The Nowhere Place

by John Lymington

Why does part of an English village suddenly disappear, accompanied by tremors and a strange whistling noise? What is the secret of the poison pen letters and of the villagers' guilty pasts?

And who is the man Trent?

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

John Lymington is a pseudonym for author John Newton Chance.

John Newton Chance was born in London in 1911 and educated at a private school there. He went to a Technical College with the intention of becoming a Civil Engineer, but left that to become a Quantity Surveyor. While surveying, he began to write for the BBC, and on his twenty-first birthday gave up all honest work to become a writer. The first novel was published in 1935, was hailed as a masterpiece and, like so many such, grossed more glory than gain. But it established the writer's career, which he has followed ever since with the exception of the four war years. When his war ended, he and his wife came to live in Hampshire where their first son was horn. Seventeen books later a second son arrived, and six books further on, the third came along. Among the books of the time there were a number for children, and the adult stories were published here, in America and on the Continent; some were filmed and a number broadcast.

source: his autobiography Yellow Belly

He would eventually write over 160 books under several names. Pseudonyms used by Chance throughout his career included:
John Drummond, John Lymington, David C. Newton, and Jonathan Chance. He was also one of the writers who used name the Desmond Reid which was one of the many personas responsible for the 'Sexton Blake' series that spanned decades.

Reviews

[Cyrix Instead · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Midsummer's Day. A town that keeps disappearing. Messages in the mail that reveal the most inner, perverse thoughts of the townspeople. At least two practicing witches and a solar tracking station that is getting some pretty heavy vibes from above. It's perhaps too complicated an apparatus for a chiller and you may not be entirely sure about what terrible thing is going to descend but you won't be going nowhere else until the last page."



Very enjoyable Sci-Fi tale about strange events taking place in a small English village sometime in the 1960's. Feels reminiscent of the Quatermass tales in many ways mixing both science and supernatural ideas. Has a sense of vast scales of reality beyond human understanding and much focus on how the characters shy away from the BIG things and focus on the small more understandable events. The characters feel real and interesting. Overall the story is well crafted and the ending is satisfying.
A fun very quick read that left me thinking about the story and ideas long after I had finished reading.

[David Wingert · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The Nowhere Place” by John Lymington was published in 1969. It follows the happenings in a small British town that occasionally disappears, poison pen letters and an organization tasked with keeping track of unusual phenomenon.

I found it to be an okay story, but in my opinion, it really showed its age.