Publication info:
March 3, 2009 • Henry Holt and Company
5 1/4 x 8 inches • 288 pages • $14.00
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8849-6 • ISBN10: 0-8050-8849-0
Contact:
Author: Paul Tremblay
Publicist: Chastity Lovely
Author Photo
Cover
Description
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.
Clients haven’t exactly been beating down the door when Mark meets Jennifer Times—daughter of the powerful local D.A. and a contestant on American Star—who walks into his office with an outlandish story about a man who stole her fingers. He awakes from his latest hallucination alone, but on his desk is a manila envelope containing risqué photos of Jennifer. Are the pictures real, and if so, is Mark hunting a blackmailer, or worse?
Wildly imaginative and with a pitch-perfect voice, The Little Sleep is the first in a new series that casts a fresh eye on the rigors of detective work, and introduces a character who has a lot to prove—if only he can stay awake long enough to do it