The Sleepless

By: Liam Bell

Many thanks to LoveBooksTours for the gifted copy of the book and allowing me a stop on the book tour!

BLURB

What if I told you that sleep was just a habit? What if the third of your life you spend asleep, you could be awake instead?

Grafton is a single dad who works in local radio, but he’s always dreamt of being a ‘real’ journalist. When he gets a whiff of a story – a Scottish commune whose residents believe that sleep is a social construct – he decides to investigate… something tells him ‘the Sleepless’ might finally provide answers about his wife, Liz, who abandoned him and their son Isaac for a similar cult in India.

Born out of COVID-19’s age of ‘alternative truths’, this commune set in Ardnamurchan, Scotland, rejects societal routines of sleep with the aim of achieving a toxin cleanse, a nirvana of sorts…

However Grafton finds the truth of the commune is much more sinister and its governance thirsts for blood, using torturous methods to keep its followers weak…

As Grafton is drawn deeper into the extreme world of the Sleepless, Liz reappears, and Grafton has to race to save both himself and his son…

MY REVIEW

I jumped at trying to get onto this book tour because I love cult books. I’ve always been so interested in what makes a person decide to join a cult. The cult’s beliefs were intriguing, and it seemed harmless enough until I kept reading. There were a few scenes that made me grimace but that is just because I am squeamish.

This book is told in multiple points of view. It felt a little slow burn-ish, and it lead up to some very suspenseful scenes towards the end. At that point, I was rushing through the page because I wanted to know how it was going to end. So I think this is best described as a slow burning page turner!

You can get your copy of this book here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Liam Bell is author of three previous novels, Man at Sea, So It Is and The Busker, as well as short stories and articles in publications including New Writing Scotland, Litro, and Northwords Now. He was born in Orkney and grew up in Glasgow. He has studied at Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Glasgow, and the University of Surrey and now teaches at the University of Stirling. More information at www.liammurraybell.com or on twitter @liammurraybell.