and make sense out of the odd letters. Yes there is a bit of a romance here in this story but it doesn?t deter from the storyline.I enjoyed this book it really kept me guessing and when the reveal came I was a bit shocked and saddened. The characters are all very fleshed out and you did end up caring about them or hating them as the case may be. Well maybe hate is too strong a word let?s just say the majority of the men are not very likeable with a few exceptions. I had no idea what Theosophy was and was surprised it was the seeing of sprites and fairies and such. This was inspired by the famous Cottingly fairies story about the little girls who became famous for their fairy pictures which were later on revealed to be a hoax.The two stories blended very well together even though I did end up liking the historical story better than Leah?s story. I liked Cat the best because she was the one woman looking to the future and she is a Suffragette with a mind of her own and sharp tongue and not afraid to use either! This book kept me wondering and guessing as to what happened since it starts out with the cryptic letters and leaves you wondering just what happened right to the very end. It is very well written and I would recommend to fans of Kate Morton.4 Stars
    • 4/5
      The Unseen is another time-split novel. The historical bit takes place in 1911, when a young woman with a troubled past comes to the rectory in a small Berkshire village to be a maid. Cat Morley is a spirited, rebellious girl, and she clashes with several people in the village, including the vicar and his wife, who are pretty much stuck in their ways. Then Robin Durrant comes to the village, shaking things up so to speak with his talk of theosophy and the ability to see?and photograph?spirits. In the present is Leah, a journalist who is investigating the story of all these people in the past, including that of a n unknown WWI soldier.As with all these types of novels, the historical strand is by far the strongest. Leah is kind of an archetype; she?s disillusioned with her career and looking for change. So when her ex boyfriend calls her up to ask for her help in researching the story of a unknown WWI soldier, she jumps at the chance, despite the fact that she could get hurt again. Leah is more or less a cardboard character, serving as a vehicle for the far more important story?Cat Morley?s.I had mixed feelings about Cat. On one hand, I enjoyed her spirit and independence; on the other, I thought she was a little bit whiny, acting way out of line. She also has an air of entitlement that?s not usual for servants of the time period; this is explained, but very feebly. Cat?s background story is less of a mystery than you might suppose; as soon as I read the word Holloway, I knew where the story was headed. It was an interesting time period, when things were changing; no one is more representative of this than Cat and Robin Durrant, the theosophist who essentially has Albert Canning under his spell. However, although a lot of fuss is made over Durrant?s theosophy, it?s never actually explained to the reader or why the otherwise concrete-thinking Reverend is taken in by it; and although at one point Durrant and Cat debate about it, they never get past the superficial aspects of it.Going back to the present-day narration, I thought the way that the story was revealed was a bit clumsy?Leah doesn?t actually do much research work beyond reading microfilm newspaper reports of the story and doing a bit of footwork in modern-day Cold Ash Holt. I wish the novel had abandoned the time-slip format and focused on Cat?she?s by far the more intriguing character.
    • 2/5
      I tried very hard to like this book, but I just couldn't get into it, even after 100 pages of slogging. The present day characters were dull, and the past characters were wooden and uninteresting. I couldn't get engaged with the troubled marriage of the preacher and his wife, nor the troubles of Cat, their maidservant. If you like a slow-moving mystery, this may be for you, but the pace was too glacial for me.
    • 4/5
      This is a book about secrets and mysteries and any manner of unseen things and I dare say there is not a character in this book that does not have a secret.The book begins with a present day mystery. Leah Hickson, a freelance journalist, is contacted by her ex-boyfriend Ryan who is working in Belgium for the War Graves Commission, a group who is tasked with identifying the many bodies of unknown soldiers that turn up every year. But this one is particularly interesting, well preserved in a bog, and he thinks that Leah might help by finding out who he is and what is the meaning of the two carefully protected letters that the dead man was carrying. And in the process gaining an interesting story for her to write.Her investigation takes her back to England and the small village of Cold Ash Holt and to the residents of the rectory there a 100 years ago, the Reverend Canning and his wife Hester. 