In 1926, five women disappeared without a trace from New Avalon, a small and remote island on Lake Faraday off the coast of Vermont. Now, a hundred years later, similar incidents are taking place at the same location. Of course, since this is a Riley Sager novel (his 10th!), these past occurrences were far from innocent, as are the present-day ones that threaten to mirror them.

This is the foundation of THE UNKNOWN, which has more than a few horror elements thrown in to make for a dark and haunting story with a rich supernatural atmosphere. The commune on New Avalon is more than a bit creepy, especially when diary entries from a young woman named Daisy Rue indicate that many of the residents (including herself) had some sort of otherworldly power, which today would be called occult practices or a sixth sense.

"Riley Sager keeps things moving along at a nice pace with just the right amount of suspense and twists that will make his loyal readers very happy."

This diary will drive and inform the current events by inspiring director Ronan Peters to begin filming a movie on New Avalon that tells the story of Daisy and the mystery of the ladies who vanished, which is still unsolved to this day. He casts a number of talented celebrities for this project, most of whom are insulted and shocked that a relatively unknown actress named Marin Keane has been tapped to play the lead role. The on- and off-screen drama this stirs up is a lot for Marin and, ultimately, Ronan to handle. Yet it all seems to have been almost predestined and constantly rings with a hum of intrigue and suspicion until the truth is finally revealed.

Daisy’s diary entries are featured prominently in the story and speak of an unearthly presence initially referred to as The Darkness. Many of the psychics, both real and fake, point to the evil that surrounds the island and threatens to consume them all. Not everyone involved with the film takes this seriously, but they should pay attention when questionable and unexplainable events begin to victimize them in much the same way as the missing women from 1926.

The story is quite claustrophobic and is made more so due to the small, isolated setting. While the use of diary entries is far from an original idea, it provides an effective look into the mysteries and fears of the past that now threaten to take hold of the new cast of characters in the present.

Along the way, we have to deal with a number of individuals bordering on being unreliable narrators that propel the story in different directions and will keep us wondering exactly what is going on. Marin seems to be the only person who truly understands that something is not right with this movie or the eerie location as she begins to unravel some of the mysteries of the past.

Riley Sager keeps things moving along at a nice pace with just the right amount of suspense and twists that will make his loyal readers very happy.