The Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Survivor Song and The Cabin
at the End of the World "slices, dices, and spins the neo-noir in his
own strange way" in his "fast, smart, and completely satisfying"* debut
novel featuring a narcoleptic detective from Southie.
*Stewart O'Nan
The Little Sleep is Paul Tremblay's nod to Raymond Chandler starring a
PI who nods off. Mark Genevich is a South Boston private detective who
happens to have a severe form of narcolepsy, which includes hypnagogic
hallucinations, like waking dreams. Unsurprisingly, his practice is not
exactly booming.
Then one day the daughter of an ambitious district attorney and a
contestant on the reality talent show American Star named Jennifer Times
comes to him for help--or does she? A man has stolen her fingers, she
claims, and she'd like Genevich to get them back. When the PI wakes up
from what must surely be a hallucination, the only evidence that his
client may have been real is a manila envelope on his desk. Inside are
revealing photos of Jennifer. Is Genevich dealing with a blackmailer or
an exhibitionist? And where is the mysterious young lady, who hopefully
still has her fingers attached?
The detective has no choice but to plunge into what proves to be a bad
dream of a case, with twists and turns even his subconscious could not
anticipate. Chloroforming the hardboiled crime genre then shaking it
awake and spinning it around, Paul Tremblay delivers a wholly original,
wildly imaginative, gleefully entertaining noir mystery--guaranteed to
keep you up all night, even if Mark Genevich won't be joining you.
