Amazing for a debut novel!! Really good atmospheric writing that pulls you into the story. This book had me scared from the beginning. Would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes horror novels.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. Unfortunately I DNFed this one. Something about the writing style didn’t work for me, though I’m not sure exactly what that was. However, the real reason was that I just couldn’t get into the story. Nothin grabbed me during the first several chapters and it didn’t feel worth it to keep trying.

I feel like this was a book that couldn't decide if it was a family drama or a thriller. The characters are not likeable so you never root for anyone. The country bumpkin persona is heavy in this book, it's insulting. Nothing happens for the beginning 70% of the book. And while they're were a couple of bright spots toward the end, I don't think someone would hang in long enough to get to them. I only finished to write this ARC review.

The setting and atmosphere of Nowhere are on point. It gave the creepy vibes and kept me guessing what was going to happen next and who, if anyone, was going to make it out alive. Now, the characters, on the other hand were trash.. all except Lucy. Some of them, I think, could have maybe been redeemed, but our main character, Rachel Keenan, the chief of this small town police department, had me hoping she was going to get knocked off from the first moment we met her. Thankfully, you don't really need to like anyone to be able to enjoy the horror aspects of this story.

Wow! This was a wild ride! Bringing in complex issues like family tragedy, internal homophobia, and community conflict, this book covers a lot of topics amidst making everything TERRIFYING. Definitely a fun read!

This book was reminiscent of the HBO show, The Outsider (2020). Rachel (FMC) is the only outsider in the police department- and only got her role by going to a middle-of-nowhere town. She and her family were not well received for multiple reasons presented through the book. The story weighs heavily on the recent accidental death of her and Finn’s son, Aiden, regarding the circumstances, regret and blame. The only distraction comes when a body is found in the woods under unusual circumstances. As the story unfolds, there’s a mix of paranormal activity- though it definitely added to the story! Overall, I have this one a 5/5 stars, perfect on the build up of suspense, pacing, and storyline.

It took me a while to get into this book but I ended up getting through it. It was spooky and suspenseful but ultimately fell flat for me.

In this debut novel Rachel is a the police chief who recently lost her young son in a car accident. The driver is her husband who was drunk at the time. The family is barely surviving when a disturbing crime takes place and a force seems to be calling all the children of the town and making them disappear.

This book definitely had a scary jump factor to it and is perfect for those readers who love creepy horror books that also have a little bit of lore woven in.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚 🎭: suspense/supernatural/horror lite
𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙚: 🚫
𝙋𝙖𝙘𝙚 🏃🏼‍♀️: fast
𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 🖤: investigative suspense, marriage in trouble, save the kids from the demons, cults and Appalachia

What a fun book. This is a vibe read. The characters don't get super deep, but the creepy .... kids... were fantastic and folky. Im not sure how to classify this - the horror is pretty light but definitely present and atmospheric. The undertones of grief were great. I do wish I had a littttttlw more character development but the action packed pace kept me interested anyway.

Easy to fly through on audio at 2x. Narrator did a great job moving between the characters. The end was a whirlwind.

Creepy. Mysterious. Sad.
Rachel and Finn are grieving the loss of their son when things go from bad to worse. When the children in town start disappearing they fight to save their daughters Charlie and Lucy. Unfortunately, no one can be saved.

When I reached about 10% of this audiobook, I turned and said to my husband “I think I’m too creeped out to continue!”

Granted, I’m a bit of a scaredy cat, but this debut has absolutely nailed the creepy horror of southern Appalachia. Police chief, Rachel Kennan, is trying to work through the grief of losing her son a year ago by throwing herself into her work. When the small fundamentalist town she serves starts experiencing missing children and a gruesome murder, she struggles to balance her work as chief with her duties as a mother. She is separated from her husband, Finn, who is fighting his own demons of alcoholism after he caused the wreck that claimed their son’s life. Their two surviving daughters are the glue keeping the family together, but they are not immune to the darkness encroaching on the town.

Evil spirits, possessed townsfolk, and high body counts make for a spine-tingling horror debut. Gunn has also brilliantly woven in the hatred many small fundamentalist towns have towards outsiders, queer lifestyles, and their willingness to turn to violence. Captivated until the very end, I gobbled up this story and will be thinking about the eerie children for a long time!

This was a great read! I loved the twists and turns and it left me breathless. The author did a great job developing the storyline and developing unforgettable characters.

Well, this started strong. I was really into the setting and small town vibes. The family dynamic was intriguing and provided for some good drama. Ultimately, this went a bit off the rails. This was compared to Mare of Easttown which absolutely was the wrong way to market this book. This leans towards horror (still didn’t fully commit) over a police procedure. Rachel was an awful wife, mother and bad at her job - you can’t be all three and be a good MC! The dialogue became rough, the characters sucked and the ending was all over the place. Others may have a better time though!

This was kinda of a creepy little story.
I can’t say I really liked any of the characters. I did feel sorry for Finn. I’m not sure this book turned like I was expecting.

I don’t usually mind dark books, in fact I seek them out but this one was a lot. It was bleak and depressing and parts took it too far for me. I def liked the first half better than the last and can see what the author was trying to do with the creepy folklore vibes but ultimately this didn’t land for me. The narrator was new to me and she was good though!

This was absolutely a sleeper hit of a horror read. I didn't expect to get sucked into this book as much as I did and I loved every minute of it. Folk horror is my favorite horror subgenre but I do usually find it to be quieter and slower paced than some other subgenres. However, this read really had the pacing on point and we get right into the mess of horror taking over this small town. We spend the first 25% or so setting up the character relations and the start of the horror mystery but even this set up portion is full of emotional highs and lows and some great reveals into the lives of these characters. I could not read the last 25% of the book fast enough because there was so much happening and so much at stake. I can't believe this is a debut and I look forward to reading more books from Gunn in the future.

Our main character - Chief Rachel Kennen - falls squarely in the 'unlikable main character' trope and I loved it. And to be clear, all of the characters in this read are flawed in various ways but having our main character be a woman who is grieving the death of her son be so angry, brash, rude, and straight up unhinged at times was fantastic. Rachel is the kind of character who is doing the right things but with little regard to the feelings or opinions of the other characters and I always find that sort of dynamic super interesting. The cherry on top is that this is a small town and Rachel and her family are viewed as outsiders. Even more so after some significant information is found out in the aftermath of their loss. Religion and religious judgement come into play a few times throughout the read which is another layer to Rachel being unliked by the locals. The other characters we see are all similarly complex and through the horror elements, we get to learn about their own dark pasts.

The horror elements are fantastic and so visceral. A lot of the horror centers around the children of this town and I think it would hit even harder for readers with kids of their own. I loved that we get into the horror so quickly. As I said before, I expected this to be more of a slow burn sort of read but it really kicks off quickly. Despite the horror elements getting introduced early on, I still couldn't guess the severity of where we would end up by the finish of the book. There were a number of times where I thought to myself that it couldn't get any worse. That from here on out, the rest of the book would be the characters overcoming the horror. But the horror just kept escalating or twisting in new ways so that by the end, I was holding my breath to see what could possibly happen to make this worse. I liked that even when we were following characters who had been directly impacted by the horror, that the exact details weren't revealed until later in the book. It was like the reader was investigating right along side Rachel and we learned most details when she did. This meant that by the end, the reader and the characters understood the full scope and weight of what the horror in this read was and could turn into.

Overall, this was an incredible read and I absolutely loved it from start to finish. Fantastic use of horror, very complex characters, and perfect pacing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC. Expected publication date is March 25, 2025.

Nowhere by Allison Gunn is a chilling story set in a small Virginian town with a compelling focus on Appalachian folklore (think Roanoke).

Rachel and Finn Kennan are in the midst of a marital breakdown after the death of their young son and the dysfunction shows in every aspect of their lives but their remaining children are suffering the most. Rachel, the police chief, hasn’t earned the respect of the town and has caused gossip amongst this small religious community for her alternative life style. Finn, on the other hand, has earned their contempt for an article he had written and then for the tragedy that took the life of his son.

As the story starts, their teen daughter, Charlie, begins to show signs that she’s not quite who she used to be after a visit to the woods and soon, changes amongst this once fairly quiet community take root at a rapid pace, causing fear and hate among the town.

While this isn’t an ‘in your face’ horror, it is insidious and dark; it creeps in and grabs hold before you’re even aware that the eerie has snuck in. There are some strong themes to be aware of, child loss at the top of that list, and that makes this horror story all the more tragic. The author plays on the sense of loss in the most heart-rending way and in an effort to avoid spoilers, I’ll leave that as is.

I don’t want to say too much and spoil this but if you’re a fan of horror, specifically eerie kids and Appalachian folklore, don’t pass on this one!

My thanks to Atria Books for this gifted DRC!

Nowhere is a fantastic horror debut. When the synopsis recommended this book for fans of Mare of Easttown, I knew I had to read it!

It definitely gives the Easttown vibes, but combines those vibes with super creepy woods and children. Creepy kids are the scariest thing in the world and this book made me want to sleep with the lights on! I highly recommend this book 🖤

Nowhere by Allison Gunn is a creepy supernatural horror novel.
The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and it pulled me into the story from the very beginning. The mystery was well plotted and there were enough clues to sift through and suspects to consider. I did not figure out who did it until it was revealed at the end.

I do not typically read horror or paranormal, but I could not put this book down! The characters are unlikable, even the children, but that's part of what made this book so good. The author did a great job of showing the flaws in each character. The fact that it is based off Appalachian folklore, but that folklore was not explained until about half way through the book lead to a lot of confusion during the first half. The explanation did leave a lot to de desired as well. The ending was draw dropping, and makes you rethink everything you read.

Thank you to NetGalley, and Atria Books for an ARC of this book.