1911 was a stifling hot summer, and the presence of the reverend's guest, the young, handsome Mr. Durrant, a rising star in theosophical circles, will make things all the more uncomfortable. Well, for everyone but Mr. Canning, who seems oddly taken with the young man and his rather strange ideas.Then we have Cat, a young servant girl who was just released from prison in London and taken in as a supposed act of charity by the rectory..and perhaps because they can get away with paying her so little. What her crime was and what she suffered in prison that effected her so much is not her own secret though, one truly surprising one that is not revealed until the last pages. And then there is the murder, of course, and where there is a murder, there is a murderer...I really enjoyed this book for a number of reasons.I liked how the book is set in these two time periods, the present day and a century ago, and while the historic one is perhaps the more important, both are very entertaining and weave together so well. It was a time when the country was on the edge of great change, a breakdown of the servant class, the rise of the suffragette movement, the Great War, that would kill so many, just around the corner and all these play some part in this story.OK, no book is perfect and yes, maybe this one dragged a bit in the last third. But it is a minor issue, because there is a lot to like about this book.There is fraud and lust and obsession and fear and love and one tragically sad death by murder, all wrapped up in not one, but two good stories. Happily, stories that are neatly and satisfyingly tied up in the end, even if many readers might wish that things had turned out differently for at least one character. Some of the secrets may be figured out earlier in the book by the careful reader. And that is fine, because I am pretty sure there are a few you will not see coming but make perfect sense once you find them out. We will find out who that forgotten, dead soldier is and why he died with those two letters in his pocket. It is a great yarn, with some very good, very memorable characters, good and bad, and a lovely setting in the sleepy Berkshire countryside, past and present, and a good story to be told.
    • 5/5
      This novel takes place in two times: the present day, and in 1911. In the present day, Leah is asked by her ex to help identify a World War One soldier for the War Graves Commission; a soldier who has two letters in his possession. Back in 1911, Cat Morley, a young house maid recently let out of jail for taking part in suffrage demonstrations, joins the rural household of the Reverend Albert Canning, who has recently seen fairies while taking a walk in the countryside, and his wife, Hester. Cat isn?t the only new member of the household, though; Robin Durrant, a Theosophist, has come to investigate the reverend?s fairies and enjoy an extended stay with free room and board. Everyone in the rectory has secrets and ambitions. The narrative is ruled by a feeling of tension that never seems to let up. The sultry summer weather in the story parallels the emotional landscape; the slow build up to a thunderstorm that is days and weeks in coming. Cat?s backstory is slowly revealed as she builds a future. Hester begins to learn what is wrong with her marriage. Robin is shown to be a rather different person from his public persona- pretty much everyone turns out to have hidden depths, for good or for ill. I loved this story and found myself falling into the 1911 plot line, unwilling to put the book down. Cat is a thorny person and unlikely protagonist, but I was rooting for her and I found myself trying to will her to make the right choices. The other 1911 characters aren?t nearly as vivid as Cat, although Robin comes close. The zeitgeist of the times plays a large part in the story; women?s suffrage, class distinctions, the interest in the occult; all make their mark on the characters. The present day storyline, while interesting, did not seem to add a great deal to the story. I think that it could have been told without the 2012 plot line, really. Not that I disliked it; it just seemed weak compared to the 1911 story.
    • 5/5
      Set at the end of the Edwardian era, ?The Unseen? captures an England that is quickly disappearing. It is told from the perspectives of Hester Canning, the pastor?s wife, and Cat, the family?s new maid with a mysterious past. While the majority of the novel is set at the Canning rectory in 1911, pieces of the story are also told from the lens of Leah, a journalist in 2011 who is drawn to the rectory?s history by the discovery of a nearly-century-old body and a letter. Initially, the sudden switches in time during the novel are a bit disconcerting, but as Leah?s story connects to that of Hester?s and Cat?s, her tale becomes as compelling. Hester, the somewhat na?ve pastor?s wife, is mystified by the odd behavior of her husband, Albert, who has become obsessed with spiritualism and the existence of fairies. His fascination leads to a visit from Robin Durrant, who studies spiritualism. Robin?s arrival shortly follows that of Cat?s, and the presence of the two newcomers affects the household in many and unexpected ways. The novel in some ways reminded me of one of my favorite authors of all time, Dickens, in its wonderful slow build, rich description of setting, and deft exploration of class differences. Cat?s character questions and challenges societal rules, particularly the role of women and classism, and casts light on the social ills that accompanied this period of history. She also serves as a vehicle to expose the secrets lying beneath the less-than-perfect fa?ade of the rectory. Cat is a complex and fascinating character, both powerful and vulnerable, and quickly became my favorite character in the novel. It?s a novel that tackles a great deal: social ills, spiritualism, mystery, the fine line between obsession and madness. It maintains a lovely balance throughout, and made me at once want to rush ahead to find out what happened next, and slow down to savor the rich language. A delicious read.
    • 4/5
