3/28/2016
The author of word-of-mouth sensation The Girl with All the Gifts returns with a nontraditional ghost story combining a gritty sense of realism with a heady dose of supernatural possibility. Heroin-addled Alex wakes up in prison with no memory of the terrible crime that landed her there: setting her apartment on fire, leaving herself and her boyfriend injured and disfigured, and a young boy living upstairs dead. She's quickly tried and sentenced to a stay in Fellside, a privately run prison on the Yorkshire moors. Read More
05/23/2016
Jess Moulson wanders in very dark places in this overwrought contemporary thriller from Carey (The Girl with All the Gifts). She doesn't remember the incident that leads to her trial for the murder of 10-year-old Alex Beech, because she was on heroin when she set afire the photos from her ongoing toxic relationship. She doesn't remember escalating to burning down her entire London apartment in an attempt to kill her boyfriend, but Alex, an upstairs neighbor, died in the blaze. Jess is sentenced to Fellside Prison, where she must wrestle with the question of her own culpability, try not to get tangled in the prison's internal drug business intrigues, and, unexpectedly, find that Alex, or what's left of him, may still have a job for her to do. Carey sustains an interesting concept at a high pitch of suspense until nearly the end, when the book implodes into melodrama as the plot becomes completely implausible. The denouement is the novel's lowest point, but the path to get there is taut, tense, and unusual. (Apr.)
"Fellside is as brilliant as it is dark and devious. M.R. Carey is either deranged or brilliant—or both. Hopefully, both."
—Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Rot &Ruin and Kill Switch on Fellside
"An intense, haunting thriller with heart. You will not want to put this down."—Laini Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of Daughter of Smoke & Bone on Fellside
"A dark, intriguing read."—Martina Cole, author of Get Even on Fellside
"This eerie tale is sure to hook crime fiction and horror lovers."—Library Journal on Fellside
"A twisty crime thriller as well as an exotic ghost story, Carey's second novel is as hard to categorize as it is to put down."—Barnes and Noble on Fellside
"A fantastic, twist-upon-twist, shape-shifting novel. Gripping, deeply affecting and arrestingly beautiful, it is a haunting tale of raw horror and extraordinary redemption. I adored every page."—Miranda Dickinson, Sunday Times bestselling author on Fellside
"The author of The Girl With All The Gifts delivers another gripping story."
—The Columbus Dispatch on Fellside
"Dark [and] suspenseful."—Booklist on Fellside
"[A] grand piece of storytelling."—Sunday Express on Fellside
"I read Fellside in a couple of days . . . I was absolutely nuts about it."—Book Riot on Fellside
"The next fantastic novel from M. R. Carey."—io9.com on Fellside
"Fellside is much more than 'just' a ghost story. It has elements of The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, and Orange Is the New Black, wrapped up in a supernatural mystery that will keep you turning pages late into the night."—Readings on Fellside
"Fellside builds to a climax that's both satisfyingly worked out and shockingly emotionally intense."—RT Book Reviews on Fellside
"This is a sometimes uncomfortable book in the best ways, and its climax is satisfyingly brutal, ghostly and surprising."—This is Horror on Fellside
"Combines a fast-paced plot with a supernatural storyline that's very believable. Gripping stuff."—Good Housekeeping on Fellside
"Taut, tense, and unusual."—Publishers Weekly on Fellside
"A great read that takes hold of you and doesn't let go."—John Ajvide Lindqvist, author of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN on Girl With All the Gifts
"Heartfelt, remorseless and painfully human...as fresh as it is terrifying. A jewel."—Joss Whedon on Girl With All the Gifts
"If you only read one novel this year, make sure it's this one, it's amazing."—Martina Cole on Girl With All the Gifts
"One of the more imaginative and ingenious additions to the dystopian canon."—Kirkus on The Girl With All the Gifts
"...a brilliant work of science fiction, but even people who never read science fiction should absolutely read this one."—io9.com on The Girl With All the Gifts
"Original, thrilling and powerful."—The Guardian on The Girl With All the Gifts
"Unique and terrifying."—Booklist on The Girl With All the Gifts
"An instant favorite."—Boing Boing on The Girl With All the Gifts
2016-01-21
A woman in prison must fight violent inmates and suspicious ghosts to find some measure of redemption. Jess Moulson wakes up in the hospital with no memory of where she is or what has happened. High on heroin, she started a fire that burned her own face beyond recognition, severely injured her addict boyfriend, and led to 10-year-old Alex Beech's death by smoke inhalation. Jess is found guilty of Alex's murder and sentenced to Fellside, a notorious women's prison in the remote Yorkshire moors. Alex's ghost visits her in prison, assuring her that she was not the one who hurt him and begging her to uncover the truth behind his murder. Soon Jess is projecting into "the Other World" with Alex while simultaneously navigating the very dangerous real world of Fellside. Sociopathic inmate Harriet Grace rules the hierarchy. With the help of a corrupt guard, she controls a lucrative drug ring that operates within the prison walls. Jess sets out to solve the boy's murder and expose Grace, but gradually she realizes that Alex is not who she thought he was, and she may be trusting a false ghost. This novel may appeal to those who like ghost stories, but its success requires an extreme suspension of disbelief. The problem is that most of the novel is relatively realistic and grim, so it's rather a lot for the reader to openly accept the ghost/astral projection angle when Jess begins to walk through other inmates' dreams and visit "the Other World" populated by people's souls. The mystery of Alex does have a satisfying answer, but in the end, there are too many loose ends to tie up. The leaps between reality and supernatural fantasy are just too hard to navigate.
11/01/2016
Following The Girl with All the Gifts, which sold 250,000 copies across formats in the United States alone, this work imprisons Jess Moulson in a maximum security prison that broodily borders the Yorkshire Moors. Even the walls whisper. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
