Nowhere by Allison Gunn

Following the death of their young son, Finn, a washed-up writer, and Rachel, the local chief of police have watched their already complicated marriage fall apart. They remain together, living isolated in a small Virginia town where neither of them feels welcome, for the sake of their two surviving children.

One day, Rachel begins picks up a strange case, the brutal murder of a hitchhiker no one in town seems to know who was found pinned to a tree in the woods. Not long after this, some of the locals begin displaying strange behavior, coinciding with the disappearances of several local children. Her officers don’t provide much help and the local sheriff refuses to offer support, leaving Rachel to investigate by herself. But as the case ramps up, eventually hitting too close to home, and a primal, evil force begins to sweep through town, Rachel and Finn find they have no one to rely on but each other.

I was impressed to find that Nowhere is the author’s first published novel as the quality of the writing is really strong. The book has a really solid pace to it and the characters were very well written. If you’re looking for traditionally likeable characters, you’re not going to find that here as Rachel and Finn are both very, very flawed individuals. However, I wouldn’t exactly say they are unlikeable either. They are very complex, tragic characters and as flawed as they are, you can empathize with (or at the very least understand) a lot of the less than savory things they say and do. As rough as their relationship is, I found myself actively rooting for them to reconcile, especially as the more horrific elements of the book ramp up around them. Without getting into spoilers, the arc of their relationship is definitely not a romantic one, but more like two very flawed individuals who have drifted apart coming to understand each other. In short, the characters in this book were excellent but don’t go in expecting to love the protagonists, because you probably won’t and that’s the point.

The book did a really good job establishing a general vibe of horror. It establishes this really disquieting and uncomfortable feeling pretty early on that never lets up. The author’s description of some of the more violent scenes definitely added to this, and the book certainly does not shy away from describing the occasional gory scene in detail. Unfortunately though, the supernatural element at the core of the books story doesn’t really work for me, especially as it becomes more and more apparent what it actually is. I gather that is based on some actual Appalachian folklore which is nice, but I found the story losing me a bit, particularly in its final few sequences as this side of the book really fell flat for me, especially as its mysteries were resolved. With that being said, this was not enough to completely hamper my enjoyment of the book and I enjoyed my time reading it overall.

If you’re looking for an atmospheric mystery/horror story with some really complex, well written characters, Nowhere by Allison Gunn might be exactly the book you’re looking for. If you’re hoping for traditionally likeable characters you won’t find that here, and the mileage you get out of the books supernatural elements will vary. Regardless, this is a very impressive debut novel and an overall very solid read.

Reviewed by Michael Realmuto

March 25, 2025

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