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Somewhere
Deep in the cellar of somewhere, secrets lurk.
Somewhere challenges perceptions of paradise and power in this gripping tale of longing and reckoning with the sins of our ancestors.
Lee Thompson, a recent college graduate, finds himself in rural Missouri, a place he never imagined calling home. However, despite its storybook charm-friendly neighbors, quaint shops, and lively festivals-the town guards macabre secrets that defy explanation.
Strange occurrences begin to haunt Lee, including mysterious movements in his apartment at night and visions of a hanging woman. Amidst a blossoming romance and an unexpected friendship with the charismatic local pastor, Lee uncovers a chilling The town has a dark history steeped in slavery and cruelty. Now, a sinister force from the past threatens to ensnare Lee forever.
Somewhere challenges perceptions of paradise and power in this gripping tale of longing and reckoning with the sins of our ancestors.
Lee Thompson, a recent college graduate, finds himself in rural Missouri, a place he never imagined calling home. However, despite its storybook charm-friendly neighbors, quaint shops, and lively festivals-the town guards macabre secrets that defy explanation.
Strange occurrences begin to haunt Lee, including mysterious movements in his apartment at night and visions of a hanging woman. Amidst a blossoming romance and an unexpected friendship with the charismatic local pastor, Lee uncovers a chilling The town has a dark history steeped in slavery and cruelty. Now, a sinister force from the past threatens to ensnare Lee forever.
Kindle Edition
First published October 10, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 25, 2024
Somewhere is a supernatural horror/thriller. As I read through this book I kept thinking that M. Night Shyamalan should make this into a movie. It has that type of vibe, at least for me.
I absolutely LOVED the meat of this book. There were a lot of strange and creepy things happening that grabbed my interest and drug me into this beautifully written story.
Though, there were a few parts (towards the end) where my attention wandered with some lengthy explanations and dialogue (but that could just be me, my attention tends to wander more than some). However, I was quickly immersed back into the story and did not finish disappointed.
I really enjoyed the mystery of this story and the author's writing style. Now I'm excited to see what his future books will hold.
Somewhere will be released on October 10th by small independent publisher @brothermockingbird
I would definitely recommend this book and give it ⭐⭐⭐⭐. Somewhere will make a great addition to any supernatural thriller lover's October/Halloween TBR.
I received this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review
I absolutely LOVED the meat of this book. There were a lot of strange and creepy things happening that grabbed my interest and drug me into this beautifully written story.
Though, there were a few parts (towards the end) where my attention wandered with some lengthy explanations and dialogue (but that could just be me, my attention tends to wander more than some). However, I was quickly immersed back into the story and did not finish disappointed.
I really enjoyed the mystery of this story and the author's writing style. Now I'm excited to see what his future books will hold.
Somewhere will be released on October 10th by small independent publisher @brothermockingbird
I would definitely recommend this book and give it ⭐⭐⭐⭐. Somewhere will make a great addition to any supernatural thriller lover's October/Halloween TBR.
I received this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review
October 1, 2024
Wow! This one was a pleasure to read. I was hooked by the first paragraph. Atmospheric and filled with hundreds of odd occurrences that build in unease in a way that starts to get under your skin and makes you anxious...and makes you want to keep reading.
I've been thinking about how to review this book for nearly 2 weeks, and the thing that kept me from it earlier was that I struggled to tell you what I loved about it without spoiling anything. This book has tons of "tropes" that I love.
Recently graduated from college and unsure what to do with his life, Lee Thompson packs up his car and moves to the little town of Somewhere, Missouri. Upon moving into his attic apartment, he begins noticing some odd behaviors in the townsfolk as well as strange occurrences and visions that he can't explain. However, there is a charm and draw to the little town, which is filled with quaint shops and parades and festivities for every holiday. Lee quickly makes friends with some of the young people of the town and is immediately attracted to a young woman named Rose.
