Fellside

Written by M. R. Carey

Narrated by Finty Williams

In the aftermath of a devastating fire, a prisoner is offered one chance at redemption in this haunting supernatural suspense from the author of USA Today bestseller, The Girl With All the Gifts.

Fellside is a maximum security prison on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. It's not the kind of place you'd want to end up. But it's where Jess Moulson could be spending the rest of her life.

It's a place where even the walls whisper.

And one voice belongs to a little boy with a message for Jess.

Will she listen?

Lose yourself in Fellside, M. R. Carey's chillingly atmospheric tale of addiction, revenge, and redemption.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Apr 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781478959786

M. R. Carey

M. R. Carey has been making up stories for most of his life. His novel The Girl With All the Gifts has sold over a million copies and became a major motion picture, based on his own BAFTA Award-nominated screenplay. Under the name Mike Carey he has written for both DC and Marvel, including critically acclaimed runs on Lucifer, Hellblazer and X-Men. His creator-owned books regularly appear in the New York Times bestseller list. He also has several previous novels including the Felix Castor series (written as Mike Carey), two radio plays and a number of TV and movie screenplays to his credit.

Reviews for Fellside

[gkchandler-587869 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is my second attempt to read this book. Having read "The Girl with all the Gifts", and thoroughly enjoyed it, I held out some hope that this book would meet my expectations with another unusual story. Nah. It felt as though it spent far too much time trying to be something that could/should have been told in a short story, one third the length, instead of dragging us through ethereal and mystical interactions for far too long, without really accomplishing anything. I don't have enough patience to wait until the end to see whether the journey was worthwhile.

[brittaniethekid · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It started out interesting but as more characters and plots were added, it got messy. I only cared about Alex and Jess' story - the other characters were either too difficult to like or just weren't interesting. About halfway through, I started skipping chapters because they centered around specific characters. This book could have been half as long.

[usuallee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very solid supernatural thriller. It's a slow burn for sure, a bit slow to start, but the writing is excellent so I remained interested. It's quite vivid, too. Some credit for that goes to the audiobook narrator, Finty Williams, who's excellent. I was a bit fuzzy on how some of the plot particulars came about, but it's entirely possible my mind wandered during some crucial exposition. Couple of nice twists and a satisfying conclusion. Good read, especially for the weeks leading up to Halloween.

[ncdonnas · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Spooky and disturbing but beautifully written and haunting.

[bookishtexpat · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was terrifying and horrific and utterly disturbing...and also so enthralling. I was sucked in to the story of the prison and Jess, and I thought Carey did a great job weaving the supernatural/paranormal into the realistic world. The story is twisty and turny and it took me a while to understand what was happening, which is always a good thing in my book.

[stephanie_m-868484 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant. A definite must read book. Highly recommended.

[crazybatcow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

meh. way too blah-blah, not nearly enough action. and i don't actually care about Jess or Alex or the women in prison. Don't care if they all OD on heroin, or set themselves on fire... book is more about talking about itself than about telling any story. Maybe it is because i don't like ghost stories, and really dislike 'dreams" in stories... this is fiction, it is already a dream state, why are you subjecting me to dream anti-realities inside a fiction non-reality? I really like the Girl with All the Gifts, so thought I would give this book a try... too bad I spent $8 on it, it isn't really worth reading.

[readingover50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What an interesting book. It is hard to put this in just one genre. It has elements of mystery, thriller, drama and supernatural. The main character, Jess, is very self destructive. Even though I want to like her, she makes choices that leave me screaming at her.

I liked the descriptions of life behind bars. Ever since I was young, I have been fascinated by women in prison stories. The level of corruption in this prison is high. I don't know if this is realistic, but if it is, it is pretty scary. The criminals are running the place.

The interactions between Jess and Alex, the ghost boy, are sweet and I loved the way they traveled through the dream world. It added an extra dimension to the book that I enjoyed.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fellside by M. R. Carey is part thriller and part ghost story as it tells the story of Jess Moulson, who high on heroin, has very little memory of the fire that destroyed her apartment, severely burning herself, her boyfriend and causing the death of a 10 year old neighbour, Alex Beech. After being found guilty of Alex’s murder, she is sent to Fellside, a woman’s prison. She connects with the ghost of Alex in Fellside and he insists that she did not kill him but that a “nasty” girl did the deed. In order to relieve her guilt she tries to uncover what actually happened on the night of the fire.

