The Luminous Dead

How it reads

The Luminous Dead is horror (claustrophobic science-fiction horror, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in the wilderness or at sea, in the future, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are survival, secrets and identity. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.