      Summary: The vicarage of the small English town of Cold Ash Holt receives two new occupants in the summer of 1911. The first is Cat Morley, sent to be a maid for the household, despite having recently be imprisioned. Cat knows that she should be grateful to have a position at all, but is too strong-minded - and scarred by her recent experiences - to settle easily into the life of a servant, particularly when the lady of the house is so painfully naive about the realities of the world. The second visitor is Robin Durrant, a noted theosophist invited by the vicar in the hopes of capturing evidence of nature spirits living nearby. Cat is sure that Robin's smoothly charming exterior masks something darker lurking within, and he is clearly taking advantage of the fraught situation at the vicarage. But Cat is no stranger to having secrets herself, and she knows the power that such secrets hold... power that can, in the wrong hands, lead to murder. Review: This book is a bit of an anomaly: even though nothing much happens for at least the first few hundred pages, I was completely absorbed. Because if there's one thing this book has in abundance, it's atmosphere. Webb's writing is lovely, and of the sort that instantly grabbed me, and pulled me into the world of an English country summer, and then didn't let me go while it slowly ratcheted up the tension. It's very much the novel equivalent of the period before a summer storm, where everything is still and muggy and quiet, and everything is just holding its breath waiting for things to finally break. That "break" doesn't come until late in the novel, but for the most part I stayed absorbed in the slow build leading up to it, only occasionally getting frustrated that they weren't just getting on with things already.There were a number of other things I enjoyed about the novel as well. First, I was surprised (and pleased) to realize that it used one of my favorite literary devices, the parallel modern/historical timelines. The modern-day story involves a journalist who is helping an ex-boyfriend discover the identity of a WWI soldier as part of the War Graves Commission, and some letters that he has on him lead her to Cold Ash Holt. The two storylines weren't always as balanced as they could have been - long stretches spent in the historical story meant that I occasionally forgot about the modern one - but on the whole I think it served to round out the book quite nicely.I also thought Webb did a nice job handling the various secrets and mysteries that make up the heart of her story. The answers to some of the mysteries were telegraphed way in advance, but a few still surprised me, and often even things that I guessed correctly in general terms didn't play out the way I thought they would in the particulars. Overall, I think this book probably could have been tightened up in places, but it still sucked me in to its oppressive atmosphere of secrets and lies and muggy summer heat. 4 out of 5 stars. Recommendation: Recommended for people who like their mysteries tense, psychological, and atmospheric. I also think this might appeal to fans of Downton Abbey - not because of any real similarity in plot or setting (the Cold Ash Holt vicarage is a much, much smaller household), but because there's a similar element of upstairs/downstairs tension that runs through the novel.
    • 4/5
      Too much information in some of the other reviews but a great book for anyone who likes historical mysteries.
    • 5/5
      England, 1911. The Reverend Albert Canning, a vicar with a passion for spiritualism, leads a happy existence with his naive wife Hester in a sleepy Berkshire village. As summer dawns, their quiet lives are changed for ever by two new arrivals. First comes Cat, the new maid: a free-spirited and disaffected young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law. Cat quickly finds a place for herself in the secret underbelly of local society as she plots her escape. Then comes Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby. A young man of magnetic charm and beauty, Robin soon becomes an object of fascination and desire. During a long spell of oppressive summer heat, the rectory at Cold Ash Holt becomes charged with ambition, love and jealousy; a mixture of emotions so powerful that it leads, ultimately, to murder.My Thoughts:What a fantastic book. Katherine Webb?s first book The Legacy was good and this one doesn?t fail to deliver either.The story is in two parts, 1911 and 2011. The majority of the story is told in 1911. This book has everything: a murder mystery, family saga, fairies at the bottom of the garden, and plenty of twist and turns. This book did keep me guesssing till the very end and was shocked at who was the murder victim, I really didn?t see that coming. Cat was a brilliant character, so strong willed and determined and she knew her own mind. Robin was dastardly and a real villian. Hester was sweet and very heart warming and her husband the vicar was very silly and easliy sucked in.In 2011 Leah is uncovering the story for us with the finding of a unidentified soldier. She meets up with Mark Canning who has conections with the saga in 1911. I cannot say a lot about Leah because most of the story takes place in 1911.What the author did very well was left me in suspence as she switched from 1911 to 2011 with a cliffhanger which made me want to read faster to go back to see what was going to happen. I couldn?t wait to turn the pages but didn?t want to either as I was getting closer to end of the book. Finishing the book was sad because I feel like I have left people behind who I really liked and won?t see again.I would highly recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      Unseen by Stephanie Erickson I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I always try to give a book a one word response when I finish reading. For Unseen that word is “Wow!”Have you ever wanted to read someone’s mind? What if you could read all the minds of all the people around you? Would the chatter get to be too much? Would you want this power to go away? What