Meanwhile, Fellside is rife with corruption, violence and drugs. The woman who runs the prison is a sociopathic inmate whose right hand man is one of the head guards, she also has a group of hardened women prisoners who act as her enforcers. Jess finds herself trapped and fighting for her life against this group as she works toward her redemption. She also find that things are very different from what she first thought and that the ghost of Alex may not be exactly what she thought he was.

There is a certain amount of acceptance of the supernatural that is required in order to fully buy into this story but for me, I found this tense and unusual thriller a very good read. Fellside has a very grim, realistic atmosphere so the sudden shifts into the supernatural was like jumping into a cold shower. As Jess and Alex navigate through this other world they find themselves wandering in and out of other inmates subconscious dreams. Slowly as Jess is able to put the pieces together, the story lines merge and we find Jess grows from feeling completely worthless into a driven, decisive person whose main goal is to find the answers that both she and Alex need.

[tldegray-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jess and her boyfriend are addicts. One night they shoot up and there's a fire. Someone dies. Jess is accused of murder and she believes she's responsible. That's how she ends up at Fellside Prison and that's where she first talks to the ghost.

This was a really gorgeous story about atonement, sacrifice, and love. Not only for Jess, but for so many others she meets. It's about the choice between using people and helping people. It was brutal in many ways, difficult to read, and so very satisfying.

[edwardsgt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Although well-written, not really the style of book I would usually choose or read. Fellside is a tough women's prison in North Yorkshire, more Dales than moors judging by named towns nearby. The story is about Jess, an inmate convicted of causing the death of a young boy by setting her flat on fire and her attempts at redemption. The author paints an authentic sounding, if worrying, picture of life in a high security women's prison, riddled with intimidation, violence, drug-taking and corruption.

[mainrun · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I came into this book not knowing the genre. I know the author wrote "The Girl with all the Gifts." I think that one is a horror story. I did not enjoy the start of Fellside. It was about a drug addict, an instant turn off for me. After 50 or more pages, a little science fiction was introduced. The drug addict went into others dreams and could make things happen. That peaked my interest. It kind of annoyed me that I didn't like the book until something I thought interesting happened.

I also didn't like the way characters were introduced. First mention only the last name was given. The second time the first name or a nick name was mentioned. I jot character names down as they are mentioned. EVERYTIME - Last name was only thing I had on the paper. Soon after, the first name was given. The pattern took me out of the story.

The end was enjoyable, but I never got to the "can't put it down;" "can't wait to get back to it" thing I love so much. The switching from one characters point of view to another didn't work for me.

I am going to read "The Girl with all the Gifts" next, hoping for a better read.
379 members; 3.62 average rating; 6/10/2018

[thedivineoomba · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A woman who may have killed her upstairs neighbor... a ghost that talks to her in jail, and a mystery as to what actually happened.

It really is a good book - a bit long sometimes, but it always kept me wanting more. The mystery of what exactly happened the night a her upstairs neighbor died kept you on your toes. The setting is also well done - Fellside is not a good place, from corrupt guards, to indifferent administrators, as well as drug dealing inmates who run whole operations.

The writing is tight, at times a bit rambly, but the story always moves forward. This isn't as good as "The Girl With All The Gifts", but it is well written with an interesting premise.

[kmajort · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not as good, for me, as her first (The Girl With All the Gifts), but still a fine story. Carey forms her characters well, and plot lines are fresher than most.

[verkruissen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. I was a huge fan of "The Girl with the Gifts" so I was interested to read this since it seemed to be very different kind of story. The story is about a drug addict who is convicted of murder when she appears to have set her apartment on fire and inadvertently kills a child living in the upstairs apartment by smoke inhalation. She is sent to a women's prison called Fellside where she decides to die by starving herself. She begins to realize she is not alone and begins to believe that the ghost of the child she killed is there with her and he urges her to find out who really killed him. If the child was already dead she could be cleared of her murder charge. Thus she begins a strange journey of out of body experiences and getting caught up in a drug smuggling operation inside the prison. A very unique story and a wonderful read.

