The Lonely Places

Rating:
Summary: An Eerie Page-Turner
Review: "The Lonely Places" is a novel that left me feeling as if I'd just watched a David Lynch film. It's eerie and suspenseful, and often left me wondering "what the heck is going on here?" while keeping me up way past my bedtime. There is a subtle but definite feeling of dread that starts in the first chapter and never lets up.

The story revolves around a young woman, Ruth, who is fleeing a past of psychological and physical abuse. Ruth's closest relationship is with her brother Alex, and she heads to the small English town where Alex has recently gotten a teaching job. When she arrives, she finds that Alex is missing, and the local residents and police are either not helpful or downright hostile. She visits the school where Alex was teaching and is told by a group of children that Alex was taken by "The Gray Man", who is apparently a spirit of local legend.

The dread builds as Ruth finds herself arrested; she catches glimpses of her former abusive lover, Matt--is he stalking her? Is he even really there?; she spends an afternoon digging through a field because of a compelling dream; and through it all she will briefly see, from the corner of her eye, a gray vision.

"The Lonely Places" ends up being a novel about the psychological consequences of domestic abuse and extreme trauma. I would have given it five stars, except that the ending was somewhat disappointing and felt rushed.

Rating:
Summary: Very unusal journey into the land of strange....
Review: For the most part I enjoyed this little strange story. Reality
and dreams slide in and out but the characters and the writing
style keep you glued to this story. Morris has created a world
slowly disintergrating into loss of all reason but with all its gloom I found
it enjoyable just trying to figure it all out and the ending
which I will not give away matched the flow to conclusion. Morris is a talent to keep an eye on. I would recommend this
to mystery/horror readers and yes those that like the David
Lynch touch of violence and gothic menace with a disjointed
seam traveling through the story that makes more sense with
its conclusion.

Rating:
Summary: Expecting his next thriller
Review: I was really scared by the story, but the ending is a bit disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: powerfully creepy psychological suspense
Review: Ruth Gemmill travels from London to remote Greenwall to find her younger brother Alex, a teacher in the small village, who apparently has disappeared. Ruth, a victim of relational abuse from her former boyfriend Matt, thinks her sibling might be a gay bashing casualty.

However, almost upon her arrival in Greenwall, she learns that the school Alex taught at does not exist and no one will confess they know him. Stunned she visits his apartment complex only to find no one willing to speak of Alex as if they are all frightened of the consequences of talking with an outsider. Worse is the eerie gray figure that seems to follow Ruth everywhere, but remains just on the edge of her vision. Everyone fears and mistrusts Ruth who though quite frightened by all she sees and meets refuses to leave without learning what happened to Alex.

On first brush, THE LONELY PLACES feels like paint by the numbers horror tale as all the expected incidents occur. Through Ruth's fears and flashbacks, readers gain a full understanding of her and the two men in her life. This makes the tale into a powerfully creepy psychological suspense story as the audience wants Ruth to escape the spiders and their webs that threaten to engulf her. The gray figure is as frightening a character one will encounter lurking on the edge of the heroine's vision and the mind of the reader. Fans of psychological suspense will enjoy this thriller that partially resides in the horror genre too.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book gripped me from the very first page and as I read on, it actually began to scare me, which is pretty hard to do these days. I almost dreaded turning each page, in fear of what might happen next. But as the pages waned and I saw that I was close to the end I started to become perplexed. I prepared myself for a slam-bang ending, only to be severely disappointed by the climax and ending. What a letdown! I couldn't believe the author had copped out this way. I'm just glad I hadn't bought the book! The two stars I gave it are only for the scare it gave me--for a while, that is.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book gripped me from the very first page and as I read on, it actually began to scare me, which is pretty hard to do these days. I almost dreaded turning each page, in fear of what might happen next. But as the pages waned and I saw that I was close to the end I started to become perplexed. I prepared myself for a slam-bang ending, only to be severely disappointed by the climax and ending. What a letdown! I couldn't believe the author had copped out this way. I'm just glad I hadn't bought the book! The two stars I gave it are only for the scare it gave me--for a while, that is.

Rating:
Summary: Awe-Inspiring
Review: This is just about the most incredible book I have ever read. I would never be so pretentious as to refer to a book as a masterpiece, but I have to in this instance. J.M. Morris has written a spellbinding, chilling and completely original novel that immediately calls to mind the brilliant psychological suspense novels of Patrick McGrath and Barbara Vine. Don't miss out on this. It's the most daring suspense novel to come along in years.