Book Nine 2014: 

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey

I know, I know. I bought a stack of books at Xmas. One or two since. But Easons was open yesterday and it was early and I was vulnerable and out for a walk…

Thus I came to grab a book I’ve read a lot about lately – The Girl With All The Gifts.

I’m going to reveal nothing, shy to say that it’s post-apocalyptic and has zombies. Sort of.

At times it reminds me of Hugh Howey’s excellent Wool, at time John Wyndham’s *classic* Day Of The Triffids, at times Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. If you like the idea of those touchstones then you have an idea of what you’re getting.

The premise is fascinating, the action swift and page-turning and, even if it does walk the ground and ruins of so many others in the genre that come before it in the centre section, you’re never less than invested in the characters, particularly Melanie, the star of the show…

What sets this above and beyond so many others, though, is the ending. There are few enough of them in this genre that are worth their salt and many, many that are very disappointing (how, after all, do you end the end of the world?) but this one knocks it out of the park.

A must buy.