TL Hines latest book The Unseen is unsettling due to the fact that it affects you on a very primal level. Lurking, spying, snooping, whatever the term, Lucas’ life revolves around it. He lives in abandoned buildings, crawl spaces and under the metro line in Washington, DC. Collecting mementos from offices and other semi-private places, but never homes. That is until he meets The Creep Club, a small group who’s primary focus is filming and documenting their ‘projects’. After Lucas befriends fellow creeper Donovan it isn’t long before Lucas is involved with nefarious elements of all kinds and creeds. Somehow even with his under the radar living style he’s contacted by the CIA. Or is it the FBI? The struggle to distance himself from The Creep Club’s motivations leads him to help one of their projects in what can only be described as a clever twist on the age-old cat and mouse game.
In reading The Unseen the reader gets the unique point of view of watching someone watch someone else. Quite a unnerving point of view, but done with a quick writing style and separate story lines. This novel could have taken a turn toward the voyeuristic but Hines cleverly doesn’t allow that to happen. All in all a very favorable foray into the world of hiding and watching the world go about it’s business.
