As I said before, I don't read Sci-Fi, but I wouldn't hesitate for one minute to recommend this book. Set in a capital city in the aftermath of a popular revolt against corrupt leaders, this unusual fantasy from the son of Stephen begins like an alternate-world history, with the rich detail and varied cast of characters giving it an almost Dickensian tone. But through connections and understanding, Lennox, Ava and Heather realise the enormity of what they are involved with and the consequences of every action they take or do not take. Sandy is an alien creature and, without knowing anything about it, people have very different reactions to it. The book had me gripped from the first page, it is almost unputdownable and unpredictable in its twists and turns, every page left me wanting more.

Johnstone's mesmeric story artfully puts Scotland centre stage in a sci-fi drama that is as much about the smallness of mankind and the importance of kinship as it is about ET needing to phone home. It's true that I don't exactly read a lot of science fiction, and I'm not exactly a fan of stories involving aliens either. discharging patients mere minutes after suffering massive strokes and potential brain-damage, and quite a few medical inaccuracies that can’t be explained by “magic-alien-stroke”. For some, it represents threat, in others in evokes compassion, friendship and a feeling of protectiveness.The bond he formed with Sandy, that closeness that surpasses anything that Ava or Heather feel, really pulled me into the story. I’ve had a folder in my desk drawer for years with science fiction ideas, or at least ideas that wouldn’t fit into the crime fiction mould. It's not my preferred genre and whilst I have a very scientific mind, it's just not a genre I've ever been engaged by. 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.

This book is also available from your local independent bookseller or wherever else you prefer to purchase your reading matter. But there is a brilliant cast; A heavily pregnant woman, a brain tumour patient and a teenage boy all connected…oh yes and by an octopus-like creature. The unlikely trio have to work together and depend on each other to save the life of Sandy and get him back to his kind. The different elements are balanced extremely well, and this makes the whole alien angle feel a lot less daunting.An out-of-this-world, mesmerising first-contact story about the striking importance and impact of true connection.