However, he finds that his ties to home are beginning to slip and Somewhere hasn't begun to disclose its dark secrets.
What a brilliant debut! I thoroughly enjoyed it, however there were a couple of aspects of the book that unsettled me (but those fall behind the spoilers paywall). Let me
just say that I would have liked a different spiritual resolution. But all in all 4.5 *
Releases on October 10!
A big thanks to Matthew for gifting me an ARC to review.
Be sure to grab this one for spooky season!
I've been thinking about how to review this book for nearly 2 weeks, and the thing that kept me from it earlier was that I struggled to tell you what I loved about it without spoiling anything. This book has tons of "tropes" that I love.
Recently graduated from college and unsure what to do with his life, Lee Thompson packs up his car and moves to the little town of Somewhere, Missouri. Upon moving into his attic apartment, he begins noticing some odd behaviors in the townsfolk as well as strange occurrences and visions that he can't explain. However, there is a charm and draw to the little town, which is filled with quaint shops and parades and festivities for every holiday. Lee quickly makes friends with some of the young people of the town and is immediately attracted to a young woman named Rose.
However, he finds that his ties to home are beginning to slip and Somewhere hasn't begun to disclose its dark secrets.
What a brilliant debut! I thoroughly enjoyed it, however there were a couple of aspects of the book that unsettled me (but those fall behind the spoilers paywall). Let me
just say that I would have liked a different spiritual resolution. But all in all 4.5 *
Releases on October 10!
A big thanks to Matthew for gifting me an ARC to review.
Be sure to grab this one for spooky season!
December 26, 2024
If you enjoy supernatural weirdness and are okay with a somewhat plodding pacing, this book is certainly worth a read. It engendered a lot of discussion and ruminating, which is, to me, a sign of a good book! It has some flaws, mostly in pacing, but I am glad, overall, that I took the time to read it.
I read this book in tandem with my mom. She said, “this book is weird; I want you to read it so we can talk about it!”
From the very first line of the book, there was something about the author’s voice that intrigued me and made me want to keep reading. This intrigue, and little pops of “that was weird,” kept me going through the first 1/3 of the book, despite some pacing issues that may have had me abandon the book otherwise.
Things pick up in the middle, and I was well and truly hooked…60% of the way through. Things stay moving along, fascinating, and then the pacing and immediacy were suddenly lost during the climax. The story shone during the latter half of the rising action, where the pacing was more steady.
I feel this book truly achieved that uncomfortable dreamlike feeling, and there were moments of brilliance that will stay with me. If it had been just a little tighter, I would have enjoyed it a bit more, but as it is, I would look forward to another book from this author.
I read this book in tandem with my mom. She said, “this book is weird; I want you to read it so we can talk about it!”
From the very first line of the book, there was something about the author’s voice that intrigued me and made me want to keep reading. This intrigue, and little pops of “that was weird,” kept me going through the first 1/3 of the book, despite some pacing issues that may have had me abandon the book otherwise.
Things pick up in the middle, and I was well and truly hooked…60% of the way through. Things stay moving along, fascinating, and then the pacing and immediacy were suddenly lost during the climax. The story shone during the latter half of the rising action, where the pacing was more steady.
I feel this book truly achieved that uncomfortable dreamlike feeling, and there were moments of brilliance that will stay with me. If it had been just a little tighter, I would have enjoyed it a bit more, but as it is, I would look forward to another book from this author.
May 3, 2025
Book Review: A Woman’s Perspective on Somewhere by Matthew Reed Williams
Somewhere by Matthew Reed Williams is a contemplative novel that explores themes of displacement, identity, and the search for belonging through the lens of a protagonist navigating an ambiguous, shifting landscape. While the book offers a poetic meditation on existential uncertainty, a feminist reading reveals both its strengths in capturing emotional depth and its limitations in representing female subjectivity and agency.
The Elusive Female Experience in a Male-Centric Narrative
The novel’s introspective style effectively conveys the protagonist’s internal struggles, but the absence of well-developed female characters is striking. Women, when present, often serve as fleeting figures—muses, memories, or metaphors—rather than fully realized individuals with their own desires and conflicts. This marginalization reflects a broader literary tendency to position male existential crises as universal while relegating women to symbolic or supportive roles. A more inclusive narrative might have explored how displacement and identity are gendered experiences, particularly for women navigating spaces not designed for their autonomy.
Ambiguity as Strength and Shortcoming
Williams’ use of ambiguity is both the novel’s greatest asset and its most significant blind spot. The dreamlike, nonlinear structure mirrors the protagonist’s fractured sense of self, creating a haunting atmosphere. However, this same vagueness risks obscuring the material realities that shape women’s lives—bodies, boundaries, and systemic constraints—which cannot always be dissolved into abstraction. For female readers, the lack of concrete stakes or social context may feel alienating, as women’s stories are so often dismissed as “personal” rather than philosophical.
The Male Gaze and Emotional Labor
The protagonist’s relationships with women, though sparse, are framed through a distinctly male perspective: women are remembered, longed for, or lost, but rarely granted their own complexity. Their emotional labor—listening, comforting, inspiring—goes unexamined, reinforcing the trope of women as vessels for male growth. A feminist revision might ask: What do these women want when no one is projecting meaning onto them? How does their sense of “somewhere” differ when societal expectations dictate their mobility and choices?
Silence and Voice: A Missed Opportunity
The novel’s preoccupation with silence and unspoken truths could have been a powerful space to interrogate gendered communication. Women’s voices are historically suppressed or policed, making their relationship to silence inherently political. Yet the text does not engage with this dimension, treating silence as a universal condition rather than one inflected by power dynamics. A female protagonist’s silence, for instance, would carry vastly different weight—resistance, oppression, or survival—than the male protagonist’s existential ennui.
Conclusion: A Beautiful but Narrow Exploration
Somewhere is a lyrical and thought-provoking work, but its philosophical musings remain confined to a masculine worldview. While it succeeds in evoking the universality of longing, it falls short of grappling with how identity and place are mediated by gender. For readers seeking a meditation on solitude, the novel resonates; for those craving narratives where women’s interiority is equally prioritized, it may feel like a landscape half-explored.
Rating: 3/5 (Aesthetically compelling but limited in its engagement with feminist perspectives.)
Thank you to the author for a free copy of this book!
Somewhere by Matthew Reed Williams is a contemplative novel that explores themes of displacement, identity, and the search for belonging through the lens of a protagonist navigating an ambiguous, shifting landscape. While the book offers a poetic meditation on existential uncertainty, a feminist reading reveals both its strengths in capturing emotional depth and its limitations in representing female subjectivity and agency.
The Elusive Female Experience in a Male-Centric Narrative
The novel’s introspective style effectively conveys the protagonist’s internal struggles, but the absence of well-developed female characters is striking. Women, when present, often serve as fleeting figures—muses, memories, or metaphors—rather than fully realized individuals with their own desires and conflicts. This marginalization reflects a broader literary tendency to position male existential crises as universal while relegating women to symbolic or supportive roles. A more inclusive narrative might have explored how displacement and identity are gendered experiences, particularly for women navigating spaces not designed for their autonomy.
Ambiguity as Strength and Shortcoming
Williams’ use of ambiguity is both the novel’s greatest asset and its most significant blind spot. The dreamlike, nonlinear structure mirrors the protagonist’s fractured sense of self, creating a haunting atmosphere. However, this same vagueness risks obscuring the material realities that shape women’s lives—bodies, boundaries, and systemic constraints—which cannot always be dissolved into abstraction. For female readers, the lack of concrete stakes or social context may feel alienating, as women’s stories are so often dismissed as “personal” rather than philosophical.
