Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Little Sleep (Mark Genevich #1)

by Paul Tremblay (Goodreads Author)

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 363 ratings · 78 reviews

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.

C...more

288 pages

Published March 3rd 2009 by Holt Paperbacks (first published January 1st 2009)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

Boston Book Festival 2009

44th out of 92 books — 18 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 656)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 22, 2009 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: noirboiled

The Little Sleep might as well come with a questionnaire stapled to its cover asking you to compare it to The Big Sleep, so I will oblige the marketing campaign by looking for connections: The settings have little in common (1930s Los Angeles vs. 2000s Boston), and there is a superficial plot connection (a daughter or two with a powerful father, pornography, and blackmail figure in the events of both books). But when you come to the novels' protagonists, things get interesting. The most obvious...more The Little Sleep might as well come with a questionnaire stapled to its cover asking you to compare it to The Big Sleep, so I will oblige the marketing campaign by looking for connections: The settings have little in common (1930s Los Angeles vs. 2000s Boston), and there is a superficial plot connection (a daughter or two with a powerful father, pornography, and blackmail figure in the events of both books). But when you come to the novels' protagonists, things get interesting. The most obvious connection between Philip Marlowe and Mark Genevich is their preferred mode of communication: sarcasm. In general, the writing style of author Paul Tremblay is almost a parody of Raymond Chandler's hardboiled voice: the world-weary wisecracks and noir metaphors (categories that sometimes overlap) come in an unrelenting stream. There are so many of these touches in The Little Sleep that some are bound to fall flat, but the novel's strategy is to overwhelm: Readers will barely have time to smile or roll their eyes at a writerly flourish before the next one comes along.

The important thing, though, is that The Little Sleep deals with more than solving a mystery and cracking wise, as did The Big Sleep before it. As a writer of mysteries, Raymond Chandler was plain awful. Critics excuse (and sometimes even praise) his convoluted plot lines because the critics are dazzled by the creation of Philip Marlowe, who ranks as perhaps the most fascinating character in the history of the detective genre (Sherlock Holmes notwithstanding). Similarly, the real attraction of The Little Sleep is Mark Genevich. Paul Tremblay's plot is mercifully simple compared to the messes that Raymond Chandler cooked up, but what kept me turning the pages of The Little Sleep was "Mark Genevich, narcoleptic detective" (as he is billed on the back of the book). I had expected that his narcolepsy would be played for laughs, but The Little Sleep is too smart for that. Genevich's struggles with his condition are of a piece with his Marlowesque voice: Like his hardboiled predecessor, Genevich is a damaged man with an arsenal of (mostly sarcastic) defense mechanisms, and he does not give up his secrets easily. So I will read the next Mark Genevich mystery for the same reason that I read the Philip Marlowe mysteries: not because I want to read a mystery but because I want to spend time with a fascinating character.(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Aug 04, 2012 Caleb Ross rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: guilty-by-association

Click the image below to watch the quick Wordless Video Book Review

Schlafly Oatmeal Stout pairs well with Paul Tremblay’s The Little Sleep. When enjoying a book about a narcoleptic detective, coffee immediately comes to mind. The roasted barley and oatmeal with coffee and raisin notes helps me to empathize with the character of Mark Genevich, drowsy yet always searching for the morning breakfast-and-coffee perk needed to keep me going. My wish for you, dear reader, is for less violence and mise...more

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 05, 2008 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of my new favorite authors. Get it when it comes out - I mean it. I can't wait to see what he comes out with next. It had me (and had me smiling to myself) from the second page. This is a great find. Dry, witty, and what could be more intriguing than a narcoleptic detective? That hook on the back of the book lures you in, but the writing makes you sit up and take note - this is no silly, over-the-top slapstick comedy of errors. This dude can write. I love finding an author who - I do...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 10, 2010 Richard Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars

There's Raymond Chandler's THE BIG SLEEP, and then there's Paul Tremblay's THE LITTLE SLEEP. It's funny, the title, on so many levels.

