Sin and Salvation

The Unseen #4

by Richie Tankersley Cusick

Too many deaths and too many terrifying visions have taken their toll on Lucy Dennison. She wonders if she can trust anyone or anything anymore. In the chilling finale to The Unseen quartet, Lucy comes face-to-face with the force that has turned her life into a waking nightmare. . . . And the ultimate choice must be made: love or life? Sin or salvation? In The Unseen series, horror maven Richie Tankersley Cusick takes you on a journey into a nightmare so frightening, you’ll have to sleep with a light on. Go for it—we dare you!

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal Romance

377 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 19, 2005

About the author

Richie Tankersley Cusick is the bestselling young adult author of over 25 titles, including two adult horror titles, Scarecrow and Blood Roots. Her popularity grew at the height of the horror/YA boom in the late '80s/early '90s, particularly with books like Lifeguard , Trick or Treat and Teacher's Pet, just to name a few, allowing her to keep company on the bestseller paperback lists with the likes of R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike. Her fan base expanded about the time she changed publishers to Archway/Pocket Books with titles like Vampire and Someone at the Door.

Reviews

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I was really disappointed in the ending of this book. I don't even really know what the heck happened at the end! I really don't like how she just started introducing characters and whenever she needed someone to fit into what she wanted to happen in the book. I also didn't like that she killed off characters so easily. I liked Jared but I wish she would have spent more time on him because he really just came in out of no where and suddenly she was all about him. I also hated Lucy! She was SOOO stupid. And the author left so many unanswered questions which is frustrating. Overall they got me hooked simply because she didn't answer anything til book 4 and I'm someone who has to know what happens! However, I wouldn't recommend them to any of my friends. I'd probably give them all 2.5 if I could but I can't so I'll be nice because she did make me read them all!

[Kim Smiley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally finished this horrific series of books. I only finished because I mistakenly bought these books so I felt the need to read what I paid for. THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW MY OPINION/REVIEW, STOP READING!!!!

Ok, this book was just plain dumb, and it left the reader wondering exactly what happened at the very end. For that, I consider reading 4 books a complete waste of time.

Pretty much everyone in this series died. In this last installment, Lucy can't figure out of the new Jared, who goes by his middle name "Nicholas" is really related to gran and is Byron's long lost brother or not, as she was tending to "Jared's" wounds when she left him in the cellar of the abandoned church.

FInally at the end of this madness, it all comes together at the mausoleum, as Lucy thinks she is going to save Angela. Well, she is found dead and decaying at the church. We learn that this thing that has followed her has a partner, (Matt the priest, which most of us figured out a long time ago) and it is a shapeshifting being w/ no real name to it. Gran is killed as well by this thing, which turns out to be Nicholas. And Lucy finds a book that explains that thing "thing" can only be killed by a special dagger and by its brother. So here's what I don't get. Oh yes, Byron is there as well. See, he's not actually dead, but he is one of these things and is chained up in a corner of the mausoleum, he kind of looks like a dog/wolf thing. So here's what I don't understand. Who are the brothers? There is Nicholas, Jared and Byron. And if only brothers can kill to end this, then did Byron have 2 brothers, because as the story went, Jared ended up killing Nicholas.

Then to end this horribly written mess of a book, Lucy decides since she already has Jared's blood in her, she wants to be one of them too, as she loves jared. And as he's about to make Lucy his, she sees Jared's eyes. Eyes that were always Amber. But now they're not Amber, they are a swirling of all colors and then she's bitten. So I'm led to believe that the "nicholas" shape-shifter fooled her and really made Lucy his so her soul can live in a never ending hell. And if that's what really happened as I figure it to be, what a complete waste of a week and a half reading this crap!

[Alison · Rating 1 out of 5]

