Unseen Gods - Justin Holley

UNSEEN GODS

JUSTIN HOLLEY

**

Careful what you search for, you may just find it. With grotesque glimpses of the disappeared, the past is alive and well.

After winning an old casefile at auction outlining the disappearance of a hunting party back in the nineties, Kory and his pregnant wife invite their friend and mentor, Professor Frank Colista, and others, for a casual long weekend of exploring the mystery onsite with very little hope of finding anyone or anything. When one of their factions disappears without a trace, Kory and Colista fear the past may repeat itself. Then the deaths start. As a savage, unexpected snowstorm sets in, the disappearances and ungodly sightings of the deceased ramp up, and an old woman rambles about end-of-days and sacrifice.

MY REVIEW

**

It’s spooky season at Kindig Blog and I was drawn in by the cover of Unseen Gods – excited to see what lurked beneath!

When a group of friends decide to travel to an old hunting cabin, they realise they may have bitten off more than they could chew as the lights start to dim and night draws in.

After starting to read Unseen Gods, I had to check and double check that this wasn’t part of a series. Nothing in the blurb indicated this was the case, but a lot of things weren’t adding up and I had the feeling I was missing something. Professor Colista, one of the main characters is described as a Chaos Magician with his ingenue Jenifer, but it isn’t properly explained what this is and there was reference to previous events that I didn’t understand or have any context for. I ended up having to specifically search for the author’s name and the character’s name to find out that the character featured in a previous book called Tethered to Darkness. Usually this wouldn’t bother me – I’ve read lots of books mid-series but usually they offer some kind of introduction to newer readers which isn’t the case here. This made it really hard to empathise with the characters and led to a lot of confusion.

Aside from the missing context of the previous book, I also didn’t particularly find any of the other characters very likeable, although Justin Holley pulls no punches with their fates. The only character I actually felt something for was the cat. I also didn’t really understand whether his dad was actually there or an astral projection which was just confusing. Although the atmosphere was creepy with some gory scenes, I don’t really understand how the events at the Hunting Lodge were linked to the possessed lady at the hotel or the Hairy Men or the blue lightning - it all just seemed like a lot of ideas being thrown around without anything to link them together.

If you want to give this book a go, I’d highly recommend reading Tethered to Darkness first, so you get essential exposition about the characters which is severely lacking in this book. Thank you to NetGalley & Flame Tree Press for a chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LINKS TO BUY

Amazon UK

Waterstones