I like detective stories, mysteries. I just read my first Lee Child, have long been a fan of John Sandford, Preston & Child, and F. Paul Wilson. Paul Tremblay holds his own against these guys, and makes the classic noir his own. Call it contemporary-noir, or neo-noir, it's a modern twist, with a great sense of humor. The narcolepsy alone is hilarious, and ever...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 10, 2008 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mark Genevich has narcolepsy in the worst way. He falls asleep midsentence. He has vivid hallucinations that he can't always tell from reality. He walks around and has conversations in his sleep, often fooling others into thinking he's awake. He suffers from attacks of cataplexy, aka "sleep paralysis". And he works as a private detective, which for him generally means taking cases that consist of finding data on the internet. However, now he's been hired by a pretty young contestant on "American...more Mark Genevich has narcolepsy in the worst way. He falls asleep midsentence. He has vivid hallucinations that he can't always tell from reality. He walks around and has conversations in his sleep, often fooling others into thinking he's awake. He suffers from attacks of cataplexy, aka "sleep paralysis". And he works as a private detective, which for him generally means taking cases that consist of finding data on the internet. However, now he's been hired by a pretty young contestant on "American Star", who also happens to be the daughter of the local District Attorney. Only, he's not sure exactly what she's hired him to do. See, he was asleep through most of their meeting. But he has some pictures of her in various states of undress that were left on his desk, so he figures someone must be blackmailing her. Working on this small amount of information, Mark begins digging into the case, but soon he begins to question even the little he does know. He figures he must have stumbled onto something, though, because thugs are following him around and roughing him up.

This book's plot focuses on the bizarre case Mark Genevich has found himself tied up in, but the real focus of the book is the tragic figure of Mark himself. Disfigured in an accident at the age of 21 and suffering from narcolepsy ever since, Mark lives a shadowy half-life of what he calls "little sleeps", and tries to delude himself that he is self-reliant, and doesn't need his mother as a caregiver, even as she stays at his apartment multiple times a week and gives him rides anytime he needs to go anywhere. He covers his confusion with lots of snappy witticisms, but underneath, he's melancholy and often frustrated, and this case only adds to his stress level. Paul Tremblay does a great job of bringing the character of Mark Genevich to life, and arouses a great deal of sympathy for him in the reader, especially since the reader recognizes early on that there's no miracle waiting for Mark--he's stuck stumbling his way through life for the foreseeable future. Mark's condition is sort of a metaphor for the human condition, though, and I know that's a really hackneyed thing to say, but I'm serious. His struggles with the constant neurological urge to fall asleep, and all of the problems that come with it, are much more obvious and physical manifestations of handicaps and burdens that all of us carry throughout our life. The fact that Mark always finds a way to muddle through, to keep going in the face of some pretty intense setbacks throughout the book, make "The Little Sleep" somewhat of a positive, uplifting tale, even despite the persistent melancholy of its main character, and its dark tone throughout.

This book is an excellent new wrinkle on the classic hardboiled detective tale, with nuanced plotting, character depth, and profound emotion threaded throughout. Anyone looking for a 21st century spiritual successor to Raymond Chandler should check this book out ASAP.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 04, 2011 Charles Dee Mitchell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime

How many physical and mental challenges can a private eye face? Raymond Burr was wheelchair-bound in Ironsides, and I remember a self-explanatory series called The Blind Detective. Monk has OCD, and the character in Eric Garcia's novels is a tyrannosaurus in human drag. What's left?

Paul Tremblay has made his hero, Mark Genevich, narcoleptic, the result of a car accident where he should have been wearing a seat belt. Narcolepsy seems to be a disorder that would take you out of the private eye gam...more How many physical and mental challenges can a private eye face? Raymond Burr was wheelchair-bound in Ironsides, and I remember a self-explanatory series called The Blind Detective. Monk has OCD, and the character in Eric Garcia's novels is a tyrannosaurus in human drag. What's left?

