Book Review: Unidentified

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Unidentified     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Matthew J. Costello
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   Horror
Berkley, July 2002, $6.99, 352 pp.

In the Glen Coe range of the Scottish Highland lies an odd shaped house in the middle of nowhere. They don’t know the real name of the man who built it and all the work was contracted out to various builders around the world. People who actually built the house were killed in a series of seemingly unrelated incidents. The house is surrounded by electrical barbed wire and soldiers armed with heavy artillery as if the occupants expected an invading land army.

Sophie MacDonald’s father is in hiding, doing research on the house when he is killed. Sophie travels from England to Glasgow following her father’s last instructions to meet with another professor who was studying the house. Maddy is asked by the authorities to go in the house following the disappearances of her brother and her friend after gaining access to the perimeter of the house. Maddy’s friend Nick travels to Glen Coe to try and keep his pal out of trouble. These three people, working together, are the only hope an unknowing world has for its continued survival.

Matthew Costello is rapidly gaining the acclaim reserved for superstars such as F. Paul Wilson and Stephen King. UNIDENTIFIED is the best kind of horror novel, a slow revelation of the problem, a short time to fix it, and a climatic ending with all the pieces falling into place. The characters are likable, especially teen- aged Sophie who copes with a burden that would break most adults.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner