The Space Between Us by Doug Johnstone

I'm delighted to share my review today of The Space Between Us, the latest release from Doug Johnstone. The book featured on last week's Between the Covers on BBC 2 and went down very well with host Sara Cox and her guests. That was before I'd started it so the comments really whet my appetite for what was to come. Huge thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for the invitation and to the publisher for my review copy.

 

The Blurb

Connecting will change everything…

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…

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 …

... only to wake up the following day in hospital, miraculously recovered.

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.

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…

The Space Between Us was published by Orenda Books on 2nd March 2023.

My Review

So, after having a bit of a thing for it when I was a teenager, I haven't really read any sci fi (or fantasy other than JK Rowling and Terry Pratchett) for a whole chunk of time. But, and I've only read four of his books (a surprise to me, thought it was more), I knew that Doug Johnstone was an author I trusted to deliver a good story. So I took a deep breath and dived in...

Lennox is being confronted by bullies in the park, Ava is running away from her husband and Heather is making tough decisions on the beach when they all see lights flash across the Edinburgh night sky before passing out. They wake up the following day to discover they are amongst an unprecedented number of people who suffered catastrophic strokes during the night. Some have died, some are very ill but these three strangers have fully and completely recovered. The day after being stricken down. Whilst trying to absorb this news the trio catch a tv news report about a giant sea creature which has washed up on an Edinburgh beach. Although strangers, the three feel bound to each other, and to the strange creature on the news. And so their adventure begins... 

I've been to the cinema a few times recently and each time I've seen an advert which ends with the line, and I'm paraphrasing a bit here: '...because as every writer will tell you, it's the characters you remember long after the story itself'. I mention it here because, whilst I can't imagine forgetting this story for a long time, it was the characters that really shone for me. Each of them was lost in some way, each of them has been through difficulties. Lennox was particularly poignant. A teenager who has spent his whole life in care with no family of his own, bullied for his mixed race heritage. Retreats from the world via music in his headphones, listening to what I'm sure are cool bands (because Doug Johnstone is cool) but I wouldn't know because I am deeply uncool - just ask my kids. But when a complete stranger reaches out for help, he doesn't hesitate. When she later asks why he helped, he simply replies 'Because you asked.' A lesson for us all there, I think. Ava is heavily pregnant and desperate to escape her bullying, controlling husband. I so felt for her - vulnerable, frightened yet finding an inner strength she didn't know she had. And Heather. Consumed by grief and in poor health, she's not sure there is anything left worth fighting for. Ewan is a more peripheral character but still fully fleshed out, with pain of his own. Sent to cover the story of the strokes and the creature on the beach, he soon becomes swept up in the adventure. He broke my heart a wee bit, actually. 

And then there is Sandy. I never expected to be waxing lyrical about a seven metre tall cephalopod alien but here I am. To be honest, I never imagined I'd use the word 'cephalopod' in a book review! Sandy is an amazing creation from a far off world, full of beautiful colours and lights and an odd but gentle way of communicating. A kind of hive mind, they have become separated from others like them and are desperate to find the others. The gentleness and protectiveness they show their human rescuers is beautiful to read. And the experiences they give Ava, Heather and particularly Lennox are incredible. 

Although this is in so many ways a fantastical tale, it doesn't feel like that at all. It's so easy to accept an alien suddenly appearing on an Edinburgh beach. And that our three protagonists feel connected to it. This, I think, is down to Doug's beautiful writing. Whether he's writing about the stars in the night skies above our heroes when the meteor hits - described differently for each of them, the beautiful scenery in the North of Scotland or the tentative relationships building between Lennox, Ava and Heather, and with Sandy, it's a joy to read. 

Yes, The Space Between Us is a sci fi first contact novel. But it's also a thriller. And a road trip story. And definitely a movie waiting to happen. It touches on the care system, domestic abuse and coercive control (don't even get me started on Michael) love, loss and grief. We meet a shadowy government agent (see, I told you, movie gold) who will stop at nothing to capture Sandy. We see our protagonists learn things about themselves and each other, and reach out to those they thought lost to them. Most of all, for me anyway, this is a tale of belonging, being connected, how family is not always what you're born into and, ultimately, what it is to be human. My faith in Doug Johnstone to deliver was not misplaced. A triumph.

The Author

Doug Johnstone is the author of fourteen previous novels, most recently Black Hearts (2022). The Big Chill (2020) was longlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year and three of his books, A Dark Matter (2020), Breakers (2019) and The Jump (2015), have been shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. He’s taught creative writing and been writer in residence at various institutions over the last decade, and has been an arts journalist for over twenty years. Doug is a songwriter and musician with six albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of writers. He’s also co-founder of the Scotland Writers Football Club, and has a PhD in nuclear physics.