ONE OF US

RELEASED OUT NOW! 432 pages | Paperback/ ebook/audiobook

Author Craig dilouie Publisher Orbit ah, mutant kids. Can’t live with ’em, can’t just lock them away in special schools as though they’re nothing more than animals and generally treat ’em like crap. Except the US government does just that in this dark and disturbingly visceral story (set in the ’80s), which drips with Deep South racism and fear of the “other”.

As usual in tales about “different” humans, these children – affected by a virus that’s given them everything from wings to psychic powers – come to realise that the treatment they’re getting is unfair, and soon a full-scale mutant revolt is on the way. Picture the X-Men, but with utterly shocking (and, yes, final) deaths amid all the human-vsmutant destruction. It’s not pretty, but it’s not meant to be; expect blood, gore, stomachchurning sexual overtones and some truly heartbreaking moments. These youngsters feel real, and their plight will make you sad.

True, it’s hard to see quite what One Of Us brings to the world: we all know racism is bad, and we’ve seen a million stories about kids being ostracised and mistreated for being something other than normal. But while these themes may be sadly familiar, there’s still enough inventiveness, fiery righteousness and even humour in Craig DiLouie’s writing to make this a worthwhile read. Just don’t expect it to be an easy one.