Nowhere

Gunn debuts with this eerie eldritch story of a grieving family swept into evils out of Appalachian folklore. Rachel Kennan, the chief of police in rural Dahlmouth, Va., struggles in the wake of her journalist husband Finn’s drunk driving accident, which killed their young son. After the townsfolk unearth her old social media accounts and discover photos of her partying hard and kissing women, the scandal leaves her totally isolated. So when she discovers a mutilated body in the woods, there’s no one willing to cooperate with her investigation. Despite Rachel’s vague warnings about danger, her older daughter, Charlie, sneaks out to meet friends who are lured into the woods and come back different. As other kids go missing and their parents turn inexplicably violent, Rachel refuses to consider that something supernatural is going on even amid mounting signs and strange warnings from her younger daughter. The author competently blends mythic horror with a delicate, introspective portrait of a family broken by grief and the self-defeating ways they try to cope. With this intense story, Gunn proves herself an assured new voice in horror. Agent: Logan Harper, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Mar.)