Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Unseen by Nancy Bush. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.
Unseen by Nancy Bush
Non-series
Zebra (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-4201-0340-7 (1420103407)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-0340-3 (9781420103403)
Publication Date: April 2009
List Price: $6.99
Review: Some may consider Nancy Bush's stand-alone novel Unseen a supernatural thriller, but it's really not: it's an imaginative mystery that will beguile the reader.
Gemma LaPorte wakes up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there, or when, or why. Detective Will Tanninger, who is at the hospital to speak with her, tells her she had walked into the emergency room and collapsed. She had been badly bruised and was bleeding. Further examination strongly suggested that she had a mild concussion, all injuries comparable to those sustained in an automobile accident. She had been admitted as Jane Doe inasmuch as she had no identification with her. Awake and alert, questions are now being asked: What is your name? What happened? Who brought you here? Gemma tells Tanninger her name and that she has no memory of what had happened or how she got to the hospital. He then asks what her last memory is. She tells him she remembers having breakfast and looking out her window watching a heavy rainfall. Tanninger knows the last rain they had was three days ago. He tells Gemma that a woman answering her description was seen the day before deliberately running down a man, a pedophile, with her automobile and then speeding away. Although she has no memory of the incident, Gemma is positive she could not have done it. From that moment on Gemma’s life takes on two time dimensions: before the accident -- and after the accident. After the accident is becoming clear in her mind, but before the accident is like a jigsaw puzzle of memories with missing pieces. She hopes to restore her splintered memories, but in doing so what will she find out about herself?
Unseen is a riveting novel and the character at the center of it all is mesmerizing. Gemma has been told by her mother that she has the "gift", that she can see, or at least feel, the future. Gemma has never believed this herself, but she knows she has violent headaches and blackout spells. A deranged man in town certainly believes it, perceiving himself as a wolf and Gemma as a witch, someone to be burned on a pyre, to be sent to hell. As Gemma learns more about her past she begins to see herself as both good and evil. But she doesn't know which is her true self.
The suspense continues to build through the twisted maze of Gemma's memories to what can only be described as a shocking conclusion. Unseen is, quite simply, an electrifying thriller.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Unseen and to Nancy Berland Public Relations for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
If you are interested in purchasing Unseen from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.
Synopsis (from the publisher): She Woke Up With No Memories …
She wakes up in a hospital room...bruised…bloody...confused. She knows her name is Gemma La Porte—but that’s all. She doesn’t remember smashing her car. She doesn’t remember anything from the last three days. But a policeman, Deputy Will Tanninger, is waiting for answers and wants to know if she’s responsible for a fatal hit-and-run …
But Remembering Her Past Could Kill Her …
Hoping to restore her shattered memory, Gemma has no choice but to put her trust in Will. But if it turns out she’s guilty of murder, he has no choice but to arrest her. Torn by her growing feelings for Will, and haunted by her shadowy past, Gemma is determined to learn the truth. But, in this case, the darkest truths are unknowable—and the deadliest enemies are unseen …
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