Someone Like Me

by M. R. Carey
500 pgs

In the opening scene of Someone Like Me, Liz Kendall and her ex-husband Marc, an ex-marine with a propensity for violence, get into an argument about his returning their two children, 16-year-old Zac and 6-year-old Molly, to her late again. As the argument progresses, unsurprisingly to Liz, it becomes physical and Marc knocks her to the floor and begins to choke her. But what is surprising to Liz (and to Marc) is the fact that she fights back this time. She gets ahold of a bottle, breaks it, and shoves it into Marc's face. The wound is significant, but not deadly, and the evening ends with the police taking Marc away and Liz comforting Zac and Molly.

But the events of the evening to continue to haunt Liz for the rest of the night, and not simply because of what Marc tried to do to her, but because of what she tried to do to him, and because of the way she felt when she did. When Marc had her on the floor, with his hands around her neck, Liz felt like she became a spectator in her own body, no longer in control of her body as she ground the broken bottle into his face.

Fran Watts is a 16-year-old girl who was kidnapped when she was a toddler by a deranged man named Bruno Picota. Although she was quickly rescued and returned to her family, she has suffered from PTSD ever since. The trauma also left her with an an imaginary companion named Jinx and a unique perception of the world around her. Sometimes, when she looks at things, what she sees "shift," almost as if she can see both it and a shadow version of it at the same time. Fran and Zac are classmates, and when Fran meets Liz, it happens again. She sees two separate and distinct versions of Liz.

Someone Like Me is a ghost story, but not your typical ghost story. It's smart and eerie, and Carey keeps the pace moving along throughout the story. It's the third book I've read by him, and while I'm still waiting for him to right a book as good as The Girl With All the Gifts, this one was still really enjoyable.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