[ahs7wolfy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jess Moulson is a drug addict and after one particularly bad hit of heroin she waks up in hospital having been very badly burned in a fire. A fire in which a 10-year-old boy was killed and Jess later tried and convicted for his murder. Unfortunately for Jess she can't remember but as the evidence is so stacked against her she has no choice but to believe that's what happened. Sentenced to life imprisonment she is sent to Fellside, a maximum-security prison for women located on the edge of the Yorkshire moors. Deciding that her guilt outweighs her reason for living, Jess goes on a hunger strike but when near death is confronted by the presence of the dead boy demanding her help. Once out into general population Jess has to learn the ropes quickly if she’s to survive. Even hardened criminals don’t much like a child killer and there are the bent prison guards to deal with too. Can she survive long enough to help her new found acquaintance and maybe earn a little redemption for herself or will she fall foul of Grace, the con who’s really running things in that part of the prison.

This book is more of a studied affair than [A Girl With All the Gifts] mixing in elements of a supernatural mystery with prison drama with some legal procedure thrown in for good measure. The characters are not quite as developed in this story with some that are quite clichéd. That doesn’t matter too much in this case though as there is enough behind it all to drive the story forward to it’s climactic conclusion. Not my favourite of this author’s work but still a very good read.

[iira_24 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not as good as The Girl With All the Gifts, but an ok read. I expected more, and was a bit let down by the lack of terrible and exciting. Some supernatural elements, but not a thrilling storyline.

[runner56_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This story is part fantasy, part ghost story, part crime, part legal procedure, part relationships, part love....in essence an amazing mixture that cuts across various genres to create a work of spell bounding beauty. At its heart is the struggle of one young lady, Jess Moulson heroin addict, and her attempt to find answers following a terrible incident that has led to her being incarcerated in the woman's correctional facility known as Fellside deep in the Yorkshire countryside.

Jess and her partner in drug taking, John Street, live the life of addicts, injecting when they can and stealing to feed that addiction....."turning household objects into cash, and then into smack. Junkie alchemy." A fire occurs which results in the death of a child Alex Beech suspicion immediately falls on Jess Moulson who now seems destined for a life without hope and a future with no love. In Fellside Jess is visited by the ghost of the dead child (or is she?) who appears to have a message to deliver and a story to tell. M R Carey's style of prose is sublime and his descriptions of life within a prison environment really bring the horror to life..."The prison's main buildings were tall and graceful, each painted in a different colour of the rainbow. Knowing what these blocks of concrete and glass really represented, Jess felt a weird sense of dislocation."...."She saw what they saw on the inside of their closed eyelids, except that each of them only saw their own dreams"......Jess has the ability to leave her body and travel into the netherworld with Alex, a place of dreams and darkness, a place to discover and resolve..."She felt an immediate and dizzying sense of relief. Nobody could pursue her here and bring her back. Nobody would even realize she was gone. It was like the scene you saw in old movies sometimes where someone left a pillow or a wadded coat stuffed down under their blankets so it looked like they were in bed asleep while they slipped away unsuspected for some crazy adventure."

Paul Levine, a young solicitor, is certain there has been a miscarriage of justice and is determined to return to the courts, with what he hopes is new evidence, and fight for the freedom of his client......he is also just a little bit in love with her. I thought the relationship between Levine and a physically and emotionally scarred Jess sprung to life in the hands of the author. When her past lover John Street is forced to give evidence the scene is set for some amazing revelations and charged emotions, that will bring a tear to all but the most hardened of readers!.

All her life had been a struggle; mother Paula and her useless partner Barry, a world addicted to heroin and finally the harsh and brutal regime of Fellside. Not often does a story affect or move me in such a way with a conclusion difficult to read but so right in the overall context of this tour de force! I will certainly be reading Carey's bestseller "The Girl with all the Gifts" as it is such a pleasure to be in the company of a writer so in control of his craft and his ability to create and weave a magical story. Highly Recommended!

[tootstorm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A different beast than M.R. Carey’s previous novel — the wonderful 2014 zombie-drama, the Girl with All the Gifts — Fellside takes a far more introspective and personal direction. Advertised as a ghost story, the horror of Fellside increasingly bleeds into the background, leaving room for a story of crushing guilt, identity, empathy — and an exposé on privatized prisons.

[N.B. This review includes images, and was formatted for my site, dendrobibliography -- located here.]

Jess Moulson’s life climaxes in a loss of control; as heroin addiction and an abusive, enabling partner extend themselves too far, she loses herself in an act of violence while overdosing. She sets fire to all the memories she has of her partner in hopes of removing the negative influences on her life, but the fire immediately spreads to the house as she passes out amidst the flames. Her partner escapes without much harm, but she’s severely disfigured from the accident, and a young boy who lived upstairs is dead of smoke inhalation.

Reeling from guilt (she cared for the boy far more than his own parents did), she ultimately gives herself to the justice system, all but confessing to a murder she may not have committed. That a boy had died was all that she and the jury could comprehend, and, responsible or not (for there is sufficient evidence casting doubt on her guilt), she felt she deserved whatever punishment was coming to her. Living the life she allowed herself to live was proof enough. She’s sent to Fellside, a privatized, all-women prison in northern Yorkshire run by incompetent, self-serving men....

Her only wish in Fellside is to die, and she brings herself to the bring and back via hunger strike. On the verge of death after weeks without food, she meets the ghost of a young boy named Alex — the very boy she was accused of killing. He’s lost between life and death, drifting through the dreams of the prisoners at Fellside, and he needs a companion and guide in death. Thus, the two depend on one another for companionship, for working through the guilt they’ve each carried throughout their lives. Alex, we find out, barely remembers his life — as memories and the dream-world he inhabits are very malleable — but one thing he does remember is that he knew his killer, and it wasn’t Jess Moulson.

## “The facts are in the outside world. You can verify them with your senses or with objective tests. The truth is something that people build inside their heads, using the facts as raw materials. And sometimes the facts get bent or broken in the process.” [Loc. 201]

This new bond and dependence inspires her to bounce out of her hunger strike, eventually gaining her health back to join Fellside’s general population of criminals both vicious and caring. As Jess Moulson navigates life in prison and her own consciousness, getting drawn into a ring of drug-smuggling and murder, the mystery of the ghost’s killer and the relationships between prisoners and staff slowly unravel.

A staple of M.R. Carey’s — or Mike Carey’s — writing is his careful characterization. Fellside sports a large cast of prisoners and corporate politicians, and it’s Fellside‘s cast that propels this novel forward so exceptionally. Fellside‘s horror is a slow-burn, and most of the Carey’s novel is spent carefully spending time with the prisoners of Fellside, with trying to understand their identities and the broken lives that left them imprisoned in an equally-broken institution. What drives the characters’ sense of identity — whether it’s crafted from a domineering free will or the imaginations oppressing them — returns as a common theme from Carey’s other work. The self-serving men who run the prison are the only characters with deficiencies; characters like Devlin (or, ‘the Devil’) are almost written about with malice by the omniscient narrator, for their main features seem to be their selfishness, or their weakness towards the patriarchal system they depend on. For good or bad, the men of Fellside are easy to detest.

## She saw the women of [Fellside] from the inside, and from the inside they were all of them bowed down by the weight of what had befallen them. They were all on a catastrophe curve, sailing frictionlessly towards this precipice or that. It was little wonder that they were capable of brutality. What was amazing was that they ever managed to be kind to one another. [Loc. 2937]

Fellside‘s a novel of perception: Of how our perceptions can change the shape of legality, of identity, of guilt, et al., of all the morally-ambiguity we surround ourselves with. It lacks the excitement of some of Mike Carey’s more acclaimed novels and comics, but Carey’s none-the-less left us with another beautifully-written character drama, a drama that’s careful with what it does and says, that speaks of nothing but empathy towards its own characters and all the unfortunate situations they experience.

[jjaylynny · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Whew. This is an interesting book, and very different from The Girl with All the Gifts. This was really a prison drama, which is uncomfortably entertaining (see Orange is the New Black, which I sometimes hate myself for loving). You just end up accepting brutality and an upside-down effed up world order.

But there are intriguing aspects to this world, and Carey does a good job of bringing in ideas of what it might be like to literally enter the world of peoples' un/subconscious lives. And the poignancy of Jess' effort to be a good person in a very bad place moved me.

[areneehunt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fellside, by M. R. Carey is a different sort of book. When I found out about it, I thought, "Oh wow, this is gonna be an excellent read!" I jumped on the giveaway and snagged my copy. I also purchased the audiobook, to listen while walking each morning. Nothing better than having a good book read to you, right? Not only that- he's a writer for groups like DC and Marvel comics- you know I had to get in on this one!
Picture
Imagine my deep feelings of confusion while reading this book! I kept trying to figure out, why there was so much going on! I wondered if the ending was going to be sure the "Bad Guys" got their just deserves or not!

This is what the book's blurb says:
Fellside is a maximum security prison on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. It's not the kind of place you'd want to end up. But it's where Jess Moulson could be spending the rest of her life. It's a place where even the walls whisper.
And one voice belongs to a little boy with a message for Jess.
Will she listen?

Sounds great right? But there was so much more going on, it obscured the story of Jess! I kept thinking, why is all this other stuff going on- it doesn't matter! The good thing is, the ending was much better than I thought it would be. I was very pleased with it, but did I think it was as great as anticipated? Nope. I was sorta let down because the secondary story took over the main portion I was salivating for. It wasn't too shabby, all in all. Check out Mike Carey's (M. R. Carey) Fellside. I'm on to the next book.?
Ratings: ???out of 5 specs
*Paper Tigers is next.
**Book published by Orbit.

[tanya8dogearedcopy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A modern day ghost story about a woman convicted of murdering a little boy. She is sent to Fellside, a maximum detention prison on the Yorkshire moors where she is haunted by the little boy's ghost. Though it has more psychological elements than 'The Girl with All the Gifts,' there's plenty of action [And yes, at one point, I was screaming at my iPod, "NO JESS! DON'T DO IT!!!" - so I think it's pretty safe to say I was pretty engaged with the whole thing!]

[altheaann · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After 'The Girl With All the Gifts' this was a highly anticipated release. Like that book, it's very compellingly written - early on in the book, I said to myself, "Well, I think it doesn't really matter WHAT Carey's writing about, if he writes it, I will enjoy reading it."

Admittedly, the topic/setting here is not as 'up my alley' as 'The Girl With All the Gifts' is. I love weird futuristic dystopias to death, and while I also enjoy ghost stories, this leans more towards 'contemporary British prison drama that happens to contain a ghost' rather than towards being a classic horror story.

Fellside's the name of the prison. Sentenced to reside there is Jess Moulson. Jess is a junkie whose no-good boyfriend got her deeper and deeper into her addiction - until one tragic night. While she was strung out on dope, Jess' house burned down, killing a young boy who was her neighbor - and ironically, the only person in the building that Jess had warm feelings for. Although Jess can remember barely anything about what actually happened the night of the fire, the courts judge that it was intentional arson on Jess' part, and she's convicted of the murder of the boy. Along the way, the crime becomes a high-profile case, and she's vilified by the press and the public.

This, I thought, was the weakest part of the book. Maybe England is a bit different from the USA, but the whole thing seemed like a rather typical, unremarkable, sordid incident. Here, a junkie causing a fire that killed someone in a low-income area might make the paper - once. It might be considered manslaughter, at the worst. And no one would pay much attention. A lot of the book rides on Jess' guilt - both her personal guilt at her culpability, and that which is presumed to be hers by others - and I just wasn't feeling it. I think the book might've worked better if Jess had been portrayed as a much more horrible person; but the author is careful throughout to give the reader room to be sympathetic toward her. However, aside from this one quibble, the writing was excellent, with great tension, forward motion and vivid characterization.

Once in prison, wracked by guilt and depression, Jess decides to kill herself through a hunger strike. In her extremity, a ghostly presence makes contact with her - and believing that perhaps she might be able to do something to ease the spirit of the boy she killed gives her a new reason for living... But first, she'll have to survive Fellside - where beatings and even murders are common, criminal schemes are everywhere, and the employees are just as crooked as their wards.

[mountie9_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wonderfully well written intriguing supernatural thriller full of fascinating characters. Really dont think it should be categorized in the horror section at Indigo though. The horror in this tale is more the evil that we can do to each other and how our pain can turn us into monsters. I was a wee bit disappointed only because I was expecting something more creepy like The Girl with All the Gifts. This has nothing to do with the talent of the author, just my expectations of what this was going to be. I was just expecting something more creepy, and this is more of a Prison drama. Again, not a bad thing, just I was expecting something very different

Jess is a unreliable narrator and very damaged, but you find yourself intrigued by her and hoping she will make it. She's oh so very human and her development from someone to be pitied to, well I cannot go into more as that would ruin the story, is fabulous. The secondary characters are also fully developed, no one is a caricature or acts in ways that you see coming. The plot is interesting, with some wondrous moments of true uniqueness but I felt like it was trying to be too many things.

The pacing of the story is a little off, and the story drags a wee bit, but the writing is what keeps you interested. Though I didn't love this one, I will still pick up his next book.

Favorite Quotes

"Clearly there was no God, no justice, nobody at the switchboard. The universe was a badly written soap opera where every plot twist strained credibility just that little bit further.”

