The Unwelcome

A Novel

By: Jacob Steven Mohr

Narrated by: Liz Krane

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Kait Brecker can't remember the last time she didn't feel like busted glass.

Her volcanic temper's already scared most of her friends away, and a bad breakup with her college boyfriend Lutz left her crippled by guilt and painful memories. So when she learns that her best friend Alice is planning a three-day sabbatical in a secluded mountain cabin, Kait jumps at the chance to tag along, convinced that rekindling their fractured friendship is the key to fixing whatever’s breaking down inside of her. She should have known....

Lutz would never let her go so easily. After a chance roadside meeting, Kait’s jealous ex-boyfriend pursues her into the foothills, revealing the monster under his skin for the first time: a body-snatching inhuman entity capable of assimilating and adopting the guise of any human host. Lutz is determined to prove his twisted love to Kait, even if it means carving his monument to his devotion in the pilfered flesh of her closest friends. Now, with miles of snow-hushed Appalachia between them and civilization, Kait must unite her friends against this horrifying threat, and learn to embrace her own inner monster, before the shadows of her past swallow up her life for good.

©2019, 2020, 2021 Jacob Steven Mohr (P)2021 Jacob Steven Mohr

It's horror, but also a twisted love story?

First - I am definitely working on a dedicated video for the channel on this one!! I will add the link here once I get that one up.

So The Unwelcome is one I would recommend to anyone who loves any of the great slasher franchises or horror movies (A list and B list!) I never actually got scared of what was happening here because I was just having the best freaking time! I'm talking JOY. Here's why - Jacob Steven Mohr took a story about a body snatcher and made it so unique and different that I just couldn't help but smile and shake my head in amazement. The emotional and physical descriptions of what was happening - top notch. This played out like a movie in my head - did it have some campy parts to it? Sure as hell did - and at all the right places!!!

Okay, let me slow down and chat about what this book was about. Kait Brecker has just gone through a rough break up with her boyfriend. What did every single last one of us do in college/young adulthood when we went through a break up? Yep, we went running straight to our closest friend(s) that we had discarded for that boy/girlfriend for solace. So Kait finds herself going on a weekend getaway with her best friend Alice, Alice's boyfriend Ben and one other pal Riley. They're going to Ben's family cabin deep in the woods - of course it's secluded and of course there is no one else around for miles. You know what's up - you've seen Friday the 13th....

The problem is - Kait's ex-boyfriend, Lutz Visgara has decided to join them...but not in any normal conventional way. See, Lutz isn't human. He doesn't much care for humans either - in fact, they're just skin to him, hollow trees that he likes to wear as the mood strikes him.....

I absolutely had the best time reading this book. I had the sneaking suspicion I would want to binge read it and made sure to start it when I knew I would have plenty of time to sit and read it. So glad I did, because I ended up knocking it out in two days. I did pair the audiobook with the physical book for an immersion read and really enjoyed that, but if you are a one or the other type of reader, I would go with the physical book.

Not for me

Spoiler::

I don’t know what I was expecting, but body snatcher wasn’t it. I felt like each chapter I was waiting for something to happen, but not much did. It’s definitely more of an obsession/love story. And by supernatural it means a guy with powers that allow him to take over someone’s body

Intriguing Horror

Kait Brecker had escaped her ex-boyfriend Lutz and ran to her best friend, Alice. Whatever horror Lutz had forced on her Katie hadn't been able to tell. Instead, shutting into herself. But, that is okay. Alice would always be by her side. Now Kait was going with Alice, her boyfriend Ben, and Riley to Ben's family cabin in the woods for the weekend. Perfect place for Kait to get her head on straight and come back. That is until Lutz follows them and the bodies begin to pile up. Would any of them survive this weekend or would Lutz get what he wanted all along?
I received this audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review. He asked me once if I had any idea what was going on and it made me think that there was some kind of twist to the book. Something unexpected instead of what was implied. I kept searching for it and waiting for the other shoe to drop. It didn't, but it didn't detract from the book. In fact, I really enjoyed this book. Very body-snatchers. I had said it gave me skin-walker vibes when I spoke to him, but I knew that wasn't the right term even at the time. I had Covid and was a bit brain-fogged. I knew what I meant, but was hard to put it into words. Body Snatchers is better.

This horror book is different than others I have read and it is always great to find something new. It is a novel I think even King would be happy to read, based on his normal recommendations and his own writing styles. Maybe he will read it and give his opinion on it at some point. Who knows. Either way this was a great read and I look forward to more books from this author in the future.

My favorite character in this book was Alice, which is amusing considering the ending. Not that I will give the ending away, but you will see what I mean when you finish this book for yourself. She is so sweet and loveable while having a bit of a bite. Besides, you know I have a weakness for female redheads.