Thanks to Titan who sent me a review copy of the No Sleep Omnibus by Paul Tremblay in return for a review.
I’ve just checked my reading log and see that I read The Little Sleep in August 2012 – so almost a decade ago. I remember it being whipsmart and a great read (I gave it 4 1/2 stars in my review at the time) I was glad to re-read it and discover it was just as good as I remembered it. For some unknown reason I’d never caught No Sleep till Wonderland though so it was nice to read a new Mark Genevich novel too. I remembered the first book fondly so that when Tremblay’s horror book – A Head Full of Ghosts – came out I snapped it up and have bought everything he’s done since.
The publisher’s blurb:
This omnibus collects Paul Tremblay’s darkly comedic debut noir novels. Carrying all the hallmarks of Tremblay’s later work, they introduce Mark Genevich, a narcoleptic detective operating out of his mom’s apartment in South Boston.
In THE LITTLE SLEEP, Genevich is hired by a reality TV star, also the DA’s daughter, for a simple job – to identify a girl in a photo. Except she is the girl in the photo, and he doesn’t really remember meeting her. Wrangling deception, intrigue, cataleptic hallucinations and a body that could fall asleep at any moment, Genevich follows the trail into his own family history, and his departed father’s legacy.
NO SLEEP TILL WONDERLAND sees Genevich forced into group therapy by his landlord mother or face eviction. He’s working a case, finding a local suit’s lover, and getting to know his new friend, Gus. But soon Genevich is pulled into events over his head – rescuing a child from a burning house, maybe?; drug deals with a local bouncer and dealer; possibly getting a girlfriend. But solving mysteries is what Genevich does, starting with the mystery of what happened to him whilst he was asleep…
What struck me about the book was that the aforementioned whipsmart prose was, indeed, very clever and it was obvious from chapter 1 that Tremblay was going to be an author to watch. A narcoleptic PI is a great premise and Tremblay uses it well. If you’re a fan of noir, of Chandler (and who isn’t?) then you’ll love this.
Highly recommended.
petewsutton 