The Space Between Us: This year's most life-affirming, awe-inspiring read – Selected for BBC 2 Between the Covers 2023 (Volume 1) (The Enceladons Trilogy)

Product Information

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... One ordinary afternoon on the Edinburgh beach, a display of lights in the sky, the stranding of a mysterious squid and a series of unexplained strokes suffered by bystanders connect the lives of our three protagonists. Lennox is a teenage boy struggling with his identity and feeling like he doesn’t belong. Ava is heavily pregnant and on the run from an abusive relationship, in search of a new place to call home. Heather has lost all hope of ever finding that feeling of home again, after losing her daughter to cancer, and now suffering a terminal diagnosis herself as well. As they criss-cross the Scottish landscape, they are faced with multiple dangers. Ava is heavily pregnant with an abusive husband on her tail, Heather is carrying a terminal diagnosis and Lennox is a lost boy without any clear purpose in life until now. A motley crew, they call on anyone they can to help them on this insane journey and start to make discoveries about themselves, each other and about an alien creature looking to find home. Clever and unusual … I was on a journey with these characters, and completely transfixed’ Susi Holliday

A group of people suffer a mysterious striking down. Some die, but a few, Lennox, Heather and Ava, miraculously recover. And when they do, they find themselves coming together to try and understand what has happened to them. It all centres around a cephalopod they find washed up on a beach and whom they call Sandy. a b "Doug Johnstone promises a dead good read". www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com. 5 April 2014. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019.In The Space Between Us, by Doug Johnstone, an unlikely trio of heroes have medical episodes that defy unexplanation, then go on the lam to help an extraterrestrial cephalopod evade those who wish to harm it, and reunite with the larger organism it belongs to.

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 Covers 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. Doug Johnstone’s writing and storytelling is sublime. This wasn’t some corny sci-fi, this was a story of connection, friendship and family that is full of hope. I really enjoyed the adventure and fast pace of the road trip, as they try to out run the government. The prose was descriptive, capturing the stunning landscape of the Scottish Highlands, and there was plenty of acion on this adventure.Ewan is a journalist who is following the story as it unfolds. However, whether he likes it or not, he gets entangled with Lennox, Ava, and Heather, and he ends up helping them in their quest. This intriguing novel is a refreshing sci-fi journey set in modern Scotland, that reads so easily it could've only been written by a master of their craft. I devoured the entire thing in one sitting, disconnecting myself from the outside world and transported to one so familiar but so strange. blogtour Adventure Ancient Egypt Art History Australia Book Blogger Bookliterati Book Recommendation Book review Contemporary Fiction Crime Del Rey Doubleday Emmeline Kirby and Gregory Longdon Mystery Fantasy Festive Reads Florence Folklore Harper 360 Harper Collins Harper Voyager Historical Fiction History Independently Published Italy Karen Swan Literary Fiction Magic Mantle Books Melville House Murder Mystery Myth Orenda Books Pan Macmillan Penguin Random House Psychological thriller Romance Secrets Simon and Schuster Supernatural Suspense thriller Women's Fiction Zaffre Books Book title Search for: Search Search Recent Comments So readable and accessible … I was really rooting for the characters’ Alan Davies on Between the Covers 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 extraterrestrial 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.

I absolutely LOVED this book!! Despite having no idea what to expect I bought it as it was recommended on BBC Between The Covers; which is usually a safe bet. 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… Prioritising pace, tension and high stakes … a plea for empathy, compassion and perspective … shot through with vivid characters and a sense of wonder’ Herald Scotland

This book reminded me of a cross between the movies ET and Alien. ET because the alien was kept hidden and was pursued by the authorities, and Alien because of the physicality of the lifeform and its ability to “talk” to humans using rudimentary language. I also liked the fact that Sandy was a refugee of sorts, a homeless being washed up on a shore, looking for a place to live without fear. How timely. This book has a lot of layers to it and it all worked for me. Recommended. The story behind The Dead Beat - Online by Doug Johnstone". upcoming4.me. Archived from the original on 9 May 2014.