Paul Tremblay has made his hero, Mark Genevich, narcoleptic, the result of a car accident where he should have been wearing a seat belt. Narcolepsy seems to be a disorder that would take you out of the private eye game, especially since Genevich has all the worst symptoms, He not only falls alseep, he also suffers elaborate hypnogogic hallucinations that allow him to experience conversations and encounters that simply never happened and cataleptic seizures that leave him paralyzed. In one scene he is unable to tamp out his own flaming pants leg. But the type of detetcive work he does involves mostly searching for runaways spouses or tracking down real estate deals on the internet. No stakeouts and certainly no driving. (Actually there is one exceptional driving incident that leaves you rooting for both our hero and everyone else on the road between Cape Cod and South Boston.)

Then into his life comes Jennifer Times, the daughter of the Boston D.A. who just might have a chance at winning the American Idol style program most characters in the book are fixated on. But then again, she may not even exist, the nude photos she leaves behind look like her but are too old to be her, and Genevich's missing father is somehow involved. Tremblay may feel that his not-so-sly reference to frees him from constructing too convincing a plot, but he keeps things moving with a genuinely likable main character whose best friend is his mother, along with the usual array of goons, crooked politicians, smart-mouthed cab drivers, and a plot where you know early on that people are going to learn things they would rather not about family members.

Narcolepsy goes to the heart of detective work in a way being paraplegic or a tyrannosaur really can't. Detectives gather clues and figure things out, but Genevich has to contend with unwanted ten minute naps and hallucinations, both real hindrances to fact gathering. Trembly has already written another Genevich novel and he could be onto something here.(less)

like · see review

Sep 29, 2010 Hobart rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-reads

Paul Tremblay's debut novel, The Little Sleep, not only sports a eye-catching title, but a premise that's just as intriguing.

Obviously, the title's supposed to get the reader thinking of noir classic, The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler--so one expects the lone-wolf, tougher than nails, sardonically witty gumshoe typified by Philip Marlowe. But Tremblay's protagonist, Mark Genevich, has one challenge his predecessors in the genre doesn't have...he's a narcoleptic. So he's falling asleep, hallucina...more Paul Tremblay's debut novel, The Little Sleep, not only sports a eye-catching title, but a premise that's just as intriguing.

Obviously, the title's supposed to get the reader thinking of noir classic, The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler--so one expects the lone-wolf, tougher than nails, sardonically witty gumshoe typified by Philip Marlowe. But Tremblay's protagonist, Mark Genevich, has one challenge his predecessors in the genre doesn't have...he's a narcoleptic. So he's falling asleep, hallucinating and losing control of his body and the most inconvenient times (for Genevich, anyway...the occasionally seem a convenient deus ex machina to get Tremblay out of a scene).

Initially, the book didn't do much for me--had a hard time caring for Genevich or his problem, his client, and the early chapters seemed a little too erratic. But I hung in there, and eventually, Genevich explains his disorder enough that you can accept the bouncing-around nature of the first chapters. I'm still not sure how sympathetic Tremblay ever makes him, but you do at least start to want him to figure out what's going on--which is close enough.

I remember when I started working the graveyard shift (I guess 3rd shift is the term we're supposed to use now), I had a lot of days where I couldn't be sure that I wouldn't fall asleep w/o warning--in a theater, during a slow after-dinner conversation, on the road(!)--and I recognized the embarrassment, anger and confusion Genevich displayed. No matter what precautions he took, the very real danger of waking in a different place or his body not acting like he intended always loomed large. I'm assuming Tremblay has no first-hand knowledge of the disorder, but he sure acts like he does.

