Customer Reviews

Sleep No More

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(28)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

This book took me much longer than 24 hours to read, and sent me into a dead sleep many times. The premise is an excellently creepy one, but the book suffers from the "when it's good, it's very, very, good" syndrome.

This is an erotically charged story of possession, murder and deception, in which oil man John Waters bites off much more than he can chew when he falls for the mysterious stranger who somehow knows all his darkest secrets.

Teetering helplessly on the brink of self destruction, he finds himself in a situation where he could lose his family, his best friend and his lifestyle, and he can't trust anybody, not even himself.

The fault with the book is that it rambles and rambles sometimes, covering "key" points over and over, overemphasizing things and explaining far too much. In a nutshell, the liposuction of about 100 pages would have kept the story taut and edge-of-the-seat gripping, despite the fact that all of the main characters are extremely unlikable.

Gripping sometimes, yes - but a bit of a drag in places.

Amanda Richards, April 19, 2005

(Note: For an excellent book dealing with similar subject matter, but in a sportier context, you may want to check out "Walk-On" by D. Mikels.)

Ever since I read The Quiet Game, I've thought that Greg Iles was entitled to much more recognition. He is better than most of the more popular bestselling writers that readers see today. His prose and storytelling are some of the absolute best that I've ever read. After reading the book description for Sleep No More, I was ambivalent about it. I wasn't sure if I liked the idea of reading a thriller involving the soul transfer and its accompanying metaphysics. However, after reading the novel, I can honestly say that I will read anything that Iles chooses to write about.

John Waters is a geologist searching for oil in Nanchez, Mississippi. His wife is suffering from depression resulting from the loss of two pregnancies and as a result, the couple's sex life is nearly non-existant. This makes Waters susceptable to the charms of a woman who, at first, reminds him of his former lover, Mallory, who died nine years earlier. He soon comes to realize that this woman is much more than she seems to be and his affair jeopardizes not only his marriage, but the lives of his wife and daughter.

As I said earlier, I was uncomfortable at first with the idea of the transference of the soul that is the epicenter of this book. However, these fears were quickly put to rest thanks to Iles ability to weave an intricate, effective story. By the time the book really gets moving, readers will find themselves ready to believe anything that Iles asks them to believe. His characters are well developed and readers will relate to them, especially Cole and Waters himself. If the reader allows some suspension of reality and allows Iles to take them along for the ride, I really can't think of a person who would not love this book for the excellent thriller that it is...

You know you're in for something a little bit different when you get a note from the author at the start of the book asking you to open your memory and imagination. In the same note, Greg Iles claims that if nothing else, you won't be bored, and I think he got it exactly right.

John Waters is living a comfortable life in Natchez, Mississippi with his wife and 8-year-old daughter when he meets Eve Sumner. The chance meeting takes on greater significance when she mentions facts and little code words from his past that only he and his former girlfriend, Mallory Candler, knew. The disturbing aspect of this is that Mallory has been dead for over 10 years. The explanation provided by Eve steps us into the realms of the supernatural as she explains that she is actually the spirit of Mallory Candler living in the body of Eve Sumner.

Such is the skill of Greg Iles that he takes this implausible scenario and makes it sound believable. He does this simply through the rational reasoning of John Waters and his friend Penn Cage. It's actually thanks to their disbelief that the concept of soul transference becomes more real.

I enjoyed Sleep No More for a couple of reasons. The pace is frantic as Waters is kept off balance throughout. Facts and events keep coming at him quicker than he is prepared for. The second reason is the fact that it's quite reminiscent of some of Stephen King's books. Life starts off very normally, but soon the protagonist's world is thrown into total disarray by the seemingly impossible. You soon find yourself wistfully remembering when things weren't quite so exciting. But then, the way forward is always more interesting, and Iles wraps things up nicely, still leaving a few of the more curly questions open for possible further exploration.

I feel that somebody owes me [$$]. I purchased this book in the Mystery section of the book store. If I had wanted science fiction I would have gone to that section. I have been a fan of Greg Iles and was thrilled to find SLEEP NO MORE on the shelf. The book starts off great with the protaganist, John Waters, coaching his little girl's soccer team. It has a very authentic feel - as does the description of his marriage, his partnership, and his business. However, very soon there are identities transferring in and out of other bodies - even genders! One of the satisfactions of reading a good mystery is trying to predict what will happen, who did it, why did they do it and will they get away with it. In this book, since logic is absent, there is no satisfaction. Very disappointing.

