Black Water Tales: The Unwanted - Jean Nicole Rivers

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.

Reviews:

I thought this ok was going to be creepy, in no way what so ever did I realise that it would be THAT creepy.

As soon as I met Blaire I instantly recognised that hints of our personalities matched and that left me with a connection to her. For the friendly nurse that she is paired with, Tavis is a very relaxed character I felt a sort of calmness when I read parts that involved him.

Any integration with the children creeped me out to the max, it is an intense, scary and a real page turner. I hadon't chills running up my spine so many times throughout reading this book. It was truly brilliant.

One of the best things about the story is the setting. What's more creepiest than an old rundown orphanage in a city that is unknown? Nothing. The setting is perfect for the story and Jean gives some amazing details of the place which makes you feel like you're walking down those halls with the characters. I must admit that it is definitely a place I wouldn't visit unless I was really inquisitive.

The ending though, was a complete and utter shock, I had a feeling something major would happen but when it happened I was in complete shock. I didn't want to believe it and I may have also shed a few tears and had to take a large gulp of air to stay composed.

Jean is clearly a very talented writer and I'm definitely going to check out more of her work. I think I'm still recovering from reading this book. Overall a definite 5/5 and it would be higher if it could be. A recommendation to anyone who wants to read a spine chilling story.