The Male Gaze and Emotional Labor
The protagonist’s relationships with women, though sparse, are framed through a distinctly male perspective: women are remembered, longed for, or lost, but rarely granted their own complexity. Their emotional labor—listening, comforting, inspiring—goes unexamined, reinforcing the trope of women as vessels for male growth. A feminist revision might ask: What do these women want when no one is projecting meaning onto them? How does their sense of “somewhere” differ when societal expectations dictate their mobility and choices?
Silence and Voice: A Missed Opportunity
The novel’s preoccupation with silence and unspoken truths could have been a powerful space to interrogate gendered communication. Women’s voices are historically suppressed or policed, making their relationship to silence inherently political. Yet the text does not engage with this dimension, treating silence as a universal condition rather than one inflected by power dynamics. A female protagonist’s silence, for instance, would carry vastly different weight—resistance, oppression, or survival—than the male protagonist’s existential ennui.
Conclusion: A Beautiful but Narrow Exploration
Somewhere is a lyrical and thought-provoking work, but its philosophical musings remain confined to a masculine worldview. While it succeeds in evoking the universality of longing, it falls short of grappling with how identity and place are mediated by gender. For readers seeking a meditation on solitude, the novel resonates; for those craving narratives where women’s interiority is equally prioritized, it may feel like a landscape half-explored.
Rating: 3/5 (Aesthetically compelling but limited in its engagement with feminist perspectives.)
Thank you to the author for a free copy of this book!
September 24, 2024
Somewhere
Matthew Reed Williams
October 10, 2024
Horror/Paranormal/Sci Fi
Publisher Brother Mockingbird
I am one of the very lucky ones who was able to ARC read this. I am telling you this because I went into it with only the blurb and no reviews to compare it to and I am so glad that I did. I am a ‘lean all the way in’ reader and I could not have predicted how much I enjoyed this book. I have marked and tabbed and talked about this book BOTH times I read it. I could give you a play by play and my version of a blurb or I can try and convince you this is the next 5 star book that you must read!
Matthew Reed Williams has ‘ripped the canvas between the material world and the immaterial world’. He has flawlessly joined horror and paranormal together to make a book that needs to be read twice. See the second time, you will see all the easter eggs and the clues that were dropped along the way and it will be even more cohesive. This man is talented.
Lee knows from the beginning that something is amiss in this picture (IYKYK) perfect town. The house he is living in seems to be coming to life at the same time every night. The descriptions of the things and people that Lee sees are so vibrant and full of depth that the reader can see, smell and taste them. I love that the author uses common place words that connect it and make it that much more personal. ‘bones and intestines beneath, like white chop sticks poking out of a bowl of red soaked oozing noodles’. ‘the sound was not reverberating through the woods, but rather spilling out of the woman’s mouth, trickling out like a noxious gas.; ‘the shadow was rhythmic, almost like a metronome appearing and disappearing...’
The pacing is perfect. There is no down time in the middle, only a need to figure out what is going on in Somewhere. There is no doubt that you, dear reader, will want to know what ‘is true’. Our author integrates Biblical references throughout the book that just seals the horror vibe for me. Prepare to be scared, breathless and turn the pages at mock speed and hope to goodness you never find Somewhere.
Matthew Reed Williams
October 10, 2024
Horror/Paranormal/Sci Fi
Publisher Brother Mockingbird
I am one of the very lucky ones who was able to ARC read this. I am telling you this because I went into it with only the blurb and no reviews to compare it to and I am so glad that I did. I am a ‘lean all the way in’ reader and I could not have predicted how much I enjoyed this book. I have marked and tabbed and talked about this book BOTH times I read it. I could give you a play by play and my version of a blurb or I can try and convince you this is the next 5 star book that you must read!
Matthew Reed Williams has ‘ripped the canvas between the material world and the immaterial world’. He has flawlessly joined horror and paranormal together to make a book that needs to be read twice. See the second time, you will see all the easter eggs and the clues that were dropped along the way and it will be even more cohesive. This man is talented.
