Unsigned

by C.C. McKinnon

A newly married couple receive an anonymous suicide letter delivered to their house by mistake.

The wife, feels the need to discover whom the letter was written for. Her husband, Jay, would rather focus on settling down and starting a family.

As Louisa investigates the note's origins, secrets of broken childhoods and abuse are uncovered, and Louisa reunites a group of long-lost friends.

Genres: Fiction

355 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 17, 2010

Reviews

[Becky Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I am probably biased as the author is my amazing cousin but I really enjoyed this book, I loved the highs and lows of the story

[Issa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written and sad story. I would have given it another star if the author had tied up the main story loose end that was left open at the end. I was a bit disappointed to find that the plot point that made me interested in the story was left unsolved.

[Joel]

Not terribly surprised that this was seemingly removed from the digital storefront. It left a lot to be desired. The structure was awful. The way time passing was depicted was atrocious. I was glad to be rid of it.

DNFed at 2%.

[Kim Jewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about a young couple who moves into a new home and has an unsigned suicide letter mailed to their address. The letter is years old, so obviously not meant for them, and they decide to try and track down whomever the letter is intended for. As the cast of characters grow, so does the mystery surrounding the letter’s author and motivation.

Jay and Louisa are the young couple, and they disagree to what extent they should get involved. Jay is hesitant to do much, while Lou is insistent upon seeing the project through. She instantly bonds with Jean, the previous owner of the home, and is horrified to learn of the torture Jean and her friends went through during their childhood at an orphanage. As Jean's friends are introduced, you get to see what effects child abuse has on people, and how it manifests into different adult psychological issues - from alcohol abuse, bouts of rage, obsessive compulsion and panic attacks. Jean, Tom, Eddie and Ray all all very well drawn characters and are real examples of how catastrophic situations can mold the human psyche.

The story is told through the eyes of many different characters, allowing you to feel the emotions each one battles with. You get to feel the push and pull of Jay and Lou's marriage as life's obstacles and the trauma of the crime affect their relationship. You get a glimpse into the fear of Jean, Tom, Eddie and Ray as the police start to investigate the abuse and murder of the children they lived with so many years ago. It's a story of love, loyalty, guilt, shame, redemption, and moving on. These are all very real situations, and C. C. McKinnon does a great job of weaving this story and bringing it to life.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louisa and Jay receive an suicide note at their address, but the letter is unsigned and there is no name on the address. Louisa is determined to find the person for which the letter is intended. She locates, Jean, the former owner of their house and a mystery begins to unfold. Jean reveals that she had grown up in an orphanage and had a group of friends that she was close to there. Once leaving the orphanage, they lost track of each other. What happened at the orphanage is frightening and the story keeps the reader's interest. The writing at times is amateurish, particularly the dialogue. For example, instead of saying something like, "Louisa laughed and said, I don't know! I waited for you," the authors says, "I don't know, ha-ha I don't know. I waited for you so we could read it together." Although the writing style could use some help, I enjoyed the story and wanted to keep reading to find out exactly what happened at the orphanage and what involvement Jean and her friends had in those events. Spoiler alert! We never find out who wrote the letter or for whom it was intended. So, I guess my question is, do books always have to be wrapped up neatly at the end?

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once again, I can't even review the story because I'm so aggravated by the lack of editing. If I can keep character's names straight, why can't the author? If I notice that someone's dead son who was Richard in one chapter becomes John in a different chapter, you'd think the person actually doing the writing would notice. There were many examples of that throughout the book. If you're going to have a character whose backstory includes 5 ex-husbands and a boyfriend, write their names down somewhere so you don't start calling the boyfriend by the fifth husband's name. Ugh.

This book had potential. It needs a few more drafts though to tighten up lots of inconsistencies in the story.

[Laurie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The storyline intrigued me. Unfortunately, that is the only good thing I can say about this book. I can't believe it made it all the way through the publishing process. It was full of every mistake you can think of. Typos, mixed names, horrible grammar and run on sentences. I'm not great with grammar myself, but I'm not an author! I cringed every time I read the little ha-has. I guess this was supposed to be the character laughing, but it was annoying! I don't recommend this book at all. Maybe if it's re-written...

[Cassiday Tamillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initially created a new shelf in my books called "stopped reading".....because of this book. But soon after I realized if I start a book I have to finish it no matter how painful it is to my brain. This book started so slow.....was so full of typos......I could feel my nostrils flare halfway through chapter 2. At the end of the day, this is a great story, and if you can make it through the horrible editing and see it for what it was intended to be, you'll be happy you did. But someone seriously needs to edit this book again. Twice.

[Tabitha Ormiston-Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reads a bit strangely, because of the almost total absence of contractions in the dialogue. Given that it is a modern novel in a contemporary setting, I found this very strange and rather offputting. It reminded me of the later Robert Heinlein, after he went funny.

Also, some rigorous proofreading would really have helped my enjoyment of the book. I would recommend to the author the OED, particularly in respect of "lent" and "leant".

[Stacey Wright Aumock · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of the story was unique and I looked forward to reading it. However, the actual act of reading it was painful - not because of the storyline but because it was so poorly edited. The errors were distracting. I also felt the dialogue between the characters was "off." I also felt the characters could have been more developed. I really wanted to like it......if the book had stronger writing it would have been a 4 or 5 star book. I gave it 2 stars and that's pretty generous.

[Klaudyna Z. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was horrible. The writing wasn't good, and I almost felt like I was just reading it in monotone. I would have given it two stars but I was disappointed when I reached the end, and we never even found out who wrote the freaking letter!

I felt like that fact made reading this book a waste of time and if I had known that we never find out who wrote the letter, I wouldn't have bothered with reading the whole damn book. Don't waste your time.

[Eric Buscher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful debut novel. The book follows four senior citizens who met as children in an orphanage where they suffered traumatic abuse. They are brought together by a new bride when she receives an unsigned suicide note in the mail. Despite the dark subject matter, the book is one of recovery and ultimately of hope.

[Tracy (The Complicated BookSnob) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read. Very interesting from the beginning

I liked the characters and the development into each of them. This is a tragic story but so interesting. I didn’t want to put this down. There are triggers warnings as you can imagine but if you can handle it I highly recommend this one.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. I would love to read another from this author. One thing that stuck out a little was the way things would be left out for a suspenseful purpose which made me at times think I skipped a page or two.

[KikiTheKind · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew it. I just knew I wasn't going to get my big question answered.

[Melissa Pomeroy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was good but there were so many gramatical and spelling errors.