if you could learn to control it? What would you do with this ability? Would you use it for evil? Would you use it for good? SPOILER ALERT: Would you want to be part of a movement that worked for the government where everyone used their controlled mind reading ability for the greater cause?This is the problem Mackenzie Day faces. She used to think she was a freak, a one of a kind. When out in public she would use an Ils, a modified IPod that would keep the voices out. Then she is approached by the Unseen and all the world she once knew has now changed. Mackenzie has an uncanny ability to learn quickly. She progresses through the training faster than anyone in the history of the Unseen. Why? What is her fate? This first book in the trilogy ends with the reader wanting more. At least, this is the way it was for me. Will Mackenzie leave things as is? Will she seek revenge? How will she face the future now that she can do what she can do and knows what she knows. I’m going to have to read Unforgiven, Book 2, just to find out. You will want to do the same thing.11.03.15
    • 4/5
      **I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*------------------------------------------Mackenzie Day constantly struggles to silence the voices in her head. The inner thoughts of those around her intrude upon every aspect of her life, threatening to turn it into chaos.All her life, she thought she was alone as a mind reader—a freak. And, then...------------------------------------------This was my first read by Stephanie, and I can't wait to get started on Unforgiven tonight! The story grabs the reader and pulls them in. The characters are well-developed and easy to sympathize with. The struggles Mac is facing are ones we all face - albeit with a supernatural twist. Decisions regarding our lives and what to do with them; decisions about whether or not to toss everything we've trained and studied for to the wind and take a radically different path; loss of loved (or not so loved) ones; and dating.The writing is detailed enough that it would be easy to see this made into a mini-series or movie. And, I loved the fact that the story is relevant enough to keep me interested AND clean enough that I can allow both of my kids to read it. BOTH read the synopsis on the back of the book, and wanted to know if they could borrow it! :)
    • 5/5
      "In the last month, San Antonio has become a dumping ground for battered bodies. All young women, many of them long missing, almost all forgotten. Until now."Wow! What a hook! Texas Ranger Logan Raintree has a knack, a gift, for solving cases, although his biggest regret is not being able to prevent the death of his own wife at the hands of the brother of a man who Logan arrested and sent to death row. He's spent the last year trying to move on with his life, after taking two years off to mourn his wife, when he is approached by an FBI agent, a member of the Krewe of Hunters, an elite group of paranormal investigators. He's not sure if it's the right fit for him, but he agrees to investigate the string of murders happening in his own town. Kelsey O’Brien, a U.S. marshal, has a gift of her own, and is approached by the same FBI agent to join the new team he is putting together, and has her own reservations, but she, too, agrees to stay long enough to find the person kidnapping and killing women. I enjoyed this book very much. I hadn't realized it was part of a series when I started it, but it worked very well as a stand-alone book. It was well written with an interesting mystery, and the characters were all fleshed out and given room to learn and grow throughout the story. I loved that the romance didn't overshadow the mystery of the missing women. The setting was described beautifully, and I was able to imagine it clearly even though I've never been to San Antonio, Texas. I really want to go visit the Alamo now, though, after reading this book.In summary, although I haven't read the other books in this series, I enjoyed this book very much and had no problem following along. I can definitely recommend it and look forward to reading the other books in the series.5/5 stars.I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.
    • 4/5
      I would give this a 4.25. I listened to the audio book of this with my husband. He doesn't have much time for him to actually read a physical book, so we listen to audio books together on his few days off. We both thoroughly enjoyed this book. An added plus is that my 12 year old son has listened to bits and pieces of this story while he is in the car with us and has now gotten into the story as well and wants to read it too! It's about this girl who is a mind reader and has just gotten her masters in music therapy. She uses an ILS to help her block out the "noise" of everyone's thoughts. Then she is approached by this secret organization called The Unseen and they want to teach her how to hone her skills. That's all well and good, but they are keeping secrets from her and she doesn't know exactly what they want from her or if she can trust them.
    • 3/5
      Love how much history (real and imagined) is in this book.
    • 3/5
      Loved the beginning of the book, taking place in Texas, just before the start of the war at the Alamo, the beginning starts off with a bang. Than the book bogs down quite a bit, Crow putting together a new team of people with special abilities to investigate some present day murders as well as random appearances by a ghost, slows the novel down. This was an okay read but think it would have been better with more attention paid to the pacing of the book, maybe less time spent on back stories and more time spent on the concept. ARC by NetGalley.
    • 3/5
      3 ½ Stars

      The Unseen is the latest book by Heather Graham. I can say this book belongs in some part to the Krewe of Hunters series or at least it runs parallel to that series.

      Jackson Crow, the leader of the original Krewe of Hunters is in Texas organizing a second crew, since his original group is already too busy working many cases and they are not enough for all the demand of work they have. They need more people and here is where Texas Rager Logan Raintree and U.S. Marshall Kelsey O’Brien come. Raintree will be the director of this new group and will work with Kelsey and other members that will come along the way.

      After that blurb I think adding more than this will be telling the whole book.

      There were things I liked about this book and others I wasn’t so sure. Let’s start with what I liked.
      I really liked the historical facts and the description of the locations. I have never been in Texas let alone in The Alamo, but after reading this book I feel somehow as if I’ve been there and seen it. I did know about the Alamo, but not with much detail, what I didn’t know about it I learned with this book; I loved history so that was good, maybe if you already know the history of The Alamo all the historical mentions can be too much for you, but for me it was just perfect. Another thing I also liked was the Native American references, especially when the difference between Comanche and Apache beliefs were explained. I’m an admirer of Native American culture, so for me this was a special treat.
      Another thing I liked was that the whodunit wasn’t predictable. I had my suspicions but I wasn’t a hundred percent on it. I liked that very much, I liked when an author surprise me a leaves me with an “I didn’t see that one coming”.

      Now to what I didn’t like, first, the case in itself felt put together by force. I didn’t feel there was any connection between the murders to think that they were all related. Ok, I don’t know anything about police procedure but that was just my impression. In my opinion the case in general felt a bit farfetched.
      Another thing I had a problem with was Logan and Kelsey’s relationship, for sure there was an attraction between them, but I really didn’t feel a deep connection. It felt more as if they were having a fling than really getting into a serious and long lasting relationship.

      Despite the things I didn’t liked I can honestly say I enjoyed reading The Unseen. As I said before I loved the historical aspects of the story and I loved the ghost’s factor and the mystery behind the murders. I really want to know more about the other members of this new Krewe of Hunters and I’m planning to read future books in this series.
      I recommend you this book if you like mystery books with a paranormal touch and lots of history behind them.
    • 3/5
      My rating 3.75 Stars
    • 4/5
      I loved this book. Book 5 starts a new team of Krewe Hunters. This story takes place at the Alamo. Women are disappearing so Jackson Crowe comes to town to start another team. He contacts a Texas Ranger, Logan Raintree, and a US Marshal, Kelsey O'Brien. Neither are sure they want to join this team and leave jobs they love.As they learn about the women that are disappearing and try to figure out how the Alamo ties into the women, they become more and more interested in what this team can accomplish together and the talents each of them have.I did figure out who was doing the killings about 3/4 of the way through the book but it didn't change how interesting this story was. I didn't want to put the book down until it was finished. Very good read and one of my favorites in this series.

    Book preview

    Unseen - Mark Graham

    Fifteen

    Chapter One

    Mariupol, Ukraine

    The grounds-keeper caught the director watching him from behind the tall white linen curtains of her office window. He had seen her do this for many years and drive by him on his daily long walk to the bus-stop. He sensed her still observing him as he ambled to the newly installed nine foot high steel front gate at the entrance to the orphanage. He let himself out first, double-wrapped the chains, and relocked it. He stood there for a while looking at what had been his place of work for the past thirty-two years, the old large three-story building of imperfectly placed sandy bricks. Located central to one of the many Soviet era apartment sections of town, the orphanage was surrounded and blocked from all sides. The whole of the property, his kingdom, surrounded by a low endless and expansive wall of the same brick. He had given his best to it, inside and out, to make it appear less like an industrial warehouse. But at each day’s end, the view of it and his efforts disappointed.

    His last day. He was still trying to believe it. It would be months before he started receiving his pension and he had made no other plans for the gap. He never even considered his pension, only assumed he would work until his body gave out completely.

