The NIghtmare Never Ends

The Nightmare Never Ends

Julia Poulakos

The Cellar By Natasha Preston

The question of Summer’s sanity remains undetermined. It has been an exhausting six months - six months of being called Lily, without seeing her boyfriend Lewis, or her two loving parents. However, Summer is yet to be found, this does not mean that her absence hasn’t affected her concerned loved ones. She is suffering day by day, due to her predator Colin Brown. Summer has watched countless murders, has been a victim of rape, and is holding onto every shred of hope that she has left.

In the eyes of the public, Colin Brown is a man that works at an average job, who oddly lives alone yet never causes any sorts of problems. He is not someone that would be suspected of rape, kidnapping, breaking and entering and especially not murder. The police have been about 2 inches away from their true suspect Colin, yet they are blindly fooled into looking the other way. Colin is volunteering to search for Summer and therefore has influenced the direction of the ongoing case.

A search party for Summer is going on, and out of all the women Colin has abducted, she is the only one who was noticed. The police discovered multiple bodies that were thrown in the lake after being attacked. Needless to say, the perp was right there at the crime scene. The one person who noticed Colin’s odd behavior was Lewis, Summer’s boyfriend. He never gave up hope to find her and did not cross anyone off of his list of suspects until he was positive they didn’t have her. As Lewis kept an eye on Colin, Colin knew he was being watched. While in a conversation with Lewis and Summer’s brother Henry, Lewis notices how “Colin nodded sympathetically, but his eyes showed no emotion. They were empty. They looked bored. Something was wrong, and I couldn’t ignore it this time. Normal people were sympathetic- they had something to say” (267). Therefore, Colin tried his best to be sympathetic towards Summer’s situation yet Lewis could tell by his eyes that his intentions weren’t pure.

There is a question that still remains unanswered. Colin only murders prostitutes and only keeps particular women for his special family. They have to be genuine and they have to be forgotten by their families. So since Colin is a first-hand witness to viewing Summer’s family search for her, why is he still keeping her captive? My thoughts on this is that he is sick-minded and has been waiting for Summer to voluntarily open up to him. Everything he has done to her has been forced against her will. He is unable to believe that he is unwanted and he truly believes that the girls are better off in his custody, against their own free will. Personally, this is one of my greatest fears, to be in the shoes of one of these victims would truly horrify me.

Matters are taken into the hands of Lewis and Summer’s brother. They discover clues in Colin’s house that then leads to the police finding Summer, Violet, Poppy and Rose. Summer was found beaten and unconscious from Colin's attack on the girls before the police arrived. Colin was going to sacrifice himself along with killing the girls. This way in Colin’s twisted mind, he thought “We wont be separated, we can’t be separated.” (308). There are many significant moments in this book yet there is a pivotal moment in the ending of the book -Summer is rescued and taken to the hospital. Although, when she awakes, her reaction is what her family and boyfriend expected. Instead of being relieved to be around her loved ones again, there is only one question Summer is able to ask. Henry mentions to Lewis, “All we’ve heard is her asking for Rose, Poppy and Violet.” (320). Right before her very eyes is her family and Lewis. She has been dying to see them yet she is incapable of reacting.

My thoughts on this plot that Natasha Preston tells the readers is undoubtedly overwhelming and sensational. The book draws you into the characters’ emotions while allowing you to understand their reactions and behaviors. For example, many roles were taken; Rose took on a mature role yet she acted oddly unconcerned. While in Summers case, she leaned more towards a hopeful yet in denial role. I would highly recommend reading this book, especially for people who have trouble understanding a survivor’s mindset. People can easily become oblivious to how trauma affects one's connection with the world. Towards this distinct circumstance, I’ve educated myself in various ways.