Lee knows from the beginning that something is amiss in this picture (IYKYK) perfect town. The house he is living in seems to be coming to life at the same time every night. The descriptions of the things and people that Lee sees are so vibrant and full of depth that the reader can see, smell and taste them. I love that the author uses common place words that connect it and make it that much more personal. ‘bones and intestines beneath, like white chop sticks poking out of a bowl of red soaked oozing noodles’. ‘the sound was not reverberating through the woods, but rather spilling out of the woman’s mouth, trickling out like a noxious gas.; ‘the shadow was rhythmic, almost like a metronome appearing and disappearing...’
The pacing is perfect. There is no down time in the middle, only a need to figure out what is going on in Somewhere. There is no doubt that you, dear reader, will want to know what ‘is true’. Our author integrates Biblical references throughout the book that just seals the horror vibe for me. Prepare to be scared, breathless and turn the pages at mock speed and hope to goodness you never find Somewhere.
February 12, 2025
Overall I really enjoyed this book. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting and I kept trying to guess the next part but couldn’t. The plot was twisty and captivating. It was slow paced at first but once it picked up it ran. Looking back, I think the slow pace was necessary so you got an understanding of exactly how suspended in an old timey feel the characters are in. The descriptions of what happened towards the end were vivid and thought provoking. The story overall is thought provoking, especially since as a society we spend a lot of time trying to hid the history that made us.
I myself am from Missouri, so I laughed a lot of the intro MO jokes (the Missouri diet comments are my favorite and I’ve repeated it often). It’s a bit suspenseful and enlightening. Definitely give it a read!
I myself am from Missouri, so I laughed a lot of the intro MO jokes (the Missouri diet comments are my favorite and I’ve repeated it often). It’s a bit suspenseful and enlightening. Definitely give it a read!
October 16, 2024
This book was me dipping my toe into horror genre for me. It was a good read. It was a slow start for me but it got more interesting the farther I got into the story so Lee moves to the town somewhere Missouri where weird disturbing things start happening he keeps seeing a hanging woman. Then he keeps hearing sounds coming from the house he is living in. There are secrets in this town that he doesn’t know. He goes back to St. Louis and then he can’t find somewhere. Then he goes back to somewhere or tries to and can’t find it. He then discovers what happened and this story just got more interesting. I give this book a 4 stars. It was a slower read for me but riveting it was a very interesting story
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2024
This book was deliciously unsettling and creepy. It had a strong feel of a Supernatural episode but before the brothers step in and help, if that makes sense. The characters were likeable and believable, which I always appreciate.
The reason I give this four stars is because the story got too real at the end for me. The topic IS important and was well executed, but it sort of took me out of the creepy, horror aspect of it.
The reason I give this four stars is because the story got too real at the end for me. The topic IS important and was well executed, but it sort of took me out of the creepy, horror aspect of it.
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December 29, 2024This book had an interesting premise. The beginning was slow, but it picked up speed around the halfway point. The writing style was ok. However, it felt very YA, perhaps because the protagonist was very immature.
February 8, 2025
It doesn’t take long to realize that something is amiss in Somewhere, which keeps the reader engaged, eager to figure out what is really happening. It’s a well-paced plot that offers genuinely scary moments without being overdone. A veritable page turner. Highly recommended.
May 19, 2025
This book kept me guessing and turning the pages but I still feel like I was in a fog of confusion at the same time.
Just might need to think about this one a bit more.
Just might need to think about this one a bit more.
December 3, 2025
This was one strange book that I had trouble putting down.
November 25, 2024
The writing was beautiful. Although I didn't find it too thrilling, it was a haunting and strange world. If you're just getting into horror or supernatural, I will most definitely be recommending this book!
I hope Matthew writes and publishes another book! I have a feeling from his writing, this book, that over time, he may become one of my favorite authors.
I hope Matthew writes and publishes another book! I have a feeling from his writing, this book, that over time, he may become one of my favorite authors.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews