The Little Sleep

Mark Genevich is a private investigator with narcolepsy. What a great premise, right? THE LITTLE SLEEP delivers on that premise!

Crime noir, (indicated by that title), with a twist! For once, it's a P.I. who does NOT have a drinking problem. However, the problem he DOES have is narcolepsy and throughout this novel we learn all about it and its effects. Catalepsy which sounds terrifying, is just one of the symptoms:

"a medical condition characterized by a trance or seizure with a loss of sensation and consciousness accompanied by rigidity of the body."

How does a man, dealing with falling asleep, falling into a waking comas, (which is what catalepsy sounds like to me), hypnagogic hallucinations, (more on that later), solve mysteries? You'll show more have to read this to find out!

Not going to lie, at first Mark Genevich got on my nerves. Why does he call his mom "Ellen? Why is he smoking when he could fall asleep at any moment? As the story progressed though, he grew on me. How could he possibly solve a mystery when he fell asleep WHILE the person hiring him was in his office? How can he solve a mystery when he's not even sure that person existed, (enter the hypnagogic hallucinations, which occur just before he falls asleep)? How can he solve anything when he can't even drive? All of these questions are answered with a great deal of sarcasm and self-deprecation.

What was really surprising though, was Genevich's effectiveness. Despite all of these problems holding him back, it turned out that he had a steely backbone. This man is not going to go down without a fight. (Unless, of course, he falls asleep.)

THE LITTLE SLEEP was quite an entertaining read! Genevich was a unique character with depth, and I'm sure some will come out of this read hating the guy's guts. But I thought he was funny and interesting, and in the end? Much more compelling than the mystery itself. For this reason, I will definitely be moving on the next book in the series: NO SLEEP TILL WONDERLAND. I'm already looking forward to meeting Genevich again in the future.

Recommended!

Available everywhere tomorrow, but you can pre-order here: https://amzn.to/39fD2zZ

*Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!* show less

The Little Sleep is one of the most enjoyable and refreshing crime noir / mystery / private eye novels I've read in years. The story focuses in on one Mark Genevich, a South Boston ("southie") PI with one very large problem. He is a narcoleptic... falling asleep at the most inappropriate of time and even hallucinating on occasion. When a minor local celebrity comes in and hires Mark to track down the meaning of some scandalous photos, Mark's world is turn upside down and he quickly learns that the past does not always stay dead.

Genevich is an amazingly "real guy" sort of guy. It's wonderful to read about a detective who is not all... "I have a 210 I.Q. and am knowledgeable about everything from classical architecture to medieval show more literature to particle accelerators. Please pass the rutabagas." Mark is human to a fault and it constantly proving it.

Tremblay's writing is also constantly intriguing. The pace of the novel, once set, rarely lets up and in any other time of my life, would have read this book in two days flat. Also, his anthropomorphic descriptions are always making me chuckle. As exemplified in the following passage, when Mark walks into his office after it has been ransacked:

"My flat screen computer monitor is not quite flat anymore and is on the floor, where my client chair used to be. That chair is huddled in the corner of the room, licking it's wounds. It saw everything and is traumatized. It'll never be the same." (pg. 101-2 arc)

That's just one small example in a book filled with everyday imagery that is brought to life through the author's unique writing. I sincerely hope that we will see more of Paul Trembly's work soon. show less

The Little Sleep was such a fresh experience. Although I don't typically read in the noir genre, this is a whole new twist on the Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet base. A narcoleptic, hallucinating, private eye who can't drive and can barely take care of himself and Southie (Boston) as a bonus? It sounds so gimmicky, but it doesn't read that way. I'm not sure why, but it works! Sometimes I laughed, but I also found myself crying out 'Oh No!' a couple of times while racing through the pages.

Mark would be a perfect replacement for Monk on the network that advertises 'characters welcome.' I can't wait to read more in the series to see how he copes. Great fun. Thanks Paul Tremblay.

Oh, this was fun: a narcoleptic detective, whose work is complication by hallucinations and blackouts. Though my fantasy-loving heart remains sad that this isn't a novel about a women whose fingers have been stolen, I went into it expecting a slightly odd detective novel and got just that. I particularly liked Mark's morality -- his unwillingness to drive because he will endanger other people, his inability to forgive his father's complicity -- because it's so easy for authors to write a bland tough-guy detective who lacks this trait. And, in this case, it makes Mark a more complex and real person. The question of what's real, what's not influenced several aspects of the novel, my favourite being the true nature of Jennifer Times, show more shallow bimbo or sometimes intelligent woman.

I recommend this book not only to regular readers of detective novels, but people who might be inclined to stray into this genre for something distinct. show less

First, I want everyone to know that I liked this book. I got it as part of the Library Thing Reviewers program. I hope there is more in this series and I will definitely keep reading.

The title is a play on "The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler. This book - The Little Sleep - is about a detective who has narcolepsy and falls asleep at very inopportune times while trying to solve cases!! It's a pretty classic detective story, nicely written. I got to a place in the book where I told my husband 'there'll be no sleep for me tonight until I'm done with this book!' which is always a good sign.

My only complaint is that I thought the book ended a bit unsatisfactorily. I had questions. I want to know if some of the characters knew more than the show more book overtly said they knew. I want to know why some of the characters did what they did. I don't want to spoil the plot, so I won't get any more detailed than that, but I just had an unsettled feeling like all the strings weren't quite tied in pretty bows - know what I mean?

It's not enough to make me not want to read installment #2, though. I love this character, and hope to see more of him. show less

PI Mark Genevich can never be quite sure of what just happened at any given time during a typical day. It's entirely possible that Jennifer Times (daughter of the local DA and contestant on an American-Idol-style program) didn't show up at Genevich's office, wanting to hire him to help find her stolen fingers. Since Genevich falls asleep with little to no provocation, he could've easily dreamed up the entire encounter with Times. But when he awakes to find racy photos of the woman, he begins to wonder. Soon lots of people are after the photos. And Genevich.

You might think a hard-boiled detective novel called The Little Sleep about a narcoleptic South Boston private detective would be a lightweight (if not downright flippant) show more tongue-in-cheek take on classic Chandler noir. You'd be wrong. Tremblay's novel is a jewel of a tale for noir lovers, detective aficionados, and folks who simply love a good mystery.

That's not to say there's no humor in the book; wisecracks, loopiness and wacky characters abound. But there's also a rock-solid mystery with plenty of suspense and action.

Writing comedy is hard. So is writing noir fiction. The ability to successfully combine the two is rare. I'll admit that I had my doubts going into The Little Sleep, but after a few pages, I knew Tremblay was more than up to the task. Let's hope we see a lot more from Paul Tremblay and Mark Genevich in the future. show less

This was a hard-boiled humorous mystery by an author whose horror books I have very much enjoyed. The narrator is a narcoleptic detective who has trouble distinguishing reality from dream, which makes it more difficult to solve the case he's become involved in. For me, this was just okay, but then I'm not a huge fan of mysteries. I found the narrator's voice somewhat grating, which made it difficult to become attached to the characters, and the plot seemed somewhat weak, not as surprising or twisted as Tremblay's horror writing has been.