‘The Girl with All the Gifts’ by M. R. Carey
Years ago, Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite authors, invented a new tradition called All Hallows Read. The event’s straightforward premise simply involves giving a scary book to a friend or relative on Halloween. Though I didn’t do an exchange this year because I have a stack of books I haven’t touched, I figured “The Girl with All the Gifts” would still be a good book to start for the season.
I usually don’t do horror books. It’s not because of the themes — or else I wouldn’t do All Hallows Read at all — but because they often are poorly executed and require more of an investment than a bad horror movie. So when I see a book come highly recommended and turned into a film, I know it’s safe to get on board.
M. R. Carey’s novel is suspenseful and is a great case study in show-don’t-tell writing. It isn’t immediately clear what sort of apocalyptic event occurred or why a bunch of children are immobile in a classroom.
Similar to “28 Days Later” and “The Last of Us,” the zombies are grounded in science and survivors have depth. A fungal infection is what kills and reanimates most of humanity. Melanie, the protagonist and one of the main point-of-view characters, is an infected test subject herself. The story also follows Helen Justineau, Melanie’s teacher who treats the subjects at the compound like humans, scientist Dr. Caroline Caldwell who focuses on a cure above anything else, and soldiers that kill any “hungry” they see.
I’m slightly more than halfway through — I know, I should be finished already — and I’ve yet to be disappointed. You don’t need to wait for the following Halloween to get started or to dive into the sequel, “The Boy on the Bridge.”