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|summary=A lurch from one kind of book to another early on does not diminish the qualities in this intriguing and intelligent genre piece.

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Meet Melanie. Not something that's likely to happen, but it's a standard introduction and I'll run with it. If you do find her, it's either in a subterranean cell, or a classroom. Or the shower-room, where she and the other children get disinfected, and get to eat a bowl of maggots – the only nutrition they have all week. All this is on a military base so secure they've only seen a few members of staff – either military or mostly lacklustre teachers – and they've certainly no real hope of seeing sunlight. They are there because of the Breakdown, when most of the world got turned into ravenous, mindless ''hungries''. But these children did not turn all the way. And as unlikely as it is, as implausible a heroine as she is, young Melanie might just be the saviour of mankind.