Marina Rehm’s Inescapable is the eerie, emotional slow-burn opener to the Immortal Blood Gift series, blending small-town angst with something far more ancient and chilling. Set in the snowy, forgotten corners of Berlin, New Hampshire, in 1985, it follows Dylan Harper, a high school senior who’s just trying to survive his bullies, get into Harvard, and take care of his single mom. But when a mysterious woman named Marie and her icy-eyed husband Alec arrive, the sleepy town suddenly becomes the backdrop to a series of violent, unexplainable deaths, and Dylan is pulled into something bigger than himself. It’s part coming-of-age, part supernatural thriller, all wrapped in a rich layer of dread.

What stood out to me immediately about this book was how convincingly Rehm captures Dylan’s character. He is awkward, uncertain, often overwhelmed, and acutely aware of his low standing in the social hierarchy. Rehm presents him with unflinching honesty, avoiding sentimentality and allowing the narrative to unfold at a deliberate, effective pace. The early chapters, especially those set in the gas station, drip with the bleakness of small-town inertia. When Dylan encounters Marie, a woman whose beauty and poise seem almost unreal, it briefly disrupts his sense of monotony. Her presence is described with such vivid detail, particularly the image of her leather-gloved hands and effortless self-possession, that she feels both mesmerizing and dangerous. A moment in which she assists Dylan in cleaning up a spilled slushie feels disarmingly intimate, yet beneath that quiet interaction lies a deeper threat. It’s this layered ambiguity that immediately drew me in.

The writing itself surprised me. It’s sharp but accessible, with enough emotion to pull you in without ever getting overly dramatic. I appreciated how Rehm balanced horror with heartbreak. Take the murder of Stacy Yelander, for example. That discovery scene was utterly haunting. Dylan stumbling across her mangled body in the snow, those glowing eyes in the woods gave me goosebumps. And yet, the real gut punch wasn’t just the horror, it was Dylan’s numb reaction. His fear. His powerlessness. It’s not just about monsters in the dark; it’s about being trapped in a life you didn’t choose, where the world doesn’t care if you survive it.

What kept me turning the pages was the strange push-pull between Marie’s charm and Alec’s terrifying silence. Something about them is clearly not human, but Rehm never lays it all out. She lets the dread grow like frost on a window. Alec says maybe three words, but you feel him in every room. The slow pace gave me time to settle into the tension, to care about Dylan, and to dread whatever was coming. And there’s something refreshing about a supernatural story where the creatures don’t sparkle or monologue, they just stalk, manipulate, and kill.

Inescapable is a cold, quiet scream of a book. If you’ve ever been the outsider, the weird kid, the one who just wanted to get out of your dead-end town, this will hit home. It’s for readers who like their horror with heart, who don’t mind a slow build, and who enjoy being unnerved by people who are just a little too perfect. This is not a book for those needing instant gratification, but if you like stories that simmer before they burn, this one’s worth it.

Pages : 361 | ASIN : B0DPJ6F7TF