Description
When three people suffer strokes after seeing dazzling lights over Edinburgh, then awake completely recovered, they’re convinced their ordeal is connected to the alien creature discovered on a nearby beach ? an adrenaline-soaked, deeply humane, life-affirming first-contact novel from one of Scotland’s most revered authors?
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**Selected for BBC 2 Between the Covers 2023**
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‘All the drive, curiosity and wonder of his crime and mystery novels ? science fiction gains a new author’Â Derek B Miller
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‘If you read one life-affirming book this year, make sure it’s this one’ Nina Pottell, Prima
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‘The main characters, their lives and their struggles, are portrayed very vividly. I was straight into this, just like a thriller’ Ivo Graham on Between the CoversÂ
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Connecting will change everything?
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Lennox is a troubled teenager with no family. Ava is eight months pregnant and fleeing her abusive husband. Heather is a grieving mother and cancer sufferer. They don’t know each other, but when a meteor streaks over Edinburgh, all three suffer instant, catastrophic strokes…Â
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…only to wake up the following day in hospital, miraculously recovered.Â
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When news reaches them of an octopus-like creature washed up on the shore near where the meteor came to earth, Lennox senses that some extra-terrestrial force is at play. With the help of Ava, Heather and a journalist, Ewan, he rescues the creature they call ‘Sandy’ and goes on the run.Â
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But they aren’t the only ones with an interest in the alien ? close behind are Ava’s husband, the police and a government unit who wants to capture the creature, at all costs. And Sandy’s arrival may have implications beyond anything anyone could imagine?
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‘This had all the makings of a film ? such relatable characters. Writing a story about a mixed-race boy in the care system and two women so brilliantly is so impressive’ Sunetra Sarker on Between the Covers
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‘So readable and accessible ? I was really rooting for the characters’ Alan Davies on Between the Covers
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‘A gateway book to SciFi ? I loved it’ Sara Cox on Between the Covers
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‘A sci-fi novel that is as moving as it is magical and mysterious. Doug Johnstone has hit it out of the park again’Â Mark Billingham
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‘A delicious, demanding departure from Doug Johnstone’Â Val McDermid
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‘Science fiction may be a departure for Johnstone, but he’s approached it like the crime thrillers that made his name, prioritising pace, tension and high stakes ? a plea for empathy, compassion and perspective, and a celebration of our capacity to connect with one another, shot through with vivid characters and a sense of wonder’ Herald Scotland
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‘An entertaining, fast-paced story of first contact ? well told, with relatable characters and important themes making for an emotionally engaging read’ Guardian
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‘A gloriously hopeful story and a perfect road trip movie just waiting to be made ? I can’t recommend this highly enough’Â James Oswald
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‘An adrenaline-filled ride of a novel, laced with empathy and understanding for our instinctual need to connect’Â Rachelle Atalla
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‘Johnstone’s mesmeric story artfully puts Scotland centre stage in a sci-fi drama that is as much about the smallness of mankind and the importance of kinship ? Pay attention, Steven Spielberg! This could be your next film’Â Marnie Riches
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‘A clever and unusual read ? I was on a journey with these characters, and completely transfixed’Â Susi Holliday
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‘Doug Johnstone held me spellbound with this mesmerising tale of wonder and hope’ Marion Todd
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‘A heart-warming, fast-paced, often tense look at friendships that surpass all boundaries, and an exploration of the very basic need for connection and a place to belong ? divine’Â Jen Med’s Book Reviews
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What readers are saying
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*****
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‘I wish I could adequately convey how much I loved this book’
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‘A beautiful story ? it brought me to tears’
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‘A masterpiece ? compassionate, full of love and hope’
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‘An out-of-this-world, mesmerising first-contact story about the striking importance and impact of true connection’
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‘Riveting’
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‘High stakes, high adrenaline and somehow so gentle and moving. This is one of the most beautiful, extraordinary books I’ve ever read’
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‘I don’t think I’ll ever forget these characters’