Clara is young woman who has lived with both horrifying visions and ones of loving comfort her whole life. A demon, who she calls The One torments her sending her horrible nightmares while Jesus and Mary come to her to comfort her, telling her that her possession by The One is a test of her faith. While living in Boston things get progressively worse; the Demon is taking over her body for hours at a time, she is barely sleeping and rarely eats and in desperation she turns to Dr. Prince in hopes he can cure her. As a psychologist he believes everything that Clara is experiencing is a side effect of deeply rooted trauma and he is determined to not only save her from herself but make a name for himself, one to rival the great Dr. Freud but the more time he spends with Clara the more he begins to think that maybe he is really in a battle for her very soul.

I assumed this would be right up my alley, a turn of the century demonic possession book with a psychologist hellbent on proving its a mental health disorder. But I just couldn't get into it. The characters were all kind of annoying, The progression of Clara's possession is incredibly fast, and the possession itself wasn't even really scary. Like if I was Clara I would have been mildly annoyed. Okay maybe like majorly annoyed but like not so messed up I'd stop eating.

But here's the thing and I normally would never point this out unless it drove me to absolute insanity and it did. Every single sentence uttered by a character ends in an exclamation point. Drove me batty. And I actually feel bad for even pointing this out but like maybe half of them were needed. Maybe, probably less than half. And look I get it demonic possession is a ! thing but not to the point Felber took it too. Especially when like I said, the Demon was kinda boring.

Overall, this was just a miss for me. Maybe I'm too old for demonic possession, maybe I just like my demons to be like Crawley from Supernatural. Maybe I have no use for examining whether or not someone is possessed by a demon or simply has a mental health disorder. I'm not sure but I genuinely can't even recommend this one, which doesn't happen very often.

As always thanks to Black Rose Writing and NetGalley for the eArc!

The book was so perfectly and viscerally eerie, it had me jumping at shadows. There was such a great combination of science, mental anguish, horror and some how even hope, that I couldn't put this down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the blurb for this one, I knew I had to read it. I'm a sucker for paranormal horror and if you throw in a good possession, I'm yours for the taking. The Unwelcomed: Clara Fowler is a young woman who has been referred to a psychiatrist by her medical doctor in the hope that her life can be improved. She is pale and listless, getting very little sleep or nourishment. Clara is besieged by horrors and visions that can't possibly be real; they must be all in her mind. As the reader is transported back to Clara's childhood we come to understand why Clara may have mental health issues. Her father was a loud, abusive drunk who abused Clara after her mother passed away. But is that enough to explain Clara's bad health and visions? The poltergeist-like activity that occurs when she speaks in a guttural demonic voice? There's an eccentric and mysterious lawman who has known Clara since birth who has been investigating the Lizzie Borden, Jack the Ripper, and other murders. Could these serial murders possibly hold an explanation for Clara's poor health, and the paranormal occurrences around her?

The Curious Case of Clara Fowler is dark and atmospheric from page one. Felber has done an excellent job of taking historical facts and creating a work of fiction with them. The links between the serial murders are fascination and compelling and I would love to read more about it. This is an excellent book to curl up with on a dark, stormy night. Four out of five stars.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of The Unwelcomed

If there was ever a novel that felt like it was personally written for me. The most unsettling and horrifically beautiful possession novel since The Exorcist, which is my absolute favorite novel.
Everything about this experience was just wonderful. The perfect atmosphere for such a story. I felt the 1900s. The way the characters dressed, chose their words, how they reacted to situations. The scenes with the clairvoyant character was 100% aristocratic curiosity of the veil.

Now there is a full cast of characters each with their vital roles. You must pay attention to the banters because like any good possession....the devil is in the details. This is a seasoned writer who proudly flexes his ability to conjure the perfect situations that build to moments in the book that just shake you apart. Just when you feel like you are close to a decision of possession vs mental illness, your mercilessly thrown back in to the fray to reevaluate. The reveal was absolute perfection. The whole scene was so intense and gruesome. This was such a ride! I want to divulge, but you know I don't do spoilers. If you love this subgenera, you loved The Exorcist or simply love well written cerebral horrors....read this novel!!

I found this to be a medium paced, horror/thriller/mystery. Good mix of characters. Plot and character driven. Huge character development and a hand full of trigger warnings: murder, suicide, rape, infanticide/dismemberment

This book follows the mysterious case of Clara Fowler and her supposed possession. It's based off of the true story which showcased one of the first cases of schizophrenia and the fine line between mental illness and demonic possession. The book itself read like a fiction novel which I found to be entertaining. Often times, stories based on true events can read dry or boring, but The Unwelcomed held my attention the entire time. Even through the slower paced parts of the novel, I was still invested enough to push through and find out the outcome of the story. The author throws a lot of information at the reader so it's vital to pay attention to the details. I also enjoyed that towards the end, the reader can still make up their own mind about whether the afflicted was possessed or suffering from a serious mental illness. One of the great mysteries of humanity.

This is dark and brooding from the outset. The scene is set as the story opens with menace and depress and something haunting. Clara Fowler's childhood is a baptism of horror and evil and it continues to haunt her life as the story follows her visitations and manifestations of darkness. It raises the question is evil real? If so is there the flip side or is all mental illness. Mystery surrounds the connection to the darkest of deed, the Ripper and HH Holmes and as Dr Morton Prince investigates the links with two childhood deaths, Clara's trauma and the oppressive darkness the truth is more shocking than ever expected. I really enjoyed this gripping thriller. A true study of darkness and evil and the human mind and psyche. Although dark and at times gloomy, is raises questions that I'm not sure I want answers for.

The Cover is fantastic!

This book is exactly why i love the Horror Mystery genre.

The story was great, the writing was great and definitely keeps you wanting to find out what is going to happen. The character build is great and hope to read more from the author.

You will not be disappointed.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

I really enjoyed this book. It honestly made me feel more uneasy/scared than any other book has so far. Movies with possession normally freak me out and this is the first book I’ve read that had to do with this. I was genuinely scared and couldn’t read this at night which is when I do most of my reading. One night I was sleeping in the recliner and woke up at 3AM with my 18 month old and as I was rocking her I was thinking about this book when all of a sudden something came up behind me and very gently tapped my head twice. I screamed and jumped like a crazy lady and turned to see my 8 year old staring at me like I was nuts and then she said, “umm, I can’t sleep.” 🤣 I just started laughing lol. But this book seriously got to me!!! The only reason I’m giving it for stars is because there was a lotttt of bigger words or unusual words that I had no idea what they meant, so I spent a lot of time googling words to find out their meaning. I do understand this book is based on a period of time from 1890s-1900s, so I get people talked differently. Just personally it slowed me down a bit because I like to know what the words I’m reading mean and I did have to look up several words. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for approving me for this arc and giving me the opportunity to read it!!