On the surface, John Waters has it all -- a loving wife, a beautiful child, a successful business -- but appearances are deceiving. His marriage is in trouble, his business is under investigation by a federal agency, and his business partner has made questionable financial decisions which jeopardize everyone's future. Into this mix wanders Eve Sumner, a stunningly attractive woman who makes it abundantly obvious she's chosen Waters as her next conquest. However, appearances are again deceiving, because Eve Sumner claims she is actually Mallory Chandler, Waters' first great love.

Funny thing, though: Mallory Chandler died ten years previously.

So who is this woman? And how does she know things only Mallory should know?

In an effort to discover the truth, Waters finds himself involved in an affair that quickly turns dangerous, as Eve/Mallory displays the same obsessive behavior that destroyed Waters' love for Mallory twenty years before.

This novel requires a major suspension of disbelief for its critical plot device: transmigration of a soul. Once the reader accepts that, however, the story moves along quickly and works well within its preposterous premise. Waters flails and fumbles and does his best to fix the mess he's made by getting involved with Eve/Mallory, even as she seems to be setting him up for a murder charge. His desperation and fear are palpable, and certainly mitigate his at times wrong-headed choices. I truly enjoyed this story, that is, until I read the final pages.

The final plot twist, which I won't reveal here, is so farfetched, even within the confines of a plot that stretches suspension of disbelief to its outermost limit, as to spoil all the good trashiness that preceded it. I read the last few pages and threw the book across the room. I felt cheated. I think Mr. Iles wrote himself into a corner and couldn't think of any other way to give the reader a happy ending. Gah.

Never have I been so disappointed with a novel's resolution.

Oh, and the frequent references to a novel written by a character within this novel which happens to have the same title as a novel written by Iles bugged me too.

Gah.

Oh. Go ahead and read the story. Just rewrite the ending in your own head. I did.

Oh my gosh! The incredibly talented Mr. Iles has us believing the unbelievable. I can see why author Stephen King praised this book, although it is not written in the King style. It is a supernatural thriller, unlike anything I have ever read, but this exceptional storyteller has us believing that it could happen, and makes the incredible seem logical.

Iles takes us back once again to wonderful Natchez, Mississippi, (his actual home town) for the locale of this novel. The main character is John Waters, a likeable, decent man, 41 years old with a young daughter and a wife who loves him, but is unable to make love with him after 2 traumatic miscarriages. Along comes Eve Sumner, lady realtor, to tempt him - in the process of luring him in she shocks him by telling him things only a former lover would know - Mallory Candler, with whom he had an obsessive love affair, culminating in her trying to kill him, before she herself was murdered by a rapist 10 years prior. How can Eve Sumner possibly know these personal things about his relationship with Mallory of long ago? She is 10 years younger than Mallory would have been if she lived.

John spends 2 weeks out of his life seeing Eve Sumner nights as he sneaks out of his house instead of sleeping, returning before morning, then his life starts to fall apart, and he wonders if he is losing his mind, and if his past will doom his future.

The plot twists and turns of this book keep shocking the reader. Our sympathies go out to this likeable main character because we can't imagine how we would react in a situation such as he is in - it's just overwhelming - you root for him to fight back!

Stephen King said something on the jacket about being hooked after the 7th chapter - it keeps your interest from the beginning, but he's right, after the 7th chapter, look out, and by the 11th chapter, I recommend you not pick it up at bed-time or you will "Sleep No More."

I agree with one other reader, however, who found that it ended abruptly, and left us wondering about a couple things... but I will leave that to you to determine for yourself... Thank you, Greg for a gripping novel - can't wait to see what's next!

As I was reading it I gave it a 5 star reveiw. I could not put it down. The ending I felt, robbed me, it was the biggest anti climax I have every had. I think the author thought of the plot but couldn'y explain it away without resorting to fanatasy/science fiction. I wanted to read a thriller, that was plausable, this just wasn't for me. Unless you are in to fantasy/science fiction and all things that can not be explained forget this book. I was desperate to get to the end where I thought all would become clear. This did not happen. When I got to the end of the book I slammed the book shut and swore.

Greg Iles shows his growth and versatility as a fiction writer by creating an absorbing psychological thriller that quickly hooks the reader and doesn't let go until the controversial yet sanguine conclusion.