Genevich's path to solving this particular case follows many of the typical hardboiled paths, but he cannot travel those paths like his forefathers because of his disorder. Unlike with Monk, Genvich's problem is never fodder for humor--unlike Monk's OCD, which would've been very easy, and probably very entertaining. Tremblay sticks to the high road, however, resulting in a deeper, probably more satisfying, read.(less)

like · see review

Jun 21, 2009 S. Wilson rated it 4 of 5 stars

There is a certain sub-genre of detective novels that I have always been a fan of, that of the Unreliable Narrator. Something about a private investigator that can't trust his own perceptions of reality, let alone his clients, deeply appeals to me. Maybe it has something to do with the individual's daily struggle to make sense out of the world that whirls about them with little rhyme or reason. Perhaps I just like to see my heroes struggle harder than they have to. No matter the reason, I can no...more There is a certain sub-genre of detective novels that I have always been a fan of, that of the Unreliable Narrator. Something about a private investigator that can't trust his own perceptions of reality, let alone his clients, deeply appeals to me. Maybe it has something to do with the individual's daily struggle to make sense out of the world that whirls about them with little rhyme or reason. Perhaps I just like to see my heroes struggle harder than they have to. No matter the reason, I can not resist drug-addled, psychotic, hallucinatory, or just plain confused sleuths.

I now have a new favorite character to add to my shelf alongside Phineas Poe (Kiss Me, Judas) and Manny Rupert (Pain Killers). But unlike the private eyes I just mentioned, my new found favorite sleuth isn't under the influence of narcotics. He's just sleepy.

Of course, sleepy is a major understatement. PI Mark Genevich suffers from severe Narcolepsy, with occasionally bouts of Cataplexy and Hypnogogic Hallucinations. He falls asleep at random. He has vivid daydreams that seem completely real. He becomes completely paralyzed. In short, Mark not only has no control over what his body does, he doesn't even have a firm idea of what he is really seeing, or simply dreaming.

With these stumbling blocks, topped off with a wisecracking smart mouth that guarantees conflicts at every turn, any vocation would be hard to maintain professionally. But Private Investigation?

Genevich doesn't let his lack of control get in the way of his detective work. Even his latest case, which he takes while in a vivid waking dream, is pursued relentless, even though he's not really sure who hired him, or what the case is about. Not that it matters; with the way Mark works, he's bound to annoy somebody that knows something sooner or later.

Granted, the story itself isn't one of the best plotted mysteries out there. There are enough plot holes and debatable coincidences to keep The Little Sleep from being a true masterpiece. But as far as I'm concerned, the real fun is to be had struggling along with Mark as desperately attempts to sort out the mischief that his own mind is up to.

You never know. Maybe it was all a dream.(less)

like · see review

Jun 02, 2009 Seth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, noir

Tremblay's short stories are either filled with a cold sense of purpose, with short, tight sentences or are warm and emotional. His novel combines both, quite a feat.

The Little Sleep is a novel about Mark Genevich, a narcoleptic detective down on his luck with a new case... but one where he only dreamily remembers the details. It starts strong and stays that way. In another author's hands the narcolepsy of the main character might be a gimmick of some kind, but Tremblay's not afraid to explore t...more

like · see review

Jun 04, 2009 Vickie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I stayed up late (for me) last night so I could finish this book. It's a lot like drinking coffee, a lotta lotta coffee, reading this book. It kind of made me jittery and wide awake. Now why would I read a book at bedtime that would do this? I get more time with books at bedtime, whether going to sleep (or trying to) or reading myself awake. And I wanted time with this one. Becky over at NoMoreGrumpyBookseller reviewed this a while back and it immediately got my attention, made my Wanton Wantin'...more

like · see review

Aug 24, 2012 Melki rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, mystery, humorous-fiction

Mark Genevich yearns to be a hard-boiled PI, just like Philip Marlowe. And he tries. He talks the talk. He wears a hat. He's as hard-boiled as he can be, considering he lives with his mom. And has narcolepsy. Well, I suppose when you fall asleep at the drop of a hat, you need all the help you can get.

