I have been reading Charlie Huston’s novels for a few years now, and I have never come across one that I didn’t like. He sucked me in with his five-part series of vampire case files involving the no-hold-barred character of Joe Pitt, starting with Already Dead. I also fell in love with The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death. His new novel, Sleepless, is more serious and more personal that I would have expected. It dwells in the horror of not knowing what the future holds for humanity, and how the effects of what is going on today can actually snowball into a very dark future.
In Sleepless, Parker Hass, a former philosophy student turned undercover cop tries to make the world a better place for his wife and daughter as an undercover dealer, deep within the world of organized drugs. The world is falling apart, and a new epidemic, the sleep plague, has been spreading across the country. Many helpless people who are plagued with insomnia are trying to find a way to cure the disorder. Since there seems to be no cure, many are resorting to illegal drugs. One drug, Dreamer, which seems to be the only cure, is being illegally traded and sold to many with the sleepless disorder. After years of getting nowhere trying to find the source of Dreamer, Parker finally gets a lead that brings him face to face with one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies which is behind the manufacture of the drug. There is a dark secret behind the drug, its creator, its use and its side effects. Parker will have to risk all to find the truth and expose the truth in hope of a better future.
Huston’s books are usually a fairly easy read. However, Sleepless is a bit more challenging in the protagonist’s vocabulary and in his philosophical musings. The reader must follow closely or risk becoming lost. Parker Hass is a big thinker and in the middle of all the action, will drift off topic to describe details, what is going on in his life and how it relates to something else. It is a book that makes you think; a book that requires your full attention.
Sleepless is very personal to author Charlie Huston as the character of Parker Hass is said to be a lot like Huston himself. While living in New York, married, having his first child and his career on the rise, Huston wrote this book thinking of how he could make the world a better place for his family. They eventually moved to L.A. where he finished the novel and added a lot about this country’s cultural and social issues. The book has a very personal touch, but it also brings politics into the picture, not to proselytize, but to critique what politics is doing to the country. This is a warning of the worst that can happen.
Overall, Sleepless is a challenging read, but well worth the effort. The story and concept are great, and the writing is very detailed and philosophical. Truthfully, I did not understand everything that was happening upon my first read. I had to reread a few chapters to get back on track. It is probably one of the most detailed and well-conceived books I ever have read. It is a tough read, but one that opened my eyes to what happens behind closed doors, and to things the normal people never experience.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