"Only our souls were made not out of wood and nails but out of the good or bad things we did."

3.5 Dewey's

I borrowed this one from a friend, and am in no way required to share my opinion

[courtneygiraldo · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Jess Moulsen has been sentenced to life in prison in Fellside after being convicted of murder by arson during a heroin induced haze of rage against her boyfriend. Only it wasn't her sleazy boyfriend who died, 10 year old Alex Beech was killed in the fire, and Jess is overcome with grief. Attempting suicide by starvation, Jess is on the brink of death in the prison infirmary when she is visited by the ethereal image of a young boy. A young boy who desperately needs Jess to find his killer....his real killer. Corrupt prison guards, drug rings, threats of violence and even murder leave Jess fighting for her life inside of Fellside while at the same time trying to piece together the actual events of the night of the tragic death of Alex and gather evidence to use in her rapidly approaching court appeal.

This book was a huge bummer guys. Firstly, it was waaaay too long, like unnecessarily so. Everything that happened was so drawn out and so many scenes pointless to the overall plot, he could easily have trimmed off 100-150 pages and still gotten the point across. Secondly the lawyer and his infatuation with Jess, declaring his love for her after the appeal was over...so over the top and unbelievable. It literally made me roll my eyes. Who does that? They barely knew each other. The ending sucked, there was no vindication for the main character. Like what was the point of the entire book?! I seriously could name like 32 ways to still bring down the corruption within the prison without all the hullabaloo at the end. It was all just so fantastical that I really had a hard time buying into any of it. I think I'm more down with the idea of the out of body experiences Jess has throughout the book than with the way none of the pawns in the drug scheme could think of a way out of their predicaments. The characters were all pretty stereotypical, no real depth to them whatsoever. Jess was the only believable one of the bunch and like I said, her ending sucked.

The whole thing was just weird and strange and felt like two different stories from different genres smashed together to make the book more interesting. Maybe Carey should have stuck with one of the plot lines instead? Nothing about the book was shocking and I saw all the plot twists a mile away.

[brittanylyn · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed The Girl With All The Gifts, so I was disappointed in this. It was full of supernatural themes, and at times I did enjoy it, but overall felt it lacked creativity and coherency.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jess Moulson got high and set a fire that killed a young boy. Or that’s what the trial said, anyway. Sent to a women’s prison run by a PR-shy private company, she’s visited by the boy’s ghost, and her attempt to help him intersects with her attempt to survive contact with the vicious drug lord who runs the prison. Basically, this feels like British Stephen King: a lot of interior detail for all the characters, including the peripheral ones, and details of daily life intermixed with the supernatural, plus attempts at basic decency from a number of key characters.

[martinhughharvey_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Okay, so I'm angry with this book! Can't recall this happening too often but I had such high hopes for this and what makes this is so frustrating is that they were met - but only in part! I rushed to purchase this book, didn't even wait for it to maybe get to my online public library, because I adored his previous 'The Girl ..' book.

The first near half of this book I had real problems getting into. Dreary is bad enough but it didn't seem to have purpose. Then the next about half was spectacular and all I'd hoped for this new Carey book. The conclusion though disappointed me, almost deus ex machina in managing the conclusion. Without spoiling, the good, as in superb bit - IMHO, the author seems to bring real ingenuity and imagination in describing the 'nether world' the protagonist found herself in. The 'real world' trial scenes are excellent.

So, if you listen to yours truly, a qualified recommendation. Will I read another Carey book - probably.

[infjsarah · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Having loved Girl with all the gifts, I was looking forward to this. But I didn't enjoy it nearly as much. Probably because it is more horror story than sci-fi and it has ghosts. Ghost stories are not my thing. At about 150 pages in, I didn't want to pick it up again but I did and it improves from then on and I gulped down the last quarter. But it has a complete cast of unlikeable characters who are all unpleasant and corrupt in one way or another and I think that is what made it less enjoyable for me. It's well written and I found the end satisfying but I'd have preferred less horror and more sci-fi.

[schant-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

At the halfway point I was very near to taking this back to the library without finishing. Up until then it was a standard prison drama with stock characters - the Boss running the drugs syndicate, the Enforcers, corrupt prison officers etc - tropes I don't particularly care for. But then the spookiness started to kick in and it became an entertaining ghost story - the prison tedium still interrupted but I could gloss over that. It might have worked better for me as a novella.