This last book was a major disappointment. No, that's really an understatement. I have never been more upset or angry with the end of a series than I was with this one. And the saddest part is, I loved it. I loved it until the end, and honestly, I think it was the last few chapters that just really turned everything upside down- and not in a good way. It'd be one thing if I just didn't like the ending, but that's not it. The ending was confusing. And it's not like I 'wanted' a happy ending. I actually didn't. I wanted the creature that was stalking Lucy to win his prize, but in the end, I honestly didn't know who was who, and I've reread it 'several' times, and I'm not alone. I've seen several other reviews and talked to many other people who've also read it that completely agree with me. It was like the author had a specific dead line and pushed it off till the last second, finishing the book half-asleep. And the main character's attitude in the end didn't make any logical sense. I 'still' don't know what 'really' happened, I mean, I have an idea, but there's no way to know if what I gathered from that circling plot was right, and even if it is, it doesn't make sense.
After finishing the book, I have gone on several heated rants at how... dumb it was. Really, I feel like that's all that's left for me to say. It was confusing in the way it was written and in what it attempted to portray, it made no reasonable sense, and I felt that it was just a really bad ending.
I wish I had just stopped at book Two, or even book Three, and I would have been fine. I would have still loved the series. My favorite author wouldn't have dropped down to my least favorite in a matter of mere pages. That's how bad the end of this series was. I can't even bring myself to read any other books by Cusick, now. And that really makes me sad, because again, I LOVED The Unseen: Rest in Peace. It is still my favorite book without a doubt. But I wish I had never picked up any other addition to the series and let the second book stand alone.
I do not advice reading the last book.
I do, however, think the second book alone is worth a read, but stop there. PLEASE stop there. Imagine the ending up yourself if you really have to, I guarantee it's better than what's written, if you can at least keep up with who is who.


----SPOILER-MAJOR END SPOILER-SPOILS-END SPOIL----

I mean that warning shouldn't matter because you shouldn't want to read this anyway, but if you do, don't continue.



Dumbest part- Lucy throws it all away. Byron, her friend Dakota, THEY'RE STILL ALIVE (Or at least that's what I'm led to believe), and she just basically says, "Oh well, woe as me, I want to go with you- the one thing I've been trying to AVOID SINCE BOOK ONE."
I'm done, and I need to go breathe because once again, I'm wanting to angrily rant about how much I hate this book. Well, longer than I already have.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It kept me guessing and in suspense almost to the very end so that's a good thing, but the ending was confusing, to say the least. Also, there really wasn't much explanation of the backstory, in my opinion. What were the things, where did they come from, why were they at war with each other? Definitely didn't get a "happy-ending" feeling.

Another thing that REALLY bothered me...it seems that everything occurred over a very short span of time, yet Lucy acted and thought as if she'd known everyone forever. From one book to the next, she went from barely knowing Byron's grandmother to thinking of her as "Gran" and as if she were a member of the family. She cared for Jared for what, one or two days? But somehow, they developed this deep bond? None of it made sense to me.

All in all, after reading the 4 books, I wasn't left feeling very satisfied with the experience and somewhat regret purchasing them.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay - never have I ever finished a book and seriously thought about throwing on the ground and stomping on it.

I wanted to punch Lucy throughout all 4 books. She was so ridiculous! "OMG - I don't know what's happening, everything is just so crazy and I don't know what to do!" Good grief, is anyone really this clueless/helpless these days? Her inner dialog was ridiculous. I got seriously tired of all the whining.

And the ending!?! WTF - it didn't even make sense! I was thoroughly disappointed. I even re-read it make sure I didn't accidentally skip a page somewhere.

These books will probably go in a giveaway pile, although, I'm leery of young girls reading these thinking its okay to sit around and whine and wait for someone to come save your ass.

[navigating_novels · Rating 3 out of 5]

~2.5 stars rounds up~
This whole series could have been two books… The 2nd and 3rd books were just fluff, and this last one was far longer than it needed to be. Also, why did Lucy fall in love with literally every guy she met throughout the entire series… even if she only knew him for 1 day?? Like I’m sorry, FOUR people who you are “the love of your life” - seems like a bit of a stretch to me, especially since Lucy had only lived in Pine Ridge for about 2 months! Not to mention, she is literally the dumbest person on planet earth, the whole time I found myself thinking “why is she so stupid?” Lastly, I have a lot of feelings about the ending, but mainly I’m just like “huh?” I mean I get it…well, kind of… well, no I’m still a little confused… Either way, I definitely needed more closure!

Overall, I found the whole series entertaining and suspenseful (most of the time) but it does end leaving much to be desired… well except love interests, we had plenty of those!

[Crystal K · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

Seriously? Matt is a priest? That alone threw me off. Then we’ve got Matt, Byron, Nicholas, and Jared — and I still can’t figure out who the vampire is.

The FMC feels like she’s straight out of Looney Town. Why is she constantly acting like a victim? The whole “Nobody understands me... wah-wah...” thing gets old real fast — especially when people are literally dying around her. Like, get over yourself.