John Waters, a financially successful self-employed geologist in the oil business is a tormented man. Even though he is happily married with a lovable, precocious daughter, Waters is haunted by a relationship that he ended many years previous. When he becomes attracted to a mysterious woman who claims to be his nefarious lover from the past, he begins a journey that ultimately challenges his sanity.

Eve Summer is a young and beautiful vixen who displays many of the mannerisms and voices many of the intimate phrases that only he and Mallory Candler, his lover from the past, shared. Once Waters submits to temptation and has sex with Eve, his past comes rushing back to haunt him. It appears to him as though Mallory has returned but he cannot explain to himself how she can possibly be real. Therein lies the heart of the story. Who is this person who appears to have returned from the dead? how did she do it? and what does she want?

Since there is so much we are learning about the mind and so much we don't know and can only theorize and speculate upon, the story is possible. Even though it strains the limits of comprehension, SLEEP NO MORE is so well written it opens up the imagination and entertains the reader to the end. To say any more about the specifics would ruin the experience of reading this though-provoking thriller. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for those readers of suspense looking for something different.

John Waters is a man happy with his life. He has a loving wife, a young daughter, a successful business, and all the pleasures he could want living in Mississippi, but underneath this surface is a dark past, a past that has caught up with him.

Many years earlier John was in a relationship with Mallory Candler, a relationship that started off good, but quickly turned to obsession. John barely escaped the relationship with his sanity still intact, and soon after he met Lily.

Mallory disappeared soon after John married Lily, and shortly after that John found out she was killed in New Orleans. Now, many years later a woman has entered his life, one that hides many secrets from the past.

Eve Sumner enters John's life and within seconds she is mouthing words that John has long forgotten, and after their face to face meeting John realizes Eve has a connection to his past, but before he can find the connection a brutal act of violence will pull him into a maze of lies, love, friendship, and the realization of how far someone will go when passion turns to obsession.

`Sleep No More' will definitely have you lose sleep turning the pages to discover the outcome in it's twisted plot. The first fifty pages start slow, but chapter five exposes the books first shock, and then it hurtles forward with twists and turns, more shocks, and more plot twists. A creepy plot of obsessive love, a shady cast of characters, and the small town setting sets the stage for this UP-ALL-NIGHT page-turner that will have readers wondering if they really know their loved ones. This is one creepy, suspenseful thriller!

Greg Iles has been changing his thrillers with each new book, where many authors pick a genre and theme and stick to it, Mr. Iles changes them, successfully! There's no doubt that `Sleep No More' is headed for the top of the bestseller lists, and it's my pick for top-notch beach reading.

A MUST read!

Nick Gonnella

Petroleum geologist John Waters' life is far from perfect at the outset of Greg Iles' thriller Sleep No More. Waters' wife has been depressed for several years, following two miscarriages, and his otherwise successful oil-drilling business is under investigation by the EPA and is threatened besides by the irresponsible personal behavior of his business partner and life-long friend Cole Smith. Potentially devastating though these difficulties are, however, they will seem insignificant to Waters two weeks later, after he has been tempted into the first affair of his marriage by an aggressive seductress, real estate agent Eve Sumner. Sumner, as it turns out, is not your average cleavage-baring predator. She is willing to do anything necessary to wrest Waters from his wife, and she is armed with a peculiarly effective bait: intimate knowledge of Waters' relationship with his college sweetheart, the sexually aggressive, frighteningly possessive--and verifiably deceased--Mallory Candler. Waters' descent into infidelity leads him to question his sense of reality. Is he mad to consider transmigration of the soul as an explanation for Eve's uncanny likeness to and knowledge of Mallory? Or is Sumner part of a convoluted plot designed to unhinge our hero?

The characters of Iles' Sleep No More inhabit the same world the author described in his novel The Quiet Game--Natchez, Mississippi, which Iles, a real-life inhabitant of the town, describes eloquently. And it is peopled by some of the same characters: Penn Cage, the protagonist of Iles' earlier novel, takes on a supporting role here. One need not be familiar with The Quiet Game, however, to enjoy the author's more recent effort. But enjoy it you will. After a relatively unhurried introduction, readers will find themselves, perhaps a third of the way through the book, willing the likeable Waters to somehow extricate himself from a relationship that threatens to destroy him. But saving himself and his family, we understand, cannot be a simple business. While Iles' novel ends perhaps a bit too conveniently, it is otherwise well-written, and it is genuinely gripping. Sleep No More is just the thing to keep readers from resting in peace themselves.

Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece