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The Unseen
Mike Clelland, author of The Messengers , has written a fast-paced paranormal thriller. The story taps into real-life experience from his extensive research into the mythic role of the owl, synchronicities, and UFO contact.
A disillusioned artist embarks on a haunted journey into the wilderness. His lonely odyssey culminates in a lonely town, full of mystery and secrets. He is confronted by ghosts from the past, and premonitions of the future, and he struggles to understand his destiny in the face of questions without answers. There is a story beneath the story, filled with hope, longing, and the quest for profound connection. Spiraling twists and turns keep the pages turning, all while pulling the reader to the edge of reality and beyond.
Reviews:
Mike Clelland has clearly been holding out on us in waiting until now to produce his first—spectacular—work of fiction. The Unseen is riveting from beginning to end. Gripping storytelling, emotional nuance, and metaphysical mystery sweep the reader away on a tide of synchronicity, intuition, and high strangeness. Clelland masterfully paints the core emotional reality of being and the rawness, the vulnerability, and the ever-ambiguous connection to truth. This is a work of fiction that could only be written by someone who deeply knows the reality of the phenomena. It’s destined to be a classic.
—Sharon Hewitt Rawlette, PhD, Author of The Source and Significance of Coincidences
*
Mike Clelland’s new fiction book Unseen is a whole mood. There is a story beneath the story here, filled with longing and mystery and the hope of profound connection. It all remains tantalizingly beyond reach, leaving behind a strange sensation that’s somehow both familiar and foreign. This book is unsettling and sad, beautiful and redemptive. It has stayed with me.
—Robin Lassiter, author of A Love Story
*
When one reads this book, a startling possibility that unexplained phenomena eagerly find refuge in the margins of fiction, where their existence is suspended between fact and fantasy. The Unseen may be from Mike Clelland’s head, but it isn’t in his head. It is a lived reality that every experiencer and student of the paranormal will find as authentic as any true tale.
—Joshua Cutchin, author of The Ecology of Souls
*
Wow—what an intriguing story that sticks! I stayed up way too late, turning the pages to see what happened next. The writing is meticulously crafted, and the scenes came alive in my mind’s eye. The subtle and intricate twists kept me thinking long past the final read.
—Scarlett Heinbuch, author of We Met on the Other A True Love Story
A disillusioned artist embarks on a haunted journey into the wilderness. His lonely odyssey culminates in a lonely town, full of mystery and secrets. He is confronted by ghosts from the past, and premonitions of the future, and he struggles to understand his destiny in the face of questions without answers. There is a story beneath the story, filled with hope, longing, and the quest for profound connection. Spiraling twists and turns keep the pages turning, all while pulling the reader to the edge of reality and beyond.
Reviews:
Mike Clelland has clearly been holding out on us in waiting until now to produce his first—spectacular—work of fiction. The Unseen is riveting from beginning to end. Gripping storytelling, emotional nuance, and metaphysical mystery sweep the reader away on a tide of synchronicity, intuition, and high strangeness. Clelland masterfully paints the core emotional reality of being and the rawness, the vulnerability, and the ever-ambiguous connection to truth. This is a work of fiction that could only be written by someone who deeply knows the reality of the phenomena. It’s destined to be a classic.
—Sharon Hewitt Rawlette, PhD, Author of The Source and Significance of Coincidences
*
Mike Clelland’s new fiction book Unseen is a whole mood. There is a story beneath the story here, filled with longing and mystery and the hope of profound connection. It all remains tantalizingly beyond reach, leaving behind a strange sensation that’s somehow both familiar and foreign. This book is unsettling and sad, beautiful and redemptive. It has stayed with me.
—Robin Lassiter, author of A Love Story
*
When one reads this book, a startling possibility that unexplained phenomena eagerly find refuge in the margins of fiction, where their existence is suspended between fact and fantasy. The Unseen may be from Mike Clelland’s head, but it isn’t in his head. It is a lived reality that every experiencer and student of the paranormal will find as authentic as any true tale.
—Joshua Cutchin, author of The Ecology of Souls
*
Wow—what an intriguing story that sticks! I stayed up way too late, turning the pages to see what happened next. The writing is meticulously crafted, and the scenes came alive in my mind’s eye. The subtle and intricate twists kept me thinking long past the final read.
