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The Unknown

Pages
355
Published
2026
Language
English

Synopsis

A hundred years after five women vanished from a spiritualist commune on a remote Vermont island, a struggling actress lands a role in a film dramatizing the case — and finds herself stranded on the same island as the cast and crew, watching history's strange details repeat.

About the author

R
Riley Sager

Riley Sager is the pen name of Todd Ritter, an American author of psychological thrillers. He grew up in Pennsylvania and worked as a journalist, editor and graphic designer before writing full time. He adopted the Sager pseudonym for Final Girls (2017), which won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Hardcover Novel. His later thrillers include The Last Time I Lied, Lock Every Door, Home Before Dark, Survive the Night, The House Across the Lake, The Only One Left, Middle of the Nigh...

Characters

Marin KeaneProtagonist

A struggling actress cast in a film about the New Avalon disappearances, which requires a week-long research trip to the island.

Daisy RueSupporting

One of the five women who vanished from New Avalon in 1926; the diary she left behind is the source of the theory that a séance went wrong.

Ronan PetersSupporting

One of the actors stranded on the island with Marin.

Violet WrightSupporting
All characters in The Unknown

Frequently asked questions

  • How is the story structured?

    The narrative utilizes a dual-timeline structure that alternates between the present-day experiences of the protagonist and the 1926 diary entries of a medium named Daisy Rue.

  • Does the book rely on specific tropes or inspirations?

    The plot incorporates a closed-circle mystery dynamic where a group of characters is isolated in a remote location, a setup that draws thematic parallels to classic locked-room thrillers.