A review by hannahmaybookreviews
These Nameless Things by Shawn Smucker

3.0

Title: These Nameless Things
Author: Shawn Smucker
Pages: 328
Publisher: Revell Books
Rating: 3.5/5

A huge thank you to Shawn Smucker, Revell Books and Love Books Group for letting me read and review These Nameless Things.

Synopsis:

Lucky to be alive, Dan and his fellow visitors were once held captive and tortured on a mysterious mountain. The villagers have limited memory of life before the mountain but one thing Dan does know is that his freedom come with a cost. His escape from the mountain meant he had to leave his brother behind. With every passing day Dan waits with the other survivors, reluctant to move on in case his brother finally makes his escape. However, things begin to unravel as memories begin to resurface and an appearance of an injured woman throws everything into question. Dan soon finds he is struggling with who to trust and soon realises he may be free but he is still faced with moral dilemmas. He has to decide how far he will go to save the ones he loves.

Review:
The cover of this initially grabbed my attention, it looked intriguing and sparked some hope in me that this would be another thriller I could sink my teeth into. After reading the book description and some of the many positive reviews I could honestly not wait to read this book. Let’s just say it didn’t disappoint.

These Nameless Things had an eerie feel from start to finish, I honestly had a weird feeling over me throughout which didn’t begin lifting until near the end. It was quite a haunting read and I don’t think I’m going to forget about this book anytime soon, which I like.

Despite struggling to get my head around the story line at first, I was still hooked in and had questions I needed to find the answers for. Shawn Smucker is a very talented writer; he is descriptive and excellent at scene setting. I could visualise everything throughout and I loved how he managed to turn a mountain into something sinister in my head.

Nothing was given away straight away; I was intrigued throughout and the best thing of all is that I still didn’t figure it out! I really enjoyed how the puzzle fitted together. The story wasn’t rushed and things slotted together at a slow pace so those fast-paced lovers be aware. However, this book would not have the same feel or effect if it was faster, it would lose its eerie feel.

I found the characters involved to be quite interesting, some didn’t have big parts but they all had a part to play in the story. I was wary of them at first but I could also relate to them as they all had their own battles. There were many elements they faced which we all do in our normal life, such as dealing with guilt, forgiveness, consequences of our actions and struggles with relationships. It also highlights the importance of having hope, there is always a way back despite how difficult things may be.

This thought provoking read held me until the very last word, I generally did struggle to find to words to sum it up because it is so unqique and different to anything I’ve read before, to really understand I think you have to read yourself!