Every time I sleep - it doesn't matter how long I'm out - puts more unconscious space between myself and the events I experienced, because every time I wake up it's a new day. Those fraudulent extr...more

11 likes · like · see review

Jul 07, 2012 Sami Cyanide rated it 3 of 5 stars

Being a fan of the noir genre and books with a twist, I was eager to read this tale of a narcoleptic detective. However, describing narcolepsy seems easier than putting it into action. The book kicks off with a great, though misleading opener: the daughter of a DA comes in with a case only to have been a hypnogogic hallucination (a symptom of narcolepsy). Yet there still is a case to be solved and Mark Genevich, our pitiable antihero, is on it. The story lulls toward the middle, losing the momen...more

like · see review

Apr 12, 2009 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: work-review-related-reading

Paul Tremblay started out life in Aurora, CO (making him a local guy from where I sit and read), which is how he made it to my "to read" pile. The premise of the book--a narcoleptic private investigator trying to figure out what case he's supposed to be working on (he was in a waking sleep at the time he was hired and a small packet of pictures was left with him)--moved it up pretty high on that pile, as did the fact that it's a debut novel (though Tremblay has received two Bram Stoker Award nom...more

like · see review

Mar 08, 2012 Jay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

What I liked best was the narcolepsy factor. Never knowing when the detective would be incapacitated or hallucinating makes you question every clue, adding a dimension to the mystery that I've not really experienced before. Very nice.

Plus, after I did some research, I found that the narcolepsy portrayed looks a like like it is medically described. I learned a lot about narcolepsy from this book. Not just the scientific description, but how it would play out for a real person.

The hard-boiled det...more

like · see review

Aug 02, 2012 Paul Eckert rated it 2 of 5 stars

I had a few issues with Tremblay's short story collection, In the Mean Time, but overall I thought it was good enough to warrant reading his novels. The stories in that collection were full with quirky premises and characters that were more compelling that not.

The Little Sleep has quirk, but only in its premise. Mark Genovitch is a private detective, but due to a head injury, now has narcolepsy and a messed up face. He usually handles small-time cases that involve the banal aspects of private i...more I had a few issues with Tremblay's short story collection, In the Mean Time, but overall I thought it was good enough to warrant reading his novels. The stories in that collection were full with quirky premises and characters that were more compelling that not.

The Little Sleep has quirk, but only in its premise. Mark Genovitch is a private detective, but due to a head injury, now has narcolepsy and a messed up face. He usually handles small-time cases that involve the banal aspects of private investigation, something like property title searches. Then he winds up with nude photos of a woman, but due to his narcolepsy, he has no idea who gave him the photos, or why. Throw in a few red herrings, some bumbling mistakes, and pieces of a puzzle that fall into place in nice, orderly chronological order, and you have the sum of The Little Sleep, which amounts to being a by-the-numbers mystery with a sad sack leading man.

Genovitch's narcolepsy felt less like a real characteristic and more like a plot device. He falls asleep when it's convenient to the plot, he has hypnogogic hallucinations that serve only to temporarily confuse the reader like a meaningless aside. The way Genovitch handled his business, it's a wonder that he had a business at all. The premise on which the story draws, that of a mystery client, shouldn't have been a premise at all if Genovitch was even half good at what he does.

After spending an inordinate amount of time chasing a ridiculous red herring, a character who has almost zero impact on the plot, Genovitch starts to unravel the real mystery behind his client and the reason he was hired. As with most mysteries, a series of convenient coincidences and plot-forwarding clues are found. Tremblay tries to tie the mystery in with the relationship Genovitch had with his deceased father, but these sequences rarely worked, and Genovitch's father feels like another prop shoehorned into the plot to add meaning.

It's not like this was a bad story, it just wasn't very interesting. I think some of it had to do with the way Tremblay narrates in the first person, which winds up largely being a series of mundane gestures and general observations and conclusions that the reader had already reached. Even the interesting parts where bogged down with extraneous descriptions and movements to and fro. There were a few funny parts that made me laugh, but on the whole the humor misfires and makes Genovitch look dumber than he is.

If you like traditional mysteries that progress in predictable escalation with all the usual tropes, then you might like this story. I like a little more originality from the stories I read, and this one just didn't cut it for me.

