I don’t quite remember anymore how I came upon The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. I was looking for something new, something different. There was something about the little girl on the cover, calling to me ‘Me! Pick me!’ And I did.
I probably won’t be the first to advise new readers not to find out too much about the book prior to reading it – or anything, if possible! Because the way the story unfolds itself, oh my God! – is truly brilliant! In fact, while the whole book was very well done, to me the beginning was the strongest part. It reminded me of a time, when I quietly went through all of my mother’s Stephen King books at a very early age – to be honest pretty horrified by what I was reading, but at the same time far too fascinated to be able to look away, unleashing powerful images, just like with this book, that resonated within for quite some time.
M.R. Carey or Mike Carey is a British writer, author of the Felix Castor novels, writer of 
Hellblazer, adapter of Gaiman’s Neverwhere and current writer on X-Men Legacy and Ultimate Fantastic Four for Marvel Comics. He based the book on his Edgar Award-nominated short story, Iphigenia in Aulis, and also wrote the screenplay to the movie version that is being directed by Colm McCarthy, who worked on Sherlock, Endeavour, Ripper Street, Doctor Who and Outcast to mention but a few.
I wasn’t the slightest bit surprised to learn about all these accomplishments after I finished the book, since the skills I was presented with throughout the novel impressed me greatly and swept me away without compromise. Love, fear and tension have been scientifically woven together into a gripping story that brings a new and refreshing perspective to the genre.
Mitriel Faywood 