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Original Essays | November 5, 2009

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The Little Sleep

by Paul Tremblay

The Little Sleep Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Raymond Chandler meets Jonathan Lethem in this wickedly entertaining debut featuring Mark Genevich, Narcoleptic Detective.

Mark Genevich is a South Boston P.I. with a little problem: he's narcoleptic, and he suffers from the most severe symptoms, including hypnogogic hallucinations. These waking dreams wreak havoc for a guy who depends on real-life clues to make his living.

Clients haven't exactly been beating down the door when Mark meets Jennifer Times ῗ daughter of the powerful local D.A. and a contestant on American Star — who walks into his office with an outlandish story about a man who stole her fingers. He awakes from his latest hallucination alone, but on his desk is a manila envelope containing risqué photos of Jennifer. Are the pictures real, and if so, is Mark hunting a blackmailer, or worse?

Wildly imaginative and with a pitch-perfect voice, The Little Sleep is the first in a new series that casts a fresh eye on the rigors of detective work, and introduces a character who has a lot to prove — if only he can stay awake long enough to do it.

Review:

"South Boston PI Mark Genevich struggles to lead a seminormal life despite his narcolepsy, whose symptoms include falling asleep mid-conversation and hallucinations, in this uninspired noir from Stoker-finalist Tremblay (City Pier). When Jennifer Times, the daughter of prominent DA William 'Billy' Times, comes to Mark's office with racy photographs of herself she received anonymously, Mark agrees to take her case. But after trying to contact both Jennifer — who's a contestant on an American Idol — like TV show — and her father, Mark realizes that Jennifer's visit was a hallucination. The photographs are his only tether to reality, one that becomes even more tenuous when he discovers not only that the subject isn't Jennifer, but that her father and his goons will do anything to get the mysterious photos back. Despite a promisingly quirky hero, Tremblay's plot is so full of holes that readers may wonder if they've suffered from one of Mark's frequent blackouts." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"Although the plot of this Chandler homage grows ragged around its increasingly surreal edges, its hard not to root for the loopy Genevich....[A] promising debut." Booklist

Review:

"Well-crafted in a witty voice that doesn't let go, Tremblay's debut is part noir throwback, part medical mystery, part comedy, and thoroughly, wonderfully entertaining. Highly recommended." Library Journal

Review:

"Rejoice, Chandler fans. The Little Sleep is as bitingly sardonic as it is hardboiled. Like Jonathan Lethem in Motherless Brooklyn, Paul Tremblay slices, dices and spins the neo-noir his own strange way and delivers a fast, smart, and completely satisfying read." Stewart O'Nan, author of A Night at the Lobster, A Prayer for the Dying, and The Speed Queen

Review:

"I picked up The Little Sleep, planning to just read a few pages, knowing full well I didn't have time to dip into it. Several hours later I was closing the book with a satisfied grin. The best thing I can say about this is the classic 'I couldn't put it down' and mean it. It's original and different, and yet somehow good kin folk to what has gone before in the tradition of Raymond Chandler." Joe R. Lansdale, author of Lost Echoes and The Bottoms

About the Author

Paul Tremblay has won acclaim for his short fiction, and received two nominations for the 2007 Bram Stoker Award. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, two children, a hairy dog, and a soggy basement, where he is at work on a follow-up to The Little Sleep. His Web site is www.paultremblay.net

Product Details

ISBN:
9780805088496
Author:
Tremblay, Paul
Publisher:
Henry Holt & Company
Subject:
Private investigators
Subject:
Extortion
Subject:
Mystery & Detective - General
Subject:
Mystery & Detective - Hard-Boiled
Subject:
Detective and mystery stories
Edition Description:
Trade Paper
Publication Date:
March 2009
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
271
Dimensions:
8.00x5.40x.80 in. .53 lbs.

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