Atlas of Unknowable Things by McCormick Templeman – Review

Published: October 7, 2025

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Series: N/A

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Pages: 308 (Kindle)

My Rating: 3 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
Perfect for fans of The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, with a modern gothic twist.

High in the Rocky Mountains on a secluded campus, sits Hildegard College, a celebrated institution known for its scientific innovation and its sprawling, botanical gardens. Historian Robin Quain has been awarded a residency to examine Hildegard’s impressive collection of ancient manuscripts, but she has a secret. She’s actually on the hunt for an artifact—one she must find before her former best friend turned professional rival gets his hands on it first.

But Hildegard has secrets of its own. Strange sounds echo across the alpine lake, lights flicker through the pines, and the faculty seem more like Jazz-age glitterati than academics. And then there’s the professor who holds the key to Robin’s research. She vanished suddenly last spring. What exactly did she do at the college, and why does no one want to talk about her?

As Robin searches for answers, an unknown source sends her a series of cryptic messages that makes her question whether she’s the one doing the hunting, or whether someone is hunting her. Drawing on historical, botanical, and occult research, and steeped in the gothic tradition, Atlas of Unknowable Things considers what it means to search for meaning in the scientific, only to come face to face with the sublime.

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The cover and title of this book just kinda grabbed my attention and the synopsis was just so strange I had to check it out. I didn’t know where this book was going, and I’m not sure the book knew either. I really thought this was going to be about a weird cult in the Rockies, but then I was pretty sure it was werewolves in a strange alpine village, and then maybe witches, or even Cthulu? There was a lot going on here and the whole book was just a bit trippy.

This follows Robin Quain, who is recovering from a bad friendship break-up and who has turned toward her research with renewed vigor. She discovers a statue that provides groundbreaking evidence for her thesis about fertility cults and witches and so she heads off to a too good to be true fellowship at the remote Hildegard College. There are no students, only a group of suspiciously young professors who are all working on their own weird little projects. Some are very excited to meet Robin while others are strangely aloof. Robin herself is plagued by nightmares, sleepwalking, strange noises, and creepy clues that keep popping up. She’s also plagued by insatiable nosiness and an inability to sneak around without being seen by the others. In other weird news, the professor that discovered the statue Robin wants to study also disappeared mysteriously and everyone is suspicious about that. A girl from the village down the mountain possibly got eaten by a bear and the other residents of Hildegard warn her away from wandering in the woods. Whole situation is way off and Robin is also about to have a mental breakdown, so it makes for an interesting if somewhat confusing read. It was also super frustrating that she kept putting herself in stupidly dangerous situations for no particular reason other than a hunch.

I honestly don’t know what to say about this book other than it was weird as hell. I wish I had written this review right after finishing it because I’ve forgotten some details and am left only with a vague feeling of ‘WTF’. The reveals were unexpected and the supernatural element was also not at all what I thought it would be. I’m not sure I would go so far as recommending this, but if you want something weird and unpredictable, Atlas of Unknowable Things fits the bill.