Ordinary Monsters by JM Miro (Bloomsbury, £17.99)
A boy in Mississippi whose wounds heal miraculously after every beating; a girl in Tokyo who entertains her sister by summoning clouds of dust and making them dance; a baby in England who glows with a mysterious blue light: these are among the orphans whose talents have marked them out for “collection” by the doctor who heads a mysterious institution on the shore of a Scottish loch. For what purpose? This, and the origins of the terrifying figures who try to destroy the “Talents”, are questions gradually answered in this ambitious dark fantasy, the first in a projected series. A complex, often horrific tale told through multiple viewpoints and over different settings between 1874 and 1882, it is an enthralling read.