—Scarlett Heinbuch, author of We Met on the Other A True Love Story
356 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 19, 2023
21 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Mike Clelland
40 books58 followersMike Clelland is an avid outdoorsman, illustrator and UFO researcher. He has written extensively on the subject of alien abductions, synchronicities and owls. It was his first-hand experiences with these elusive events that have been the foundation for this research.
His website, Hidden Experience, explores these events and their connections to the alien contact phenomenon. This site also features over 200 hours of audio interviews with visionaries and experts examining the complexities of the overall UFO experience.
Beyond that, Mike is considered an expert in the skills of ultralight backpacking, and has authored or illustrated a series of instructional books focused on advanced outdoor techniques. He spent nearly 25 years living in the Rockies, and now lives in the Adirondacks.
His website, Hidden Experience, explores these events and their connections to the alien contact phenomenon. This site also features over 200 hours of audio interviews with visionaries and experts examining the complexities of the overall UFO experience.
Beyond that, Mike is considered an expert in the skills of ultralight backpacking, and has authored or illustrated a series of instructional books focused on advanced outdoor techniques. He spent nearly 25 years living in the Rockies, and now lives in the Adirondacks.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 11, 2023
I was part way through reading Mike Clelland's nonfiction book, 'The Messengers', last month when I heard him interviewed about his first fiction novel. I got too excited about 'The Unseen' and decided to put 'The Messengers' on hold and... holy crap! I just finished The Unseen early this morning. I freaking loved it. I don't know what it is about it, but it got under my skin in a way that not many books do. In a good way. It surprised me because I've been a reader my whole life, and have tons of books and authors I love, but The Unseen just hit differently. It's sureal, it's unnerving, it's raw, and both the story and its setting are beautiful. I so wish I could experience a certain special spot the protagonist discovers. This will definitely be one of those rare books I actually reread, probably multiple times. Now I get to get back into The Messengers.
February 9, 2025
This should be called a synchronicity thriller instead of a paranormal thriller. I really enjoyed the pace and thoughtfulness of the story and the interconnections looping back and forth. Even though I had questions at the end of the book, I realized that this story was written to mimic what happens in people's lives who've had similar experiences. And there are never clean, wrapped up endings. I guess that would make this the perfect way to end this book. I'll definitely read this one again sometime. I was so impressed, I bought two more from this author. Highly recommend.
January 25, 2025
An amazing multi-dimensional journey
Putting together pieces of this story’s puzzle, at times you’ll be curious, sometimes confused, and still other times downright mystified. One thing is for sure: You’ll find answers to questions you never thought to ask and always wondered about in your heart of hearts.
As a side note, this book sat on my bookshelf, unread, for a long time before I was ready to fully appreciate the depth of truth found in its words. How’s that for synchronicity? Highly recommend it. Here’s hoping for the sequel…
Putting together pieces of this story’s puzzle, at times you’ll be curious, sometimes confused, and still other times downright mystified. One thing is for sure: You’ll find answers to questions you never thought to ask and always wondered about in your heart of hearts.
As a side note, this book sat on my bookshelf, unread, for a long time before I was ready to fully appreciate the depth of truth found in its words. How’s that for synchronicity? Highly recommend it. Here’s hoping for the sequel…
August 11, 2024
THE UNSEEN! is a story about WALKING! Walking into WILDERNESS! Walking into canyons. Walking into space. Walking into time. Walking alone into the cold dark spaces hidden from the sun. Walking into the sheltered spaces between where no one goes. Walking into memories unrememberable, irretrievable. Walking into the dead of night at 3am. Walking into history. But maybe - some will go. Some should not. WILL you walk with me, traveller, into the old dead heart of time? Into the KNOWN unknown that AWAITS us all? DARE you traverse the very tightrope walk of existence? One second alive, full of joy... the next, DOOMED? FEAR YE, TRAVELER!! LOOK YE WELL, FOR THIS IS... THE UNSEEN!
Well anyway... after that preposterous Kirby-esque intro... I did actually have every full intention of actually talking about Mike Clelland's novel, The Unseen...
So as a person eternally fascinated with paranormal/UFO/alien stuff, I was already fairly familiar with Mike's previous work - his podcast Hidden Experience and of course, his two books about owls (spoiler alert: they're not really books about owls) so I was looking forward to his fiction debut.
The Unseen is the story of John, formerly Daniel, a fairly successful artist. A keen outdoorsman who abandons his reasonably decent life to trek out into the desert in search of... what? A new life? Love? Redemption? Answers about life, the universe and everything? The strange experiences in his life he cannot reconcile?
In a small town in the desert, a resurrected John finds a new life away from the old, working in a cafe. However, asleep in the canyon at night, he is visited by a woman he can never forget and becomes involved in a drama that lives between the earth and the sky...
(random note... the cafe John finds employment in weirdly reminded me very much of a similar place where I worked a few years back, in a fairly isolated backwoods part of Central Scotland. Although it's never been my experience that you're ever allowed to wander off to do other things while on duty - his boss is a hugely generous employer!)
There is an amazing bit of business with a t-shirt which is sort of a twist/reveal/spoiler but... you may get it and it adds something incredible to the story.
The Unseen is a book that both IS and ISN'T about aliens and/or any sort of paranormal phenomena.
Also... it's really, really good.
Whitley Strieber couldn't write this book. (Although I suspect Whitley doesn't know what to put in a backpack) It is not exactly fast-paced or action-packed. There are slow moments where characters talk back and forth for ages... but for me it unfolded as if I was there. You hang on every word as everything is moving. Carefully and slowly revealing itself... like sunlight passing across a canyon.
Maybe I'm biased as someone who is interested in all this stuff but - it comes to a comfortable conclusion that feels both hopeful and hopeless. If you know Mike at all from his previous work, you can really feel him channelling his whole life into this. It reminded me a bit of a book by David Halperin, Journal of a UFO Investigator from a few years back, which had a similar warmth and sadness for all those who look to the skies.
Well anyway... after that preposterous Kirby-esque intro... I did actually have every full intention of actually talking about Mike Clelland's novel, The Unseen...
So as a person eternally fascinated with paranormal/UFO/alien stuff, I was already fairly familiar with Mike's previous work - his podcast Hidden Experience and of course, his two books about owls (spoiler alert: they're not really books about owls) so I was looking forward to his fiction debut.
The Unseen is the story of John, formerly Daniel, a fairly successful artist. A keen outdoorsman who abandons his reasonably decent life to trek out into the desert in search of... what? A new life? Love? Redemption? Answers about life, the universe and everything? The strange experiences in his life he cannot reconcile?
In a small town in the desert, a resurrected John finds a new life away from the old, working in a cafe. However, asleep in the canyon at night, he is visited by a woman he can never forget and becomes involved in a drama that lives between the earth and the sky...
(random note... the cafe John finds employment in weirdly reminded me very much of a similar place where I worked a few years back, in a fairly isolated backwoods part of Central Scotland. Although it's never been my experience that you're ever allowed to wander off to do other things while on duty - his boss is a hugely generous employer!)
There is an amazing bit of business with a t-shirt which is sort of a twist/reveal/spoiler but... you may get it and it adds something incredible to the story.
The Unseen is a book that both IS and ISN'T about aliens and/or any sort of paranormal phenomena.
Also... it's really, really good.
Whitley Strieber couldn't write this book. (Although I suspect Whitley doesn't know what to put in a backpack) It is not exactly fast-paced or action-packed. There are slow moments where characters talk back and forth for ages... but for me it unfolded as if I was there. You hang on every word as everything is moving. Carefully and slowly revealing itself... like sunlight passing across a canyon.
Maybe I'm biased as someone who is interested in all this stuff but - it comes to a comfortable conclusion that feels both hopeful and hopeless. If you know Mike at all from his previous work, you can really feel him channelling his whole life into this. It reminded me a bit of a book by David Halperin, Journal of a UFO Investigator from a few years back, which had a similar warmth and sadness for all those who look to the skies.
October 4, 2023
Fantastic book! I am already planning on reading it again to catch all the synchronicities. If you’ve enjoyed any podcast appearance or book of Mike Clelland’s then you’ll love this novel. He adds in quite a few details from his experience with the paranormal, which he has told on podcasts, that is really fun to catch throughout the story.
October 22, 2023
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
April 9, 2024
I cannot say enough good things about this book. It's an amazing mystery - and not the one you think it is.
Read this book.
Read this book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews