The Lonely Places [Mass Market Paperback]

J.M. Morris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 4, 2003

When love turns to obsession there’s no place to hide.

Preparing to escape the darkest period of her life, Ruth Gemmill needs the consolation of her brother, Alex, a man she cannot breathe without. It’s not the first time. She couldn’t breathe without Matt either. Matt, who loved to beat her--until Ruth found the strength to escape the terrifying abuse of her domestic existence.

Or so she would like to think. Little does she realize the extent of the crippling cobwebs her vicious lover has spun throughout her mind....But fate deals Ruth another blow when Alex suddenly disappears. To bring him home, Ruth is forced to confront her emotional demons through a bewildering landscape, where the phantoms of a menacing past lurk around every corner, determined to wake Ruth up to the most horrifying reality of all. Some webs can never be swept away, some spiders sting to destroy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Self-declared all-around victim Ruth Gemmill, the heroine of Morris's debut suspense novel, flees her abusive lover and heads to the small northern England town of Greenwell for a surprise visit with her brother, Alex, a gay high school teacher. But Ruth is in for a surprise herself: Alex has disappeared, and few in Greenwell know or care where he has gone. Ruth's anxious inquiries bring to the surface her most disturbing memories and dreams of lurid childhood traumas, not to mention the unwelcome reappearance of the abusive lover, Matt. Meanwhile, the behavior of the Greenwell populace is so ominous Ruth suspects that even apparently helpful townsfolk like kindly Keith and lovely Liz may not be what they seem. Indeed, they are not. Ruth falls into the hands of rough policemen and the arms of friends of both sexes before winding up in the lonely places of the title, sites like the abandoned train station where Matt suffered the childhood rape that has made him so violent. Billed as "a novel of psychological suspense," the book is more like an over-the-top compendium of titillating terror, including scenes of pedophilia and sadomasochism. Morris's hallucinatory mixture of memory and nightmare, aggression and submission, pain and excitement will intrigue some readers and vex many others, as will the ending, which suggests Ruth's emotional roller-coaster ride was, like the town of Greenwell and its inhabitants, not at all what it appeared to be.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

In his new novel, British author Morris branches out from his horror roots (Stitch, The Horror Club) into the arena of psychological suspense. Ruth Gemmill is still trying to escape the remnants of an abusive relationship when Alex, her brother and best friend, moves to the northern England town of Greenwell to take a job as a teacher. When she isn't able to get in touch with him, she becomes concerned. Her attempts to find him in Greenwell fail. He's disappeared without a trace, and the inhabitants of the town are increasingly hostile to Ruth's investigation. As the book plays out, it becomes more and more clear that nothing is as it seems. Morris's experience in writing horror is evident in the very tightly plotted story. Whether Ruth is awake or dreaming, each detail fits precisely into the story. Unfortunately, the conclusion of this taut thriller feels as if it were tacked on. Inexplicable events are explained all too abruptly, and the added twist at the end feels like just that an added twist. Recommended for larger public libraries. Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Dell (February 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044023736X
• ISBN-13: 978-0440237365
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,622,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars powerfully creepy psychological suspense, May 4, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lonely Places (Hardcover)

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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Eerie Page-Turner, March 8, 2003

By 

The Feisty Curmudgeon (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lonely Places (Mass Market Paperback)

"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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very unusal journey into the land of strange...., July 22, 2003

By 

J. Bilby "littlebibs" (Kingston, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lonely Places (Mass Market Paperback)

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.