Fellside

M.R. Carey
Orbit

Fellside is a maximum security prison on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. It's not the kind of place you'd want to end up. But it's where Jess Moulson could be spending the rest of her life.
It's a place where even the walls whisper.
And one voice belongs to a little boy with a message for Jess.
Will she listen?

Over the years I've read quite a lot of Carey's writing. I liked his Lucifer series and his run on Hellblazer was fun and I worked my way through a couple of books of Unwritten before lack of funds put a stop to my graphic novel buying. Of his novels I think I've read them all; the Felix Castor books were enjoyable but a little too Constantine and 'The Girl With All The Gifts' was a worthy successor to the apocalyptic proclivities of the two Johns (Wyndham and Christopher).

This time out Carey has condemned us all to prison, a women's prison on the Yorkshire moors where newly convicted child killer, Jess Moulson, has started to see and hear the one person who absolutely cannot be there, the little boy she accidentally burned to death whilst in a heroin stupor.

'Fellside' is a dark and unforgiving book that sometimes feels just a little too soap opera for it's own good. The prisoner hierarchy has a whiff of a certain Australian prison show about it and the less 'conventional' aspects of what's going on with Jess aren't explored anywhere near deeply enough for my liking.

When it's on game though it's an engaging read that uses a pretty intense premise to explore guilt and redemption without leaving you too emotionally drained.

Buy it here - Fellside