The first Tom Thorne book, a new entry in to the crowded market of gritty and troubled detectives.

If you like Rebus, and you want a London based equivalent then you may just have found it.

A dark crime novel with an interesting premise. There is a killer on the loose, and he's made a mistake, with his fourth victim left alive. Or has he? The killer's MO is unusual, he appears to be using a difficult manipulation of the neck which is intended to block blood flow to the brain, with the intention of leaving his victims paralysed and trapped in a nightmare world of their own mind.

As an indication of how much I've enjoyed the first book in the series I've gone on the read all the following novels. It is worth noting that the books have got better as time has gone on. Billingham's handling, especially of the complex endings of the stories where several things might be going on at once has especially improved. But this book is a good place to start, especially in order to learn the beginnings of the central character. ( )

First in DI Tom Thorne series ( )

Sleepyhead is popular crime fiction, with little added to make it fresh. That said, the plot has what makes a successful crime thriller in spades - jaded detectives, a love tangent, an undisclosed killer and plenty of twists. The killer isn't revealed until the end and there are plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing (although it's not impossible to work it out). That's all standard though, and what makes Sleepyhead a little smarter is that the crime is a fresh angle. Billingham's twisting tale is at times difficult to follow due to the anonymity of several chapters to keep the reader in the dark, however it is a requirement of the approach of the story. Solid and entertaining. ( )

If I remember correctly, I got the recommendation for this book from the comments on a post about mystery novels on Tod Goldberg's blog. If I weren't terminally (lazy) busy, I'd go check out who recommended it, and find out if they have other recommendations, because they obviously have taste that matches mine.

Tom Thorne is a police detective whose unorthodox methods and insubordination would have gotten him fired long ago if he didn't consistently solve cases. His latest case is pushing even his limits.

It's a serial killer with a twist--the twist being that the one woman who survived was the success, not the failure. See, our killer's purpose is to invoke locked-in syndrome, leaving his victims in what he believes to be the perfect state: physically paralyzed, mentally aware. No pesky details to deal with, all bodily needs taken care of by someone else, they can just relax and be.

As Tom closes in on the killer, he spends time with the survivor and her doctor, and begins a romantic relationship with the doctor--a relationship which is threatened as his investigation points him to her long-term friend.

I'm not sure if I was relating too closely to Dr. Coburn, but that was the one thing that bugged me about this story--I wasn't clear on why Tom focused on the friend, and it seemed to me as it did to Anne that his pursuit was more about jealousy than police work.

It was clear at the end, though, and was more than made up for by the chapters written from the surviving victim's point of view, which were a wonderful blend of chilling and amusing.

I do have to address one complaint from the Amazon reviews. Yes, it's a British book. The author is British. It takes place in London. Why, then, are they shocked, surprised, and upset that there are British slang, TV shows, etc. in the book? I've never been to England, and I had no trouble understanding. Insert rant here about expectations of cultural homogeneity.

Billingham's next book, Scaredy Cat, is on my to-be-bought list. ( )

Great mystery, the only reason I gave 3 stars was the fact that I'm not a big fan of British fiction. It took me about 1/4 of the book to get used to the British slang; after that I enjoyed the book and it had a really good ending. ( )

This is the first book in the Tom Thorne series, and a cracking good read it is too! Someone is murdering young females, and Tom Thorne (a grisly, bad-tempered but warm-hearted detective) is tasked with finding out who is responsible.

The book throws some genuine red herrings at the reader and the action keeps you turning the pages. On the one hand I couldn't wait to finish the book, but on the other hand I never wanted it to end.

The final denouement was a complete surprise to me, which is always nice to have happen, as I have a tendancy to guess the perpetrators in many whodunnits.

This is a fantastic start to an excellent series of books. ( )

Sleepyhead is one of the best debut crime novels I have read in recent years. The plot is original and very compelling. Shadows of a motive are given all the way throughout the book; along with insights into what the killer wants, and a hint or two about why he wants this. But Billingham doesn’t fully disclose the killer’s motivations until the end.

Detective Inspector Tom Thorne is confronted with a serial killer whose aim is not to "kill" but render his victims powerless to move or speak, yet remain fully conscious – in medical parlance, ‘locked-in syndrome’. So far, he has had one "success," Allison Willetts, who is under the care of neurologist, Anne Coburn. Thorne becomes dead certain he has the killer identified, but has no proof. Things become awkward indeed, when the suspect turns out to be a life-long friend of Dr Coburn who Thorne is beginning to admire.

As is typical, our cop hero is haunted by mistakes of cases past gone. He likes to drink, sometimes too much, though he has given up cigarettes, and that is at least original. Our villain is brilliant and knows it, also typical. Still, there is a lot that isn't typical in this story. Our copper ends up falling for a woman who is fortyish and less than perfect, and all does not end up happily ever after.

Allison, a victim of the locked-in sydrome, contributes her 'thoughts' on the subject at the beginning of every chapter, thoughts which are often hysterical and very welcome to the reader in need of a laugh. I thought the addition of Allison's viewpoints was excellent, and helped us feel the real sympathy for her and her courageous decision at the novel's climax.

Best of all, I was actually surprised at the ending, something that rarely happens these days for me. ( )

Talk about angst! Not only does the main character of this novel have lots of it (for good reason, as it were), but just reading this book built up a lot of tension as well. For a series opener, it was amazing. Not a cozy by any stretch, not a quick nor surface-level book, Sleepyhead really delivers a great mystery and an incredibly original plot. Yay.

here we go:
Alison Willetts is a victim of a horrible crime. The same man who killed other women left her with "locked-in" syndrome - in which she is fully alert but cannot talk, cannot move, cannot do anything except exist within her body. DI Tom Thorne comes into the case and as the investigation proceeds, fixates on a suspect. But is the suspect the right man? Thorne brings with him a lot of emotional angst based on a previous case, and can never be certain if his judgment is sound considering what happened in the past.

It is a very dark story, although it has its moments; reading Alison's words locked up in her head was one of the best parts of this novel. I would highly recommend it to readers of British mystery series novels, to mystery readers who want something a little off the beaten path. ( )

http://www.andelk.dial.pipex.com/R103... ( )