In Which Isles Jumps The Shark

I'm not a big mystery suspense reader, but I've been on a Greg Iles binge in the past five weeks. "Sleep No More" is my sixth in a row. I really love the books. They're all set in the same universe, in Mississippi or New Orleans, and you start to feel like if you woke up tomorrow morning in Natchez, you'd head right over to the Trace, and if you were in New Orleans, no problem locating the FBI field office on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Some minor characters in one book become major characters in another, or vice versa. They are tightly, even dizzingly plotted, even if sometimes someone is about to do something so eyepoppingly stupid you want to yell out "hey! Little blonde cheerleader! Do NOT open that back door to see if someone's really out there! For God's sake, you're babysitting!!!" You can forgive that, though. Shakespeare let Julius Caesar leave the house and head over to the Roman Senate on the Ides of March, and we know how THAT turned out.

Then comes Sleep No More.

John Waters - the name made me giggle, which wasn't an auspicious start - is a happily married oil man with a seven year old daughter and an antebellum mansion. He spots a gorgeous woman at his daughter's soccer game, so gorgeous she just about drops him in his tracks, and next you know she's hunting him down like he's a six point buck. Once everybody has their clothes off she tells him that she's actually his old college girlfriend. Yes, that would be the college girlfriend who tried to kill him, OK tried to kill him twice. Problem is, old girlfriend herself has been dead for the past ten years, and the heavenly body she is supposed to be inhabiting now is ten years younger than hers would have been. Things Happen. As people tend to end up doing when Things Happen, Waters finds himself telling the whole story to a lawyer, who advises him to ignore the supernatural, Fringe-like explanation and find the logical one. And you keep listening, waiting for it to unfold, confident that a skillful, solid storyteller like Iles who has steered you around so many corners isn't going to leave you in this narrative ditch he's driven you into. Alas, even the words "logical explanation" never turn up again. I actually trudged through to the end hoping it would all be explained, all the way up until I got to "Audible hopes you have enjoyed". It just never happened.

And then, as others have noted, there are the sex scenes. Now, I like a good sex scene as much as the next person, and they're the best written parts of the book - but I started wanting to fast forward through them. They are actually critical to the story, but they just go on and on and on and then they keep happening over and over again. It becomes as dull as a character who keeps recounting trips to the supermarket, describing the size and the color of every item they put into their shopping cart at the supermarket, and in what order, and the problem is, they're going shopping every single day.

And now the absolute worst: the narrator. He is fine with male voices, but the adult women have the same silly falsetto voice as the seven year old girl. They all come off as mindless, pouting little brats.

Now you! Put that book credit right back in your wallet and run, run away!

31 people found this helpful

Please, No More!

I am a Greg Iles fan. However, I did not enjoy this book, Sleep No More, and was very disappointed. This book could be summed up as a supernatural sex thriller. Although the premise was intriguing, the heavy reliance on way too many explicit sex scenes took away from the suspense and flow of the plot. It made me wonder if Iles was practicing for a short story in a smut magazine.

17 people found this helpful

OMG

This is a story best not written much less listened to. Were you serious when you wrote this book Mr. Iles? I kept waiting for a punch line. Dick Hill is an excellent narrator but the panting and gasping presented by him in representing a female during orgasm is just too much. Sorry but this book is AWFUL.

11 people found this helpful

Just Plain Bad

When I came across this Greg Iles title, I was expecting more of his suspenceful and enjoyable storytelling. "Sleep No More" was, however, a serious disappointment. The premise was completely ridiculous, totally unbelieveable, and there were way too many sex scenes. I kept waiting for the story to re-enter the realm of the plausible, but it never did. This book is a complete waste of your time and money.

13 people found this helpful

Epic FAIL

What happened Iles? I normally love your stories but this one was WAY off your thriller rails. From beginning to end this was a complete derailment. I usually love the believability of your writing but this supernatural story was just weird. If you would have ended it differently - with Lily and Cole having played Waters from the beginning, instead of sticking to the supernatural theme, THAT would have saved this book. Instead. your ending was AWFUL and I’m left wishing I’d never spent one minute in this garbage.

2 people found this helpful

Escape the Real World

What did you love best about Sleep No More?

I'm a big Greg Iles & Dick Hill fan. I loved that I was able to escape the real world for a few hours.

Would you recommend Sleep No More to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend this book to my friends that read mystery thriller fiction.

Have you listened to any of Dick Hill’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I am constantly amazed at the range of voices Dick Hill uses. I actually visualize the characters when he changes voices. I never feel as though Mr. Hill is just reading the book. He puts a lot of effort into his performances.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I will always think about this book when I see a woman [or girl] twisting her hair around a finger. Is she fighting the other woman within her?

Any additional comments?

The premise of this book is quite creepy. There were points in the book I felt nauseous and had to stop listening for awhile! The fact I couldn't stop listening or thinking about the book, brought me back to listening to the end. I wouldn't say this was a great book but it certainly allowed escape from reality for a few hours.

2 people found this helpful

Another winner by Greg Iles

I read this book solely because I had just finished "Third Degreee" and was left wishing I had more of the story. I thought choosing the same author was a good alternative strategy, and I was not disappointed. Good suspense, a little supernatural intrigue, a la Stephen King. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

7 people found this helpful

Unbelievable Paranormal erotica -skip this one

I kept thinking “this couldn’t possibly be the actual storyline “”. Unfortunately it was. I’ve read nearly all of this authors books and loved them all. I don’t know why he decided to change his style. Don’t listen to this audiobook without headphones. I skipped through most of the cheesy soft core porn parts.

1 person found this helpful

Dick Hill is an outstanding narrator

I didn't care for this book. The plot was pretty far fetched. The ending didn't hold up to the other Greg Iles books.

3 people found this helpful

Iles does it again.

Don't listen to the prudes and naysayers with the negative reviews. I have read and listened to all of the Greg Iles books and they all have one thing in common. They are all outstanding. This one is quite different then his other thrillers, but its a seriously well written page turner. There is a lot of sex in it, but it really adds to the story line by creating a near taboo aura. If your a Stephen King fan then you'll love this!

4 people found this helpful