I listened to the audibook version of this story, and I think the narrator may have detracted from the story a bit. I envisioned the main character of this story to be a grisly, jaded man, but the way the narrator read he sounded like a notch away from being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The prose and the way it was read often had a dissonance to great to ignore.(less)

like · see review

Feb 21, 2009 Ron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: beatrice-reading-series, debut-novel, mystery, noir, private-eye

The central "gimmick" of this mystery -- the private eye suffers from narcolepsy, and it affects his handling of the investigation -- could have easily gone wrong in dozens of ways, but Tremblay makes it work, seamlessly integrating Mark Genevich's physical condition with the "standard" elements of the "the universe is stacked against me, but to solve this case I will push back with everything I have" tropes of the genre. It makes Genevich an even more unreliable narrator than usual; at this poi...more

like · see review

Nov 20, 2012 Joserra Ortiz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller, novel, noir, crime-fiction, american-literature

Una de las novelas negras más divertidas que he leído jamás, "The Little Sleep" presenta también a uno de los investigadores más originales con los que me he encontrado: Mark Genevich, un detective privado con severa narcolepsia que habita el mundo en completa modorra. Entre la alucinación y la realidad más pueril, su trabajo siempre es doble: saber si sus casos son reales o no, y encontrar luego a los culpables. La trama se centra en el caso Jennifer Times, exconcursante de un reality tipo Amer...more

like · see review

Nov 03, 2012 Kate Jonez rated it 5 of 5 stars

Explaining The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay with a few snappy pull-quotes makes the concept of the book sound completely convoluted and ridiculous. It does when I’m the one stringing the words together anyway and I’ve tried a few times. So I’ll settle for the movie pitch short-cut. The Singing Detective meets Memento, with a wittier protagonist —and no psoriasis.
The tale of a narcoleptic detective solving the puzzle of how a photograph fell into his hands while he was sleeping unfolds like a b...more Explaining The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay with a few snappy pull-quotes makes the concept of the book sound completely convoluted and ridiculous. It does when I’m the one stringing the words together anyway and I’ve tried a few times. So I’ll settle for the movie pitch short-cut. The Singing Detective meets Memento, with a wittier protagonist —and no psoriasis.
The tale of a narcoleptic detective solving the puzzle of how a photograph fell into his hands while he was sleeping unfolds like a banquet. The details of Mark Genevich’s life in South Boston are vivid and sharp. The characters spring to life fully formed. The author deftly handles the complicated plot as reality shifts. It’s like watching an expert juggler toss knives and flaming torches while eating an apple. As a reader I was at times unsettled, but never once did the author drop the threads and get me lost. In lesser hands this could have been a train wreck of false clues and heavy-handed plot twists. I never for a moment felt cheated. I especially, appreciated the tiny details that helped to pull me into the main character’s world. One example is dialog tags showed up in odd places. Did he say that out loud! Phew, no.
Best of all is the main character’s interior monologue which can best be described with an example:

Aunt Patty limps, favoring her left side, probably a hip. When her hip breaks, she won’t make it out of the hospital alive. Yeah, like I said, I’m in a mood.
She says, “What’s your name?”
“Mark, Mark Genevich. Nice to meet you, Aunt Patty.”
“What nationality?”
“Lithuanian.” Maybe I should tell her what I really am: narcoleptic. We narcoleptics have no country and we don’t participate in the Olympics. Our status supersedes all notion of nationality. We’re neutral, like the Swiss, but they don’t trust us with army knives.

The Little Sleep is solidly on the list of the best books I’ve read this year. (I know, I know, I’m late to the party) I’m looking forward to reading the sequel, No Sleep till Wonderland. I’m also anticipating yet another treat with Swallowing a Donkey’s Eye. I’m hearing great things.(less)

like · see review

May 24, 2009 Trevor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Tremblay begins his book The Little Sleep with two epigraphs: one from Raymond Chandler and another from the Pixies. Both are apropos. The detective narrative as a genre has been played with so often (think Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn) and Tremblay makes a strong contribution with Mark Genevich—a Southie PI with one fairly sizable challenge: narcolepsy. Not only does he fall asleep, but at times enters a hypnagogic episode wherein he seems to function but is actually participating with hallucin...more

like · see review

Mar 12, 2009 JoeM rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-09

Witty. Cynical. Refreshingly different twist at the end.

