“The Nowhere Children are expecting you…

High in the mountains sits Nowhere, a verdant valley surrounded by walls of rock. People have lived at Nowhere for centuries, though never for long, and rarely happily. Its last owner was its most famous: movie star Leaf Winham, who built Nowhere House as a refuge to hide from his fame… and to hide his crimes. Only when Nowhere House went up in flames were the graves discovered, the last resting places of lost young men who would never go home.

Years later, Nowhere valley has become a sanctuary for runaway children, a place where adults cannot enter. Drawn by this promise, fourteen-year-old Riley pulls her brother Oliver from his bed in the middle of the night, hoping to find a new family. But the Nowhere Children are fierce in defending their valley and their secrets. For something dark lives in the ruins of Nowhere House, something that asks a terrible price for sanctuary…”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward. Nowhere Burning was published by Viper Books on Thursday 19th February 2026 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats. I chose to read a free eARC of Nowhere Burning but that has in no way influenced my review.

Fourteen-year-old Riley knows that in order to survive, she and her younger brother, Oliver, have to escape Cousin’s twisted version of care. Stealing away in the middle of the night, Riley decides to head to Nowhere, an almost mystical sanctuary hidden in the Rocky Mountains. The land and house were once owned by Leaf Winham, a disgraced movie star with a secret, dark and twisted penchant for young men. But only when the house was partly burned down was the true extent of Winham’s crimes exposed. Now, the Nowhere Children have built a safe haven on the grounds, using the remains of the house and the verdant valley to live isolated and alone. No adults allowed. But the Nowhere Children also have secrets of their own. Secrets they will do anything to protect….

I loved Nowhere Burning. Catriona Ward has, over the course of the last few years, become one of my must-read, auto-buy authors and this book only cements how much I love this author’s work. Beautifully written, believable characters, a dark plot laced throughout with foreboding, and a setting that is as much a part of the story as Riley and Oliver are. There is so much emotion packed into the pages of this book. A sister’s love for her younger brother, her drive to keep the two of them alive, despite being only a child herself. Riley’s constant wariness, yet her longing to belong, to be a part of the Nowhere community. She is such a strong character. Headstrong, fierce but ultimately human, and ultimately flawed.

The story is told from three main points of view. We have Riley, of course, but then there is also Adam, an architect, and Marc, who, alongside colleague Kimble, is carrying out an investigation into Nowhere and its inhabitants. I don’t want to go into any detail about how these three accounts, three very different POVs, are connected, but know that they are. I spent a lot of time trying to work out how that was going to play out. I wish I had just allowed myself to get lost within Ward’s unsettling world rather than trying to link the three plotlines together. My advice: concentrate on the world and characters before you and forget about connecting the dots. Everything is beautifully tied together at the end. Allow yourself to be swept away into this story. I promise, it will be worth it.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Nowhere Burning is a stunning piece of psychological horror featuring an unforgettable cast of characters. Utterly compelling, unnervingly dark, highly unsettling, and my favourite book of the year so far. Everything about Nowhere Burning worked for me. On every level. I loved how detailed and descriptive it is, how subtly nuanced and gorgeously complex both the characters and the storyline are. I loved how much I believed in every aspect of the novel. I loved the nods to Peter Pan and could draw links back to Lord of the Flies. And how, in a way, when we first meet Riley and Oliver, their relationship reminded me of another favourite book of mine (IYKYK). The sense of foreboding is exquisite. You can taste the menace in the air. It gave me goosebumps, and I was there for it 100%. All in all, an unforgettable story from a writer at the top of her game. Chock-full of heartfelt emotion, packed to the gills with atmosphere and foreboding, and utterly gorgeous from the first word to the very last. Some books change you. This one changed me. Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Nowhere Burning. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward was published in the UK by Viper Books on 19th February 2026 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Catriona Ward was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in the US, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen and Morocco. She read English at the University of Oxford and spent several years working as an actor in New York. When she returned to the UK she worked on her first novel while writing for a human rights foundation, then took an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Her first novel, Rawblood, was published in 2015 and won the August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel in 2016. She won again in 2018 for Little Eve, which also won the prestigious Shirley Jackson Award. In 2021 she published her bestselling novel The Last House on Needless Street, which was both a Richard and Judy Book Club and BBC Two Between the Covers Book Club pick. It was awarded the August Derleth Award in 2022, making Ward the only woman to prize three times. She was shortlisted again for her fourth novel, Sundial, in 2023. Her fifth novel, Looking Glass Sound, was shortlisted the Fingerprint Genre-Busting Book of the Year in 2024. Her next novel, Nowhere Burning, will be published by Viper in 2026.