Nowhere by Allison Gunn

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.
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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.