    Directors came and went over the years, one or two that were good and the rest bad. This latest one being the worst. Many children came to know him well and he always focused on the ones, the few, who could potentially find work when they left. But he was a learner. A man who read and thought. He learned to only invest himself in certain ones eventually and worked to build them up, making them assistants and getting them duty with him in the gardens or strapping on them a tool-belt to follow him around with, cleaning and fixing. Hoping they would grasp something lasting from his ethic and take on some confidence. It had become to him his real job.

    He turned from the building. He had eleven blocks to walk to the bus stop. His longevity was in part due to this exercise blended with the breeze coming from the nearby Sea of Azov. At the corner of the fourth block he would normally stop into the store, buy a paper and meet his friends. His friends used to include the customers but that had changed over the years.

    He passed the storefront by this evening.

    As he walked, he thought of the empty flat that awaited him at the other side of town. His wife had died long ago and too young. He was without children; they had wanted children so badly. When no one was around he would still speak to her about all their children that he tended to. About his love and dreams for them. Each year he looked to celebrate a day when he helped one of his children get a job. Or when he found one had gone off to University on a government scholarship. He bought the little store out on those days. There were six such celebrations in his years at the orphanage. The past five years had been hopeless because of the new director. He managed his work around the other bad ones, but this one was different, maniacal and unpredictable. Also she was in total control while pretending to be at odds politically with some workers and administrators. It took him several years before he understood her act, her lies. And another couple of years to keep himself from the bottle when he returned home.

    Part of him was relieved that he witnessed what he had on the second floor, while the part of him, concerned with paying his rent now, wished he had not stayed to listen and been found out. The work was so hopeless anyhow. And the director’s future would probably outlast the remainder of his life. But he had seen them and heard them. He had some skills and sober many years so he did imagine he might still find work, even at his age.

    The grounds-keeper reached his stop and was surprised to see her alone there sitting under the canopy. He had been so much in his thoughts that he had not noticed her shiny new car parked in front of the bus-stop. He was certain she had not passed him on the walk, he always noticed that. And her new car was the latest talk of her around the orphanage. He approached her cautiously and sat down at the opposite end of the bench without acknowledging her.

    You know I had to fire you, the director said.

    He did not answer.

    Those girls have a roof and some money. That’s more than they would have on the street and you know it. And they don’t pay for anything.

    The grounds-keeper leaned his body slightly more away from her.

    I know you heard us talking. I don’t need to know how much you heard, you understand. That is enough to know.

    Why are you talking to me? he asked.

    I want you to know how serious this is. You know the cook – she was here only six weeks.

    He did remember. The woman had simply disappeared one day. But she had made friends in her short time and they tracked her down to her home town in time to attend the funeral. Because she had accidentally drowned three days before. Drowned in a river she had grown up swimming in every summer of her youth.

    The bus pulled up to the curb and the man stood with no intention of a response. Something in him, some primal survival message, told him to speak before boarding the bus. I understand, he said.

    Good. Very important.

    Da, he replied.

    The man stepped onto the bus, found his window seat and dropped into it. He knew she was looking at him but he could not look back. The bus moved and after some time he found the interest to look out the window as they passed the city port and then flowed through downtown Mariupol. The bus slowed and he peered down at two policemen talking it up with each other. He recognized the short one from a day in the director’s waiting room. The grounds-keeper had been there replacing a telephone the director had ripped from the wall and thrown against another wall. The short policeman had been there to get paid for turning a blind eye. When he was young, he believed the uniformed men were really something. They were the people’s refuge and ambassadors of the law. He knew now that the Soviet dream was just a prelude to a nightmare. His people were stronger than that and their heritage deeper. He had always imagined his last days to be of respect and honor. But the image was only four hours old and remained with him. He had been on that wing of the second floor a hundred thousand times before. This day was just unfortunate.

    Three blocks from his Kiev hotel, he stood in front of the doors. The doors to the shop were obviously locked but Martin Johnson shook them anyhow. His need for caffeine hoped in any possibility. Even that which was seen with his eyes was not necessarily true, not absolutely. Dawn was breaking but the shopkeepers were not yet active. He turned around to see only old men slouching on park benches, chatting, feeding pigeons breakfast, and one set playing chess. Martin remembered Benjamin Franklin’s saying of early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. From the looks of the men, Martin learned that health and wealth had very subjective and circumstantial definitions. He had left a note for his wife, Jenny, early in the morning that he would be venturing out alone and scribbled down the number to his new cell phone. He started to approach the old men but changed his mind. Six months of hard study prior to this trip and he was still not confident in his Russian enough for random conversations.

