The Unwanted

Written by John Saul

Narrated by Joyce Bean

Cassie Winslow is sixteen. She has just lost her mother in a terrible accident. Now, lonely and frightened, she has come to live with the father she barely knows and his new family in tiny False Harbor on Cape Cod. For Cassie, the strange, unsettling dreams that come to her suddenly in the dead of night are merely the beginning. Very soon, Cassie Winslow will come to know the terrifying powers that are her gift. And in the village of False Harbor, nothing will ever be the same.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Nov 25, 2006
• ISBN: 9781423302513

John Saul

John Saul’s first novel Suffer the Children became an instant bestseller, as have many of the thirty-three novels of dark suspense he has published since. Amidst this busy writing schedule, he divides his time between Seattle, Washington and Hawaii.

Reviews for The Unwanted

[cathepsut · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was not bad. It wasn’t good either. Girl looses mother, moves in with her dad and his new family, doesn’t fit in, starts having strange dreams, evil descends onto the small coastal town. If it was set in Maine, I would have thought Stephen King! But no, not that good. The ending was really lame and for the really long build-up too short. I finished the last page and thought, “What? That was it??” If you enjoy watching B-list horror-movies, this is for you…

[booknookretreat7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Chills and Thrills!

Backstory:

Cassie Winslow lost her mother in a terrible car crash and has to come live with her father, Keith and his family in the town of False Harbor. Cassie is in a deep depression from losing her mother and tries to fit into the household of her step-mom, Rosemary and their young daughter, Jennifer. Cassie has a hard time fitting into the new school and right away she is shunned from some of the teenagers there. Cassie does make friends with a next door neighbor named Eric and they hit it off well, but things become strange for Cassie when she sees a woman in town that seems familiar to her named Miranda Sikes.

Miranda is known for being the local crazy witch in town and she lives at the end of town out in a cabin that lies within swampland and marshes which borders a beach. Cassie just feels drawn to that area and ends up eventually meeting with Miranda out in the cabin. But things are not what they seem and when things start happening in the town with people that have been giving Cassie and Eric troubles is when crazy crap hits the fan and fingers are pointing along with whispers of Cassie being crazy just like Miranda as the town thinks that Cassie is behind the attacks that start happening to the citizens.

That is about all I can give on a taste without giving away spoilers and if you would like to know more then you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

I had read this book way back in the early 90's as I use to read this author a lot back then, but I have decided to start revisiting John Saul's books as it has been many years since I read a lot of his work. This story started out a little slow due to some world building of the town of False Harbor plus there was some character building as well, but about the 25% mark things started kicking in a little more with some creepy vibes rolling off the pages that surrounded Miranda Sikes and her remote cabin out in the swamplands.

Around the 40% mark things were happening more and I literally could not put this book down as so much was happening with all the characters that I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. I literally read the last 30% of the book in a couple of hours as the crap hit the fan and there were tons of twists and turns which drove this book into overdrive!

There are some creepy moments, but there is also some gore stuff within these pages as when the book went into overdrive I was reaching for my "gore suit" as I am thinking to myself "I don't remember Saul books being gory" but there it was right before me on the pages of this book - some gore parts dotted here and there throughout the book.

Very happy with rereading this book as though it has been over 30 years since I read it the book brought back memories of being amazed by the works of this author. I plan on rereading more of his books so I can step back into that time of old school horror as that is how I feel about reading Saul's books. Giving this book five Screaming Terror stars!

[joe73-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this decades ago when I first discovered John Saul. At the time I read so many of his books that they seemed to run together. I remember liking it enough to read all his work.

[jhemlock-1711 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this decades ago when I first discovered John Saul. At the time I read so many of his books that they seemed to run together. I remember liking it enough to read all his work.

[dagon12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure if it is because this is a slightly older book or what but this novel grabbed me more than other more recent ones by Saul. In fact, the second half grabbed me and seemed to be quickly tying together many things that I didn't even think would be connected but ended up being so. It was definitely a page-turner! Saul still keeps with his theme of children and revenge but there is a little bit more of a bite in the story. The story contains some grit that makes it that much more enjoyable. My only complaint is that I know I read the last page somewhere else. Not sure if it was another novel by Saul, by someone else or if I just read the book twice by mistake, but it was definitely familiar.

[readingover50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not my favorite John Saul, but not a bad book either. I thought the story of Cassie and Eric was interesting. I wasn't too happy with the ending, but most of John Saul's books have an unhappy ending. I felt sorry for Cassie and the way she was ostracized by the town, and wished she could have had a happier life.

[mikedraper · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sixteen year old Cassie Winslow feels alone after her mother died in an auto accident.Her parents were divorced and her father remarried. Now he has Cassie come to live with him and his family in Cape Cod. When she arrives, she makes friends with her neighbor, Eric Cavanaugh who is the same age. However, most of the students at the high school take the lead from Eric's old girlfriend. They shut out Chassie and make hurtful comments about her.Cassie is drawn to the one person in town who is also alone, the eccentric Miranda. Miranda is considered odd and lives by herself in a house by the marsh.When Cassie comes to Miranda's home and they talk, Miranda tells her that now, Cassie is hers and that she won't let anyone harm her. Besides being eccentric, Miranda has the power to communicate and control a cat and an albino hawk that live at her home.At her father's home, Cassie feels like an intruder and eventually comes to think of Miranda's home as her real home.As the days go by, Cassie and Eric bond together. Eric is also a friend of Miranda and when Eric is mistreated by other students or his baseball coach, we observe strange, supernatural things happen to them. Is is witchcraft? Is is just a coincidence?John Saul does a standout job at keeping the reader guessing while at the same time providing a high level of suspense.The author also provided some good plot twists and surprises. I did feel that some of the action was predictable. Nevertheless, I felt entertained.

[susanbevans · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another unbelievably great work of horror by John Saul.

[ladybug74 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a typical Saul book with a couple of teens who were different and picked on by others. I have noticed this as a theme in all or most of his books that I have read. Either I am just not in the mood for this type of book or I have outgrown Saul's books because I just wasn't as interested in this one as I would have been at one time. It was good, but not great.