When seventeen-year-old senator's son Grant
Tavish is involved in a fatal accident, all he wants to do is face the
consequences of what he's done, but the consequences never come, even if
headlines of "affluenza" do. The truth soon becomes clear: Due to his
father's connections, not only will Grant not be held accountable for
his actions, he's going to get away with murder.
When a long
Tavish tradition approaches, a cave excursion on the Appalachian trail,
Grant seizes the opportunity to take justice into his own hands by
staging an accident and never coming back. But before he has a chance to
enact his plans, the cave system collapses, trapping him miles beneath
the surface with four other teens from much less fortunate
circumstances. As they struggle to survive, they share their innermost
secrets and fears, and just when it seems they might be on track to
finding a way out, they realize there's something else down there.
And it's hunting them.
I squeezed in one more read before the weekend even really started! This time I picked up Kim Liggett's The Unfortunates! It's been awhile since I last read Liggett's books but I remember enjoying them for the delightful creep factor! This one had a good mysterious vibe going on, being trapped in a cave, total darkness! What could be scarier? I mean, besides the unknown entity that's following Grant and the other survivors?
Grant is still dealing with the aftermath of the incident a few months later. We don't know exactly what this incident is, but based on the blurb you can get an idea of what happened. Life has been oddly mundane since that day. Yes, he still has to take weekly drug tests. Yes, he has a court date coming up very soon. But he is still Grant Franklin Tavish the V, a senator's son with many options and a bright future ahead of him. So when the cave excursion comes about, Grant decides it's time to take it on since his father did it at his age, as did his father before him and so on. But Grant has other ideas for the excursion.
Grant has been racked with guilt ever since that night in December when the incident happened. He's haunted by it. So much, that he's deciding to take matters into this own hands. When the cave excursion starts, he deliberately leaves the group to take his own entrance, for perhaps a more challenging challenge. But then things go horribly wrong, a cave-in occurs trapping him...and as he soon learns, four other teenagers deep inside the cave.
Grant had wanted to die, he wanted to end his guilt and suffering and the pain of what he did. But when he sees the other teenagers, Shy, Maria, Kit, and Darryl, he feels obligated to help them escape. As he feels that somehow the cave-in had to be his fault for when he was climbing down.
Liggett sets up a very creepy atmosphere! The only caves I've ever been in were the ones in Branson, and one other during a school camping trip. They are pitch dark and ultimately creepy. I mean the way the rock formations occur and create hazards, it was a terrifying thing to read about as these teens try to find their way out. They also have no food or water, as Grant was doing a "survival mode" kind of weekend, and the other teens weren't really expecting anything bad to happen either. So the clock is ticking for their survival.
But if the elements aren't going to kill them, then surely the shadowy creature will! Because yes, there is something else down in that cave with them, hunting them! If that isn't the stuff of nightmares I don't know what else is! I think one of the most terrifying kinds of monsters (other than humans, that is) are the ones you can't see, the ones you don't know what they are!
Although, I did make some guesses as to what was happening fairly early on. I will say that Liggett did throw me off my theories for awhile but then in the end I was proven correct! That in itself did still make for quite a terrifying read though! The final-final ending did give us a few new facts to help put the pieces together, but it did kind of paint a confusing picture. It made me question a few other things that weren't exactly explored thoroughly. It almost made me wonder about the identity of the mysterious thing hunting everyone in the cave! My own thinking might have dived a little too deep into the metaphors, but what can you do? Lol.
This was a pretty short read, I honestly think I could've read it in one day if it weren't for work, but alas it pays for my books, so I kind of have to do the job. Lol. This was a pretty fast paced read, but I felt like the meat of the story didn't really kick in until after the first 50 pages or so. But those pages were necessary in setting up the story and leading us into the plot at hand. Just one of those things you realize after finishing the novel.
If you're looking for a quick spooky read with a twist, this is the read for you! Kim Liggett is a master of the twisty, spooky reads and I highly recommend any of her books!
Overall Rating 4/5 stars