I've not read much hard boiled lit...but, I definitely enjoyed this addition to the genre. Tremblay takes the reader on a roller coaster of a ride through eyes of a narcoleptic private detective. I found the narcolepsy angle added to the story. Tastefully integrated and not just a gimmick.

I enjoyed myself and at times was a tad frustrated with the character's actions. Not as a result of the writing, but because I found myself in the story...more

like · see review

Dec 25, 2010 Kristin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-40th-year, mystery-suspense

There was a lot about this book I didn't like. The cliched hard boiled detective speak was eye rolling. The narcoleptic detective hook was novel, but ultimately I couldn't bring myself to care much about the main character and every other character in the book was a caricature wrapped in a stereotype. There were some serious plot holes and the ending was ridiculous.

However, it wasn't all bad. The mystery wasn't terribly compelling, but it did keep me reading. I never felt like walking away from...more

like · see review

Jul 29, 2009 Carolyn Watson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mark Genevich is a narcoleptic. He has an unreasonable desire to be a detective and opens an office. He has few cases and fewer friends. His mother is about the only person who believes in him. Unlikely as it seems, someone brings him a photo and gives him an assignment. Unfortunately, he fell asleep as the person explained what he wanted him to do. He is constantly confused because of his ability to appear awake while actually asleep and his dreams are so vivid that they seem real. It is a wond...more

like · see review

Apr 16, 2009 J rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a quick read, which suits me well. It had a lot of interesting chapters (made more interesting by the fact that you don't know if what you read is actually what happens in the book or if it is one of the heroin's narcoleptic dreams).

The ending wasn't particularly great. I think the writer had a lot of good ideas, but didn't come up with one for how to complete this book.

At any rate, I think it is worth the read (it won't take you very long). The writer does a nice job of throwing in c...more

like · see review

Jan 19, 2011 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mark Genevich is narcoleptic. And he doesn’t just fall asleep at odd times. He also has vivid hallucinations, loses control of all his muscles and becomes paralyzed, and sometimes he looks like he’s awake when he isn’t and still manages to do things like take notes so no one even notices. It’s a very interesting concept. And leads to some major complications when it comes to solving a case. Mark can never be sure if what he remembers actually happened. He is missing important pieces of informati...more Mark Genevich is narcoleptic. And he doesn’t just fall asleep at odd times. He also has vivid hallucinations, loses control of all his muscles and becomes paralyzed, and sometimes he looks like he’s awake when he isn’t and still manages to do things like take notes so no one even notices. It’s a very interesting concept. And leads to some major complications when it comes to solving a case. Mark can never be sure if what he remembers actually happened. He is missing important pieces of information that were passed on to him while he was incapable of hearing them. He is trying to solve a case without even knowing what the case actually is. And guessing at what goes in the gaps leads him into trouble. And on top of all of that he tends to fall asleep at inopportune times. Which all adds up to a very interesting story. I like a flawed hero. I like that he isn’t super smart or super observant. He makes mistakes and pays for them. He really has to work to get anywhere. The case turns into a battle for Mark, not just against a shadowy enemy but against himself and his past as well. Mark does tend to fall into self pity but he also uses self deprecating humor that stops him from becoming whiny (most of the time anyway) and you root him on. When I first read what this book was about I thought it was going to be funny. It isn’t. There is some humor, but it is definitely not a comedy. It is too gritty for that. Even lines like ‘My cigarette is almost dead. I know the feeling well’, ‘For many narcoleptics, laughter is a trigger for the Godzilla symptoms, the ones that flatten Tokyo,’ or ‘The photos and film reunited and it feels so good,’ that could tend to go goofy are pulled off by the deadpan delivery and dark tone and tension of the book. It has a noir feel to it and definitely harkens back to Chandler. It has thugs, mysterious women, friends who aren’t what they seem, old secrets coming back to haunt people, witty banter (it could have been wittier but was pretty good), and a smart mouth detective. There were even times when you weren’t sure Mark was going to win. And in the end you aren’t really sure that he did. If you like noir mysteries this is definitely worth a look. I found Mark a compelling hero and would like to see his next adventure. (less)

