I was actually impressed by this debut and don’t usually enjoy horror novels. I loved the Appalachian folklore, the small town setting and the investigative elements in the story. However, I didn’t care for the main character and it was sad to see a family fall apart after the loss of their child.

I was truly creeped out by the weird things going on in this small town and it kept me on the edge of my seat. I look forward to reading more from this author.

This one was up and down for me.

It part police procedural, part horror, part family drama, and a whole lot of Appalachian folklore. Children are going missing, and some return not themselves.

I liked the creepy vibes of this one, and it starts out really strong. Towards the middle, the story slowed down and it dragged a little bit for me, but then the end got real wild real fast. The pacing with everything felt a little off to me.

There were also a lot of moving parts to the story with a couple of different things going on. They tied together well enough, but it was a lot with the center of the domestic tension also being the chief of police investigating everything her own children were involved in.

Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot and if you are into creepy, horror folklore, you might enjoy it too.

This haunting novella follows Rachel Kennen the outsider Chief of police of a small religious town that is surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains. After finding a bizarre scene of a mangled body in the woods, kids start to go missing. As Rachel deals with this, she is also struggling with her home life. After the death of her son Aiden the relationship with her husband Finn has been distant, and tries to fake some type of bond for their other children Charlie and Lucy. An ominous force from the woods starts to descend on the town more rapidly and more unexplained things occur to the point that superstition and folklore might be the key to unlocking what is going on.

The family dynamic of the Kennen family was all over the place. From Rachel struggling with the death of her son, her anger for Finn, trying to keep a bond with her other children. Rachel's sexuality also comes into play with her being genuine to herself and Finn needed to understand and accept her for who she is. Finn is a washed up writer with an addiction issue, still in love with Rachel who treats him horribly and trying to keep that family image alive. They were toxic for each other and the biggest issue between them was communication. It really makes you question if they stopped lying to each other and had a better relationship and just listened if they could have saved the family from this thing in the woods.

The overall theme was eerie with other elements like grief, depression, and suspense. The storyline did stay pretty consistent, but I did find myself struggling through some parts of the book. Some side stories felt unfinished and I wished there was more of that small town "we don't like outsiders" vibe prior to what happened in the end. That felt a bit out of place, like there wasn't much of a lead up to it. Other than those minor things I really did enjoy this book and definitely recommend it!

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
This is a debut?! WHAT!? I absolutely loved this well written, entertaining, gripping, and gritty book! I LOVE Gunn’s writing-she nailed it with the chilling, vivid, gripping, gritty, atmospheric writing and did an amazing job with building the tension and suspense throughout. As I was reading this book I could picture the scenes and the characters because the writing was the vivid and detailed. AMAZING! I love how Gunn blends together a bit of horror, thriller, supernatural elements, suspense, and crime all mixed into one…and does it exceptionally well. I really enjoyed all of the characters, even though they were all a bit dysfunctional. This book is creepy, dark, and terrifying….I absolutely LOVED it! Still cannot get over that this is a debut. BRAVO Gunn, you are truly amazingly talented! I am already looking forward to pick up your next piece of work🙌🏻

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
✦An AMAZINGLY IMPRESSIVE debut
✦Well written, entertaining, gripping books
✦Writing that is so vivid, detailed, chilling, gritty, and atmospheric
✦Plenty of tension, suspense, and intensity throughout
✦A mix of horror, thriller, suspense, supernatural elements, and crime all blended together in one
✦A creepy, dark, and terrifying book


𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫4.5/5

3.5/5
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

The last quarter of the book really picked up and had me going, but that doesn’t excuse the 75% that felt slow. This is a story that focuses more on its characters and their trauma rather than being scary, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just not what I was looking for. I do appreciate its bold and ambiguous ending, though, and I think it’s one that will leave readers divisive. I’d be interested to see what this author does next.

I finished this one a view days ago, but I felt like I needed some time to process it. To say that it was thought-provoking would be a complete understatement. Not only was this a spine-chilling horror story, but the way that it explored the complicated relationships that people can share was unlike anything I’ve ever read. Although I went into it just expecting a tale of Appalachian folklore, it was also horrifying in a whole other sense of the word.
My only complaint about the book was a personal preference — some of characters were quite hard to love. I know that that’s partially the point of such a complicated narrative, but at moments when I felt I was supposed to be empathetic, I was instead frustrated with the characters choices, and in particular, Rachel’s stubbornness. By the end of the book, I had made peace with the decisions made (iykyk), but it did cause me to struggle a bit more through the first half.
Although it was a hard read at times (both due to the raw look at humanity as well as some of the more graphic scenes), I absolutely could not put this book down. I was talking about it to everyone around me who would listen, and I already know that it’ll be one of my top reads of the year.

Do not whistle in the woods, look into the trees, or enter the woods at night. Good advice if you want to avoid the monsters and supernatural phenomena that lurk in the Appalachian mountains. But curiosity and disbelief often supersede the legends of regional folklore. These rules—as well as spells and talismans—have no place in modern society; we know better. Besides, only the old folks believe in this and their ways are long gone. So when the children begin entering the woods, no one stops them. And if and when they come back, no one notices that they have changed. Sounds promising, doesn’t it?

Rachel and Finn Kennan are new to the area. She is the new sheriff who doesn’t listen to anyone or answer her phone; two very important attributes that are overused as plot devises. Finn is a failed, alcoholic, writer who is a whiny liar; important reasons why his wife acts as she does. If she would listen and answer her phone, and if he would be anyone else but himself, there would be no plot.

There are elements in the book that are promising: missing, unwanted children; a fractured family dealing with trauma; outsiders entering a closed and suspicious town in a remote area; and a clash of the old, superstitious ways, and the new, Christian ways. The Appalachian folklore (a mixture of Native American and Scottish culture and legends) and setting should make this a good foray into folk horror. However, the unlikable, static, and stereotypical characters do not allow the fear and dread that are driving forces in good horror to develop.

This is not a book that I would recommend.

I would like to thank Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A genuinely creepy thriller with a paranormal twist. Themes of persecution and bigotry and being unwilling to see past hatred, even when presented with new information. I loved the plot and the setting, but hated the characters (in a good way - they were written to be despicable and it works). While I especially didn't agree with many of Rachel's decisions, I can see why she acted as she did.

A great debut novel that I blew through in less than a day.

2☆ (ARC)

Sad to say I didn't like this one, as I Thought for sure I would
We follow Our FMC as she trudges through her life as a sheriff and mother In a small religious town near Appalachia ( I think? )
I enjoy spoiler free reviews so mine will always be exactly that
this one may be longer because MANNNN!!!

What I liked -
- Hate to say but not a lot given the rating, fairly good start though I will say the beginning was making me think this was gonna be at least a 3 or four star. Unfortunately it did not hold up. At first I enjoyed the kinda toxic family dynamic because I was hoping wed have some development there, however we didn't so it was just SAD and frustrating.

- The writing, I'm actually sad about this one because I did enjoy the writing for majority of the book. It was very introspective and I always love that. The prose in general was good it was the rest that wasn't.

What I didn't-

- Oh boy here we go. First my biggest one is RACHEL I couldn't stand her literally at all. She was super insecure and took that and ran with it the entire book. She was almost intolerable. She was arguably bad at her job, a terrible spouse, and from what I gathered not a good mom either? Not only that, but she blamed everything on others and rarely if at all ever took responsibility for anything. All I half too say is GOOD LUCK BABE!!!!

- Characters- TOO MANYYY. just yeah. To many and not enough pages to have any character development. There were times I had to go back cause I was like, "wait who is that?" If we just stuck with the few that mattered and actually fleshed them out It would've been better IMO. Which sucks because I surprisingly liked Finn and Charlie the best out of everyone.

- The End - the last few books I've read have had either total shit storm endings or just lack luster. This one falls into the shit storm category. Everything, Everywhere, All at once is the best way to describe this one.

There's more I could complain about but this is long enough as is. I would just say I didn't enjoy and wouldn't recommend it myself.

Dahlmouth, Virginia, is a tiny town in Appalachia full of methamphetamines, religious fervor and the typical conservative nature of a small southern population. It’s the kind of place where you either escape after high school, or subject yourself to a life of poverty and/or drug abuse. Rachel Kennan is the Chief of Police in this sleepy town, but this town is about to wake up after a teenage boy runs into the police station, claiming he and his friend found something horrifying in the woods.

Rachel and her partner Jeremy figure the kid is having a meth-induced hallucination, but they humor him and head out to see what he’s so hysterical about. After seeing it, Rachel calls her estranged husband Finn and tells him to get their daughters from school and get them home. Immediately. She doesn’t go into detail, as she and Finn rarely speak. He was drunk driving when he got into an accident that killed their son, and from that moment on, their marriage was all but over. He lives in the basement of their home now, but they stay together for their daughters - who are now in a lot of danger.

The marriage is the least of their concerns when their older daughter comes home…different. She finagled her way out of the house, met up with some friends, and from that moment forward, she was changed. Soon, more and more of the youth in this town start disappearing, and the town is blaming Rachel. The queer, barely married woman from a larger city isn’t exactly welcome, and when her daughters become involved, the town believes sin has everything to do with it. Before long, the Keenan family is just trying to stay together and alive, while Rachel also tries to deal with missing people and a town going haywire.

Horror books often amuse me, but I must say, this one was so creepy and suspenseful that I started getting chills. I feel like my review doesn’t do it justice (the synopsis does, definitely read that!) because this book was fantastic. This intertwines Appalachian folklore with modern social horror, and does it very well. The writing is phenomenal, and this isn’t your typical “there’s something spooky in the woods” horror story. This was both heartbreaking and terrifying, with a perfect ending. Also, this is a fiction debut! I can’t think of anything I’d change. Five stars.

(Thank you to Atria Books, Allison Gunn and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on March 25, 2025.)

Such a good horror book, especially for a debut! The vibes are creepy, the setting is eerie, and the characters are messed up. It was way more gory than I expected, but it really worked for setting the tone.

The characters aren’t particularly likeable, but you grow to at least understand them and their motives in the end.

I’m always town between wanting a horror book/movie to have a “happy” ending or not. Usually, I’m satisfied if it has a good resolution of the characters’ inner conflict, and this one definitely did that.

I want to thank Netgalley and Atria Books for a copy of this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 / 5

Nowhere is a supernatural horror cosplaying as a police procedural in the shadows of a bleak domestic drama. It’s successfully creepy, and I found myself captivated for much of the first half of Allison Gunn’s debut novel. While she isn’t breaking new ground, she employs familiar tricks and tropes in ways that make it clear Gunn isn’t screwing around. She’s grabbing readers by the throat. Nothing feels watered down. No half-measures are being taken. And the emotions are dialed up to eleven in a way that feels purposeful. The result is a character-driven horror story that feels intentionally claustrophobic, as the sense of dread eats up all the oxygen.

The second half of the book — while not without its merits — simply doesn’t deliver a narrative worthy of its author’s efforts. There just isn’t enough there there. What begins as creepy and intense becomes repetitive and inevitable. And while a sense of inevitability can be powerful, building upon established dread and terror, sadly there aren’t many interesting ideas or narrative threads beyond what we learn fairly early on. Despite being only 300 pages, Nowhere feels like it takes far too long to reach the end. Gunn appears to be aiming for emotional wallop — and there is good stuff in the final act — but if we already know how it’s going to end and if we no longer have much to root for, it all ends up feeling tedious.

Rachel Keenan is the police chief of the small Appalachian Virginia town of Dahlmouth. She and her husband, Finn, are mourning the death of their child, whom they lost in a traffic accident a year earlier. Finn is guilt-ridden and a shell of his former self. Their marriage is on the rocks, but they’re staying together for the benefit of their teenage daughter, Charlie, and their youngest, Lucy. As the book opens, a gruesome murder off the interstate sets off Rachel’s investigation — dragging up old sins, older memories, and Appalachian folklore.

A lot of readers have complained that the characters are unlikable. And they are. Nearly every single one. But I admire Gunn for pushing that unlikability as far as she does. As much as you might not like Rachel, it’s hard not to respect her as an authority figure — and for me, that was enough. Finn, the self-pitying husband, doesn’t fare much better, although you can’t help but have some sympathy for him. As things get darker and much weirder, it becomes clear that the youngest daughter, Lucy, knows more about what’s going on than her parents do. Despite being only six years old, she is the heart, soul, and quasi-avatar of the story. When things start to go wrong (and they go really wrong, really fast), my primary concern was Lucy.

Gunn’s text is rich in theme and metaphor. It’s easy to draw a line from the dark spirits haunting Dahlmouth to the opioid crisis ravaging similar rural towns. These are villages of the damned, ruined by addiction and the wide-ranging socioeconomic fallout that follows. I think Gunn had the right ending — I just don’t think the path was strong enough to really get us there.

There are some truly well-written, creepy sequences (including a standout one set in a church), but many of the book’s best moments don’t amount to much narratively. One major character, central for much of the story, becomes a complete afterthought — both emotionally and plot-wise — in the second half. I’m left thoroughly confused by that choice. Another minor character gets a surprisingly crowd-pleasing moment in the final act, and I found myself hoping Gunn would let us follow her thread (the book desperately needed a jolt of energy by then). But like so many other potentially interesting threads, it goes, well… nowhere (sorry, you know I had to).