    This first cool morning in-country, an overwhelming pang settled in his gut as he left the storefront to walk the city sidewalks. It was mostly because of his need of coffee but he could not ignore the fact of his new anxiety. The last time he felt something like this was prior to his wedding day. Not a foreboding, instead a kind of concentrated gravity, deep in meaning and personal.

    Martin didn’t like radical change or discomfort of any kind. Joining up with the little group on their mission to help an orphanage was something he had committed to for a lack of something better to do. He was diligent in this and in life to always count the cost, to never blindly leap into anything new. With all of his preparation, and being just a day into Ukraine, it did not feel like a honeymoon. He couldn’t even get coffee the instant he wanted it and feared that there might be more inconveniences that lay ahead.

    As he walked the endless broken and cracked asphalt sidewalks of Kiev, the mix of grand Stalin period buildings with their tall columns, carved stone window frames and inlaid with first floor cheaply built modern store-fronts enthralled Martin. He worked his mind away from his normal inclinations and passions, thinking of prayer but without praying. This thing prayer only came to him in times of extreme distress or boredom. He crossed a river; the bridge’s entry way was marked by tall stone posts, topped with golden hammer and sickle ornaments. Martin passed over to the island and then meandered down towards the left embankment of the Dnieper River. A whole community of Soviet period apartment high-rises nestled in place on what his map said was an historic artificial island called Rusanivsky. Nothing was open there either. He continued on carefully down cement steps to the canal level and rested on what was left of a green painted wooden park bench at the water’s edge. He would wait the shopkeepers out. Looking out to the new light expanding across the algae infested water, he ran through the questions burdening him, questions he had not been used to asking. Why was he so tense? What lay ahead for him in the next 10 days? No matter, he was happy just to not be working wherever he might be. If nothing else, he planned to make a vacation out of it all.

    Martin looked at his watch and thought of the meetings and ledgers he would normally be entertaining at work at that time. For the 15 years since leaving college, he had been an accountant with the small company. A job he also did simply for lack of interest in something else to do. Most of his promotions were generated by attrition and had been fittingly anticlimactic. It was rumoured that he was on a short list for the future position of comptroller. He knew he didn’t get along as well as others, so this had surprised him. Then he remembered the time difference. He’d actually be fast asleep if back home. Martin looked to his map and bits of history knowledge drifted to the forward of his thoughts but the power of their certainty fizzled. The Evil Empire, the name he’d been taught from his youth, clearly did not fit this place, or the people. They struggled, maybe, under an overtly oppressive government, but were not partakers of that power. Not folks like him anyhow. In fact, so far it seemed much like his Oklahoma but in an alternate universe. A universe without an EPA, building codes, or fast food and large grocery chains every hundred feet. Martin tightly clamped his eyes and pressed his thoughts out into a single desire and plea to have the wretched question of his anxiety answered. He waited as if for a miracle cure to cancer. But nothing. An hour later, nothing, the pressure of an unspoken purpose was still enveloping him.

    He trudged himself back the way he had come and slowly passed one lone old man sitting on another bench. The man, in his 80s, leaned forward with his arms folded over his crossed legs. Martin estimated that his wide-lapelled plaid suit coat must have survived for at least forty years. He was compelled to stop before the man and felt strangely at home near him. The man looked at him as someone pleased, a kind of lonely old uncle expectant of company.

    Hello, Martin said in his uncertain Russian.

    Hello, friend.

    They remained in silence for a time, what seemed like a very long time to Martin. The man never dropped his aged but alert piercing blue eyes from him.

    You are American, the man said in English.

    You know? Martin asked.

    Yes. You are bold.

    Your English is good, Martin replied. Bold?

    Thank you. You see that ship there? By the crane.

    Yes, Martin answered.

    It’s named after an older riverboat. I worked on that one.

    Providence. Martin said.

    Very good. You read Russian.

    Well, I know the alphabet. You know where I can get coffee? Martin again gestured as he struggled with words, forgetting the stranger knew perfect English.

    A good ship can take you safely somewhere. But sometimes it is the ship that is the destination. You understand?

    No. I’m sorry. I need to get going. It was nice talking with you.

    Okay. You have hryvnia? the man asked.

    The man held his shaking hand out. Martin handed him 10 hryvnia and smiled a goodbye. The old man had seemed extraordinary in the way he had opened up so directly. From Martin’s short experience from the airport to there the man seemed un-Ukrainian.

    He called Jenny, telling her that he would meet the group at the Alliance Children’s Foundation compound. From his map, he could tell it was doable without a taxi. Martin, determined to find coffee, wanted more time to shake off the pressure he felt from the inside out.

    Along the way back he witnessed shops opening for business. People filled the streets and sidewalks finding their way to their jobs. Many other people appeared to wander about without real direction. Probably unemployed. Martin passed a group of teens that likely should have been in school or at work. Books did not exaggerate the amount of street kids in Kiev. The numbers of homeless youth astounded him as he walked, walked in a way to avoid them. He caught the eye of a couple gang members as he went. Each time their eyes and expressions were identical – he offended them by having some place to go, some place to be. He ducked into the first open café and stood in line for his coffee. The Babushka in front of him turned her head back to look at him. Martin then realized that he had naturally made, with an American sense of space, the only gap in the line.

    The Alliance Children’s Foundation compound was immense and was centered in one of the most expensive real estate quarters of Kiev. Inflation was in place and the rental property was a relative match to Manhattan. Martin walked through the stately gates of the A.C.F. feeling uneasy. His ideas of second-world ministries were nothing like he had observed. He knew there were people in the field, missionaries who suffered along with those they ministered to. This was not it. This was where they organized and networked all those missionaries. They also networked with hundreds of other non-profits in the country through what they called partnerships.

    The A.C.F. resembled to Martin a little of the American government in the way that they were the dispenser of major funds, allowing them a far-reaching oversight of likely too many things. His little rag-tag group had gathered outside one of the doors on the third floor. He reached them and heard that he missed the tour of the state-of-the-art television studio. Apparently it was breath-taking.

    He couldn’t have been less interested if he had desired to be. Why he came all this way in the first place, Martin wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t to meet-and-greet TV personalities or ogle electronic equipment in a studio. He took a place next to Jenny and they followed the team down the many stairs and out into the parking lot. The chief of the A.C.F., recognizable to Martin from his previous fretful Internet searches, walked out of the building with a couple of his aides following close behind. The man seemed bothered, a bitterness masked by a smile that Martin had seen before from so many salesmen.

    The leader of the mission led the group closer to the chief and by the van that was to take them to the train station.

    Hello, everyone. Welcome to Ukraine. Translated, it means Borderland and you guys are headed to our southernmost border region today. I tell you, I envy you your work in Mariupol. Word has gone ahead and the children are very excited. The director is as well. I have known her for many years and I think they will be as much a blessing to you as you are to them. Thank you again for your heart for the Ukrainian children.

    The chief gave more energy to his final smile, waving before disappearing back into the building.

    What’s his name, again? Martin asked.

    Chip Stiles. He’s really nice, Jenny replied.

    So just his little speech sucks?

    Stop it, she whispered.

    Fine.

    On their way to the train station Martin had made it his goal to try to understand the Ukrainian traffic signs and rules. Was driving and parking on sidewalks okay all the time or just at certain hours? They encountered a traffic light at several intersections where the rule seemed to be that all cars met in the middle and fought their way across.

    It was early evening by the time they arrived at the Kiev city train station. Their group was guided into the station, a place as bustling inside as outside. The airport had nothing like the volume of people in this place which showed to Martin that this country relied heavily on the train. Looking around the entryway he saw that the ceiling reached at least 100 feet high, held together with giant and ornate stone columns. Hanging from this incredible height was the largest chandelier he had ever seen with large baroque style fresco paintings bordering the highest rim full around the room. Did they have Soviet symbolism in the same way Masonic temple buildings back home had mystical meanings?

    Jenny tugged him along with the rest of the herd to the window where they could exchange their money. These little currency exchange stations seemed to be everywhere. Martin had little interest in the people on his team before today, but now they made themselves pronounced, annoying, and embarrassing. An older couple bickered with the exchange agent and between themselves. Another man still complained about his having missed lunch. And one woman spoke loudly of how she was so humbled by the poverty she had seen on the way to the station.

    Martin finally found the words to pray, but the answer was apparently ‘no’ because they were all still talking.

    These people, Jenny.

    Stop it. It’s fine, Jenny said.

    Yeah, okay. But come on.

    You don’t like groups or crowds. You don’t like anyone taking care of you. It makes you crazy.

    Da, he said and laughed.

    Oh, the language. You have to have an interpreter. That must be killing you. I’m sorry, it’s not funny.

    It’s like I’m a baby, you know.

    You’re my baby.

    The A.C.F. people walked them all to their track

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