MR Carey’s fourth novel (if we discount the Felix Castor series he wrote as Mike Carey – and you very much shouldn’t) digs familiar soil as he tells another tale of our very recognisable world with a twist of horror added for flavour. Unlike The Girl With All The Gifts, Fellside, and The Boy On The Bridge, however, the story is set in the US, and this does not sit well initially, at least for a fan of Carey’s very real British horror, but once that hurdle is cleared he delivers another compelling, often shocking yarn.
Someone Like Me is initially a dual narrative, with single mother Liz Kendall (and for those of us on the left that was an unfortunate choice of name) and fragile high school student Fran Watts alternating seemingly-unconnected chapters as the story unfolds. Liz is the survivor of a violent attack by her ex-husband – the book’s opening scenes – and Fran experienced a terrible childhood ordeal that has left her with an unusual ability. Carey is very comfortable writing in a female voice, capturing each woman’s character quickly, and even when they are joined by a third principle he writes distinctly for each, although he is aided by a design trick which heads up each chapter to clue you in as to who is featured.
This is a story of trauma, and surviving trauma, but it very quickly takes an inventive, fantastic turn that does not diminish its initial précis. Carey weaves imaginary friends, Native American legends, and alternate dimensions into some very real issues like domestic abuse and mental health, and he treads that fine line between exploration and exploitation with assured steps.
Carey’s greatest trick is to build an inevitability to a chain of events that only becomes clear once those events have transpired, and you spend the middle part of the book a virtual prisoner of the narrative as it races along, praying for chapters that will provide a means of escape for the reader and the book’s heroines, which keeps you captive until the denouement.
Once the story is over, you want to return to the world Carey has created (fans of The Girl With All The Gifts were granted this with The Boy On The Bridge), and that you want to spend more time in a fictional world is a sign of great writing. Someone Like Me is at times an uncomfortable read but a fulfilling one, an accomplished page-turner as the nights further darken.
SOMEONE LIKE ME / AUTHOR: M.R. CAREY / PUBLISHER: ORBIT / RELEASE DATE: 8TH NOVEMBER