[James Crawford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lucy has a problem – there are two people claiming to be Jarrad. Her friend Dakota is injured, and Lucy is sure there are people, or things, that are watching her.

At the hospital Lucy encounters a vampire that tells her she is changing. Later, Lucy and Dakota figure out that there are two beings that are involved with what is going on, not just the one.

Lucy finds out that there is a group of shape-shifters, and there is a king of the group who takes a bride. She will give herself to him willingly, and she loses her soul in the process. They also drink human blood and will eat humans.

The level of violence continues to increase, and we have a a very gory ending to the book.

It's a series that I just didn't like. At a time when most of the young adult books (fantasy and regular fiction) feature girls who grow and take charge of their lives, this series features a girl who doesn't grow at all. She's always on the defensive, always reacting instead of doing anything proactively, and, in the end, she basically turns to the dark side. I really feel that reading the four books was pretty much a waste of time.

[Andrea Morris · Rating 1 out of 5]

GARBAGE SERIES. Blessed to be done with these stupid books. By the end of the book Lucy loses all of her agency and everything revolved around her love (???) for Matt and Jared which didn't even come up until the very end of Book 4. Seriously, I hated these books. The vampire-undead-forever-life-rapey-villian-love story thing was somewhat trash even in the Twilight series but an actual dumpster fire shit show here. I wish I could un-read these books.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm confused. Lucy and Jared spend a very insignificant amount of time together but somehow she felt he was worth such a sacrifice. I'm not surprised Matt turned out to be on the other side but I'm confused on how many siblings there were in that family. Plus at the end, did Lucy go willingly with Jared or did she change her mind and he used some kind of mind power to entice her to change. I'm just confused.

[Crystal Olive · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I did enjoy the books a great deal, I felt like the story was all over the place. I really couldn't make a solid decision on who I believed was good or evil, or even who was real and who was make believe. And, honestly, there were moments that I thought Lucy had made everyone up. It felt like the writing cues were leading me in all the wrong directions, causing me to become very confused when my assumptions never came up again in the story line.

[Nina {ᴡᴏʀᴅs ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ} · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any horror I watch, this ends with the same final feeling of: Oh shit........they're still alive/oh shit.....I made a mistake and the horror goes on. As a nostalgia read, going back to the first series (well technically 'book' since I'd only read one back then) that I actually considered 'scary' is interesting. I definitely remembered the feeling now, but of course, not half as chilled out as last time I read this who knows how many years ago.

[Dais · Rating 2 out of 5]

......I'm soooo confused. In the end who killed the sister?? What are Byron and Nicholas?? Uugghhh

[Doree Weller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like these books, which is why I read until the end. I was hoping that the ending would be worth it, but it wasn't.

I know a lot of people liked these books, and tastes differ, but this wasn't to my liking.

The "heroine," Lucy, spent lots of time passing out from fear and acting hysterical, then wondering why no one believed her. There were lots of hints dropped as to what was going on, very ambiguous, but in my mind, there was no payoff. The author tied up the loose ends at the end... sort of. The ending was ambiguous.

For me, these books would have been better if they were shorter. Very little happened over the course of the books, other than Lucy running out into the dark, sensing "something," and falling in love with every male character in the books.

If I had it to do over again, I would have just read the Goodreads reviews with spoilers. The summaries would have satisfied my curiosity, and I could have read something I would have enjoyed.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read the whole series of this book! I really want to say I was surprised by Father Matt and Really how the author portrays Lucy. She seems kind of aloof? Almost like she is very immature for her age? I got frustrated with how simple she seemed and really it is her downfall in the end. But at the same time I stayed up till 2am reading this book because I wanted to see what happened, and from the ending it seems like the author set it up so maybe there will be an addition to this story. I hope so because it left me hanging!!!!!!!! I definitely recommend this book to any reader who likes demon/vampire/werewolf stories with a mix of creepy romance.

[cj · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Very disappointed in the ending, and also kinda confused

[Lance Trophy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved this series when I was in secondary school. From what I remember, this was the weakest on in the series

[Violet · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was one of the first books I started reading in middle school that heloed my transition into the supernatural genre. it had alot of mystery and suspense that I liked becadue it wasnt obvious at all who the killer and staler if poor lucy. we didnt get a clue to who the mystery person is at all until LITERALLY the last few chapters other the LAST book. which was excellent. im quite oerceptive so I hate finding out who it is three chapters into the book even though it isn't revealled until later to the hero/heroine.itnmakes a book a complete waste of my time . plus it wasnt dragging on about who it was. Although I was frustrated that I couldn't find out who it was it was a good frustration. plus the seductive fear the stalker caused me to fall in love with until I found out who he was.
the series as a whole is good so this review is for all four books.