like · see review

May 07, 2010 Jesse Bullington rated it 4 of 5 stars

The perfect tonic to restore me after The Wooden Sea, this is clever and fast and expertly written, with a likable lead to boot. Tremblay makes writing a complicated character look remarkably easy, and rather than going for any of the obvious gags that having a narcoleptic detective for a lead might inspire he crafts a nuanced and finally poignant novel that is much more than a simple mystery or noir pastiche. In an effort to read a little wider I've been trying to avoid reading more than one bo...more

like · see review

Jun 14, 2009 Louise rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book has a modest goal but it is hard to put down. The detective battles his illness (he became narcolyptic after a suitably tough guy accident) and it acts as an ongoing barrier to his ability to tell truth from hallucination. He is the ultimate unreliable narrator, tough guy with nothing to loose, and child in search of his father. It should be tongue in cheek, but it doesn't quite step over the line -- I think. Fascinating read and awesome put-on of Chandler (The Big Sleep).

like · see review

Apr 13, 2009 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

In the end, a pretty standard thriller. The mystery was kind of compelling, but also kind of odd-- unless I missed it, it's never all that clear why the woman in the pictures looks so much like the daughter of the heavy, even though it seemed like Tremblay was going someplace with that. And for all its attempts to achieve a kind of weird grace like Motherless Brooklyn, I don't think this one ever quite found the poetry of the disease or the neighborhoods.

like · see review

Apr 13, 2009 Erik rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've been looking forward to Tremblay's debut novel for a little while now, being familiar with some of his shorter work (including this year's ChiZine contest winner, "The Blog at the End of the World") and was expecting something that looked to play dirty in the sandbox that magical realism or slipstream. Instead, I was introduced to a down on his luck PI named Mark Grenevich who also happens to be a somnambulist.

I anticipated dark, I got noir. I was blown away.

The layering of details, the v...more

like · see review

Sep 22, 2009 William Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars

a wonderfully entertaining novel, a detective story with the drive and banter of a chandler novel and the idiosynchracies of the big lebowski. it was somethign that tried to turn the genre on its ear and succeeded in part, but not completely. the idea of the reluctant hero is becoming somewhat tiresome, and the main character's constant self-doubt and deprication was something that became a nuisance, but otherwise, a good read.

like · see review

Mar 19, 2011 Dan Morris rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a pretty creative novel, despite a back jacket that suggested a typical detective novel, but less serious. The story is told in the first person by a character with severe narcolepsy, so it's sometimes coherent, sometimes not so much. What I appreciate is that it didn't get nearly as silly as it sounds; the narcolepsy was taken seriously and the narrative was clever.

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 21 22 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (4)

Videos About This Book

Add a comment

Add a comment

Genres

Mystery

36 users

Mystery > Crime

12 users

Mystery > Noir

7 users

Humor

5 users

Thriller

2 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Paul Tremblay

Paul Tremblay is the author of novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland.

He is a two-time nominee of the Bram Stoker award has sold over fifty short stories to markets such as Razor Magazine, Weird Tales, Last Pentacle of the Sun: Writings in Support of the West Memphis Three, and Horror: The Year’s Best 2007. He is the author of the short speculative fiction collections In the Mean Tim...more

More about Paul Tremblay...

Books by Paul Tremblay

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Little Sleep

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from The Little Sleep

“Hope is a desperate man's currency.” — 3 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Little Sleep
avg rating	preview: The Little Sleep Goodreads rating: 3.61 (363 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4343664-the-little-sleep?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312027993l/4343664.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4343664-the-little-sleep?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay[/url]

The Little Sleep (Mark Genevich #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website