The murder investigation ultimately feels like an excuse to add a police procedural element to a novel that honestly doesn’t have the time or space for it. We get a backstory that connects some dots on the murder and introduces intriguing details, but they pay no real dividends in the end. You could’ve removed the murder plot altogether and not lost anything meaningful in the back half. Sure, the early chapters wouldn’t be as engaging, but in the grand scheme, the procedural aspect proves shockingly inessential. An effective catalyst, perhaps, but that’s not terribly interesting.

What does work — what is Nowhere’s saving grace — is the intense, emotional boiling cauldron between Rachel and Finn. And the more distance I have from the book, the more I admire what Gunn pulls off there. It’s clear this was the engine that drove her to write this, but it feels like the rest of the story was shortchanged and that’s what makes Nowhere such a frustrating, relative miss.

Nowhere by Allison Gunn releases March 25th.

Nowhere
Allison Gunn
4.25 / 5
Publication Date: March 25, 2025

Opening with a painful, yet beautifully honest and vulnerable "Author's Note", it is clear from the start that Nowhere is a novel born from a painful place ... and that we're going to embark on a transformative journey alone, together.

A beautifully written, heartbreakingly hopeful horror novel that really touched me in many ways.

I definitely recommend checking it out, and I look forward to whatever Allison Gunn writes in the future.
4.25 / 5

Stephen King's 'The Outsider' meshed with 'Mare of Easttown' (which I LOVED)??!! Sign me up.

After Rachel Kennan loses her young son in an accident, she throws herself into her career as a police chief in small town Virginia. Things are rocky with her husband, Finn, because his alcoholism was the direct cause of their son's death. They have two other daughters they need to care for but the girls have demons of their own. Meanwhile, a crime occurs in their tightknit and religious community and sends Rachel chasing all kinds of leads. Okay - so far, this sounds like your run of the mill thriller. Well, it's actually horror because the forest that surrounds this small towns starts calling to children. I don't know about you but any time a horror novel/movie involves children it's turns up the creep factor for me!

I had a great time with this! I didn't realize how much I enjoy Appalachian folklore but there's something extremely unsettling about it. The lore was really interesting! I will say I hated every single one of these characters lol - but I think they're supposed to be unlikeable. I have a hard time reading unlikeable characters - I always want to root for someone but it made it really difficult here to root for Rachel. My favorite character was probably the forest - the author really knows how to write a creepy forest.

Slow to start, but once the scene was set and the character's backgrounds were told, things started getting really creepy and I couldn't stop reading. There was some repetitiveness in the second half but it didn't bother me all that much.

Read if you enjoy: Appalachian folklore, family drama, small town stories, books about creepy children lol

This publishes 3/25! Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC :) All opinions are my own.

The Kennan family is in turmoil. Rachel is the police chief in a rural Virginia town, and her husband Finn is an alcoholic failed writer. Their two daughters are the only thing that are keeping the two together, after the tragic death of their son in a car accident that included Finn and their youngest daughter, Lucy.

They are living separate lives. Rachel has thrown herself into work and one night stands. Finn stays in the basement except when he comes upstairs to care for the girls. When Rachel and her crew are called to the woods by an associate of the Wise family, they are sure it's just another meth trip gone bad. What they find is darker than anyone could have predicted.

The town is one that is tight-knit and deeply religious. All activities involve the church. Therefore, the Kennan family is not included. When Charlie, the oldest daughter, comes home soaking wet and covered in vomit, Finn assumes it's a teenage drinking issue; however, Lucy, her kid sister, is terrified and refuses to be near her. When two girls go missing, Rachel must deal with those disappearances, supernatural or otherwise, all while finally giving into her grief and anger.
---
Growing up, we kept a set of books with fun facts and historical stories. One of the books included the story of the lost colony of Roanoke. Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to found the first permanent English settlement in North America with the Roanoke Colony. The colony was founded in 1585, but when a ship visited it in 1590, the colonists had inexplicably disappeared. Yes, that area is currently in North Carolina, but stay with me here. When a search party was sent for the lost people, the settlement was fortified but abandoned. The word "CROATOAN" was carved into the palisade, which White interpreted to mean that the colonists had relocated to Croatoan Island.

There is speculation that they had assimilated with nearby Native American communities, with stories of Native American villages including people with European features. However, the Jamestown colonists reported that the Roanoke settlers had been massacred. The fate of the approximately 112–121 colonists remains unknown. They just...vanished.

Now to my point, Nowhere takes place outside of Roanoke, Virginia. The Kennan family lives on Croatoa Street (or Lane), so clearly, we are working on a 'lost' village-type story. It's all terrifying, especially if you know how rural towns pop up after miles and miles of nothing. I grew up in a town like this. I thought about driving down a highway, expecting to see the one stoplight and nothing. It's just...gone. I would lose my mind.

The storyline of Rachel and Finn's marriage was almost scary. They were violent and full of malice toward each other, but that added to the stress of the whole situation. It's a good plot device, as was the drug use and poverty of the area. There were SOME parts that I wished had been expanded a bit more, but I was still terrified by this book.

What's scarier than the dark woods? Well, add children singing and you have Nowhere.

Five stars. A+++. I loved this.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

We might be closing in on Spring, but I’m on a horror and thriller kick. Nothing like sunny weather to get you in the mood for something dark and scary.

It’s been a year since Chief Rachel Kennan’s son was lost in an accident and she cannot let go. With two daughters to still take care of, Rachel and her husband Finn have been pretending to tolerate each other. When a disturbing murder takes place in the town, Rachel’s investigation will dive deep into Appalachian folklore and into the town’s secrets.

A haunting family saga combined with Appalachian folklore, Nowhere will keep you on the edge of your seat. While I didn’t find it to be extremely ‘scary’ (anytime children are involved I do get the creeps), Allison Gunn has created an atmospheric story. Though Rachel was hard to like and so was basically every other character in the book, the relationship between Finn and Rachel was complex and filled with grief. I was completely drawn into this story almost immediately, but the second half seemed to lack the same ‘oomph’ as the first. However, the supernatural aspect was woven perfectly into the story and I’m dying for someone to turn this into a TV Show.

Comparatively, if you enjoyed Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman last year, then Nowhere will be a great fit for you.

Nowhere comes out March 25, 2025. Huge thank you to Atria for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my:
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Oh boy, this book was gruesome! Not only was is horrifying, the children absolutely CREEPED me out!!! The emotions I went through with this book were insane. At first I thought Rachel and Finn were just awful people, terrible parents, and so self destructive. By the end though I came to like them? The grief I felt for them for their children, ugh it was so sad. Then the police force, just horrible people and did a terrible job. I was so invested in this book and could not put it down. It was scary, intense, tragic, and sad all at the same time. That ending though!! An ending I have been waiting for in a book for a long time, absolutely perfect. Loved this read. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I had a little trouble following along with the different perspectives switching back and forth. It was a great paranormal type horror! Definitely recommend!

Thank you to Atria Books publishing for providing me an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to Aria Books and Simon Audio for review copies!

I enjoyed this book more than I expected. I don’t typically read horror involving creepy children, but the strong storytelling and tense, atmospheric setting made for a compelling read. This was an unsettling and eerie story, and the ending was especially impactful. Supernatural themes lurk under the surface read, which was my own less than favorite part of the read (I guess oddly I want my scares more centered on the horrors of humanity?) but this delivers a well developed plot. I will check out more from this author!

While I found some of the characters—particularly the main female protagonist—difficult to like, it wasn’t enough to take away from the overall experience.

Recently, I’ve realized I’m drawn to Appalachian horror, and this book effectively captured the region’s unsettling folklore and isolating atmosphere. The story’s depiction of eerie children heightened the tension, taking familiar horror elements to another level. As someone born and raised in the area of Virginia where this book is set, I appreciated the accuracy in setting and tone.

I would recommend this to horror readers, especially those who enjoy unsettling narratives featuring eerie children.

WOW. I cannot believe this is a debut -- if this is the level of bleak and brutal Gunn is starting at, I cannot wait to see where she goes next! Navigating queerness, compulsive heterosexuality, and classism while wrestling with a rural and religious upbringing is horrific enough on its own, but Gunn pushes its possibilities to the bleakest limits. With a couple of different life choices and circumstances, I could see myself becoming either one of the protagonists, and that really underlined the hopelessness and terror of their situation. I read this in one sitting and had to lay down after the final scene, which is a stamp of approval from me. Between this and The Lamb by Lucy Rose, 2025 has some phenomenally devastating queer horror so far.

4.5 ⭐️s rounded up to 5 ⭐️s

What a crazy, creepy ride this was!! Heebie jeebies galore! And that ending!!! 😱🙌

I do have to say that I intensely disliked some of the characters, especially the primary FMC, but not enough to make me stop reading this one!! 👀

I definitely recommend this one to horror lovers! Especially if you like creepy kids!! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Allison Gunn for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

TW: suicide, substance abuse, child death