The Unknown: A Novel
THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The first edition of this stunning hardcover features designed endpapers, a foil-stamped case, hued edges, and a shimmery jacket!
In 1926, five women disappeared from a remote island in Vermont. Now, one hundred years later, it’s happening again.
Struggling actress Marin Keane is shocked when she lands a role in a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery of New Avalon, an island on sprawling Lake Faraday in Vermont. She’s even more surprised when she learns that the role requires a weeklong research trip to that very spot.
Because New Avalon isn’t your ordinary island. A century ago, it was a commune for spiritual mediums—until they all vanished in 1926. The only trace of them was five dresses hanging from the branches of an old oak tree in the middle of the island, one for each missing woman. Some locals say they simply left. Others think they were murdered. But the prevailing opinion, thanks to a diary left behind by one of the vanished, a young woman named Daisy Rue, is that a séance gone wrong conjured something supernatural that took them all one by one.
Not long after arriving, Marin and her castmates, including legendary actress Violet Wright and white-hot director Ronan Peters, begin to realize all is not right with New Avalon. They hear strange noises in the night and notice mysterious symbols left behind by the island's previous occupants. And after a sudden health emergency leaves Marin, Ronan, and the other actors stranded on the island, the disappearances begin again.
Is it the work of someone trying to derail the movie? Or is the island’s alleged supernatural past catching up with the present? As fear and suspicion mount, Marin turns to Daisy’s diary, hoping it holds the key to figuring out what really happened to the women of New Avalon—and how to keep the island’s terrible history from repeating itself.
BUY THE BOOK
Join a book club that is reading The Unknown: A Novel!
Community Reviews
don't come after me for this one, ok? Ok great.
I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it. I kinda sorta am happy I got approved for an ARC bc I would have probably been upset about spending my hard earned money on this book that I truly feel missed the mark.
The premise sounds promising—spooky, creepy, locked room vibes. But somewhere along the way I just wasn't really into it. And the truth/plot twist was pretty "meh". This one felt different from Sager's other books which I normally LOVE. I feel like the 1926 storyline didn't work for me along with the letter excerpts.
I actually DNFed initially bc I think I was just distracted with my personal world, and now that things have cleared up, I decided to give it a second try. TBH, I would have been fine leaving it as not finished.
Anyways, I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
Riley Sager had me! I was happily wandering around New Avalon, side eyeing creepy symbols, suspicious disappearances, old séances, and the possibility that something supernatural had been waiting on that island for a hundred years. I wanted the ghosts. Give me the ghosts!
The Unknown follows struggling actress Marin Keane after she lands a role in a horror movie based on the mysterious disappearance of five spiritual mediums in 1926. The cast travels to the isolated Vermont island where the women vanished. Director Ronan Peters decides they need to live just like the original mediums did. That means no electricity, no easy escape, and plenty of creepy history. Strange things start happening almost immediately. The situation becomes more and more unsettling as members of the crew begin disappearing.
I flew through that part of the story. The isolated island, old diary, occult history, and question of whether something supernatural was hunting everyone was exactly the eerie atmosphere I wanted. Sager also kept me guessing about what was happening in both timelines. Then, came the explanations.
Using dissociative identities to explain the historical supernatural events completely lost me. The portrayal felt inaccurate and sensationalized. Using mental illness as the big scary explanation behind events that had previously seemed paranormal was such a disappointing direction. Mental health conditions are already misunderstood enough without turning them into inaccurate and convenient thriller twists.
The explanation for the modern haunting did not work much better. The amount of planning, manipulation, cooperation, and perfectly timed deception required to pull everything off became so far-fetched that I did not buy any of it. I can suspend disbelief pretty far for a thriller, but this story asked me to launch it into space. I wish Sager had trusted the creepy world he created. A haunted island filled with the remnants of a centuries old séance disaster was more interesting to me than the explanation we received. The first portion had me ready to recommend this book. The final reveals dropped my rating all the way down to two stars.
A
I know that many people really enjoy Riley Sager and his books. After finishing this one, I feel that maybe he just isn't for me. I believe that for me a common thing that happens is that I read the blurb and have my own thoughts or expectations of how everything will unfold. Then I begin the book and feel disconnected from the characters and the overall plot line. This book was just okay for me and I will give it three stars to be generous since I was able to finish vs DNF.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.