I read this series when I was young so the effect it had on me was worth 5 stars even though if I had read it as a 19 year old it probably wouldnt more than 3 three stars or a four.

[Léa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had such high hopes for Lucy in this book. But it seems as though it's just her chasing after the men around her, and the men around her falling in love with her and fighting over her. The 'royal shapeshifter' plot came like an afterthought and was more reminiscent of lame vampires. It's a shame seeing as the first book set up a possibly unique story which I loved when I started the series, but that was at least 5 years ago. I would have loved to see Lucy exploring her powers, and even a hint towards how the loss of her mother was still affecting her. Long story short, I'd rather pretend that the first book was a standalone with an ominous ending, rather than having 3 average, fairly boring, and predictable books come after it.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

This whole series took me back to my R.L. Stein days. Which was good. However, it took 4 whole books to even find out what the heck was going on!!! Don't get me wrong I had a pretty good idea but the author could have at least thrown me a bone and let me know I was on the right track. No I had to wait until the last few chapters of this book to even know if I was right. Thankfully I bought this whole series in two volumes years after they were published so I didn't have to wait! I hate waiting to know what happens next.

[Heather M · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the final installment of the series, Sin and Salvation Lucy has to battle evil once and for all so she can stop more innocent people from getting hurt/killed, and stop what/who is responsible for her "visions". She gets quite a shock towards the end, finding out a close friend/confidant is not who she thought they were. I will say, I had my suspicions as to who the "bad guy" was going to be, and I was part correct/part shocked.

My FULL review here: http://shoes-n-more.blogspot.com/2012...

[Jody · Rating 4 out of 5]

What??? Okay so as I said in a previous review of one the books in the series, I am lost! I thought that I knew what was going on by the end of the book, I thought I knew who had won, but I find myself wondering if I am losing my mind! Who won? Who was the good guy???
ut aside from all of that confusion- I really like the series. Different from anything else I have read in a long long time! Great series!

[Rebecka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like she could have told this story in two books. The overall story was good but there was a lot of confusion and not really knowing what was going on. I know that was probably part of her plan but even the ending left me questioning everything. I was able to guess that Matt was one of the creatures, but other than that I was just lost. And I also thought Lucy needed to just shut up and pay attention; the warnings from everyone, her visions... It might have made things easier for her.

[Alex Rennee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, but was it Jared or Nicholas in the end? Really, that's all I want to know. It's probably a "draw your own conclusion" type thing. Ugh. This book series was a complete waste of my time. Nothing happened. Lucy was stupid. Everyone freaking died. It was so boring. I don't understand how people like it so much. There's nothing to like! Whatever. To each his own. I'm glad this torture is over with. On to something better.

[Tyreek · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opoion i think this book was good. She was one the one personthat have a clue about every thing that was happing around her. However every one thinks shes going crazy but only a few people think she telling a truth. a strange man claims to be the person she helped a long time a ago however only she can tell the difference

[Michele Stokstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pg. 331. "He felt that smug sense of accomplishment that always came when he was cruel. He relished in it. It was a stimulant like no other -and the best defense of all. When one was deliberately cruel, one kept other feelings - vulnerable feelings - at bay." I found the ending of this last book to be a little disappointing. Not sure what I was expecting but surely not this ending.

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sin and Salvation is the last book in The Unseen series. I thought this book was a good ending to a series, but I still wanted more. The book ties up all the lose ends in the series and Lucy's decision was likeable.

[Amber Beasley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every book in the Unseen series, I read each of them in less than a day a piece. I could just not put them down. I don't usually like paranormal type books but this one just keeps you on the edge of your seat.

[Thea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well I was a bit disapointed in this one. The first tree were good but this one left me just shaking my head. I honestly disliked all these books. I only finished them because I bought them and needed to finish them.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one didn't feel as fast paced as the first 3. But then there was a lot to wrap up. It was god overall and by the last third it was hard to put down. A few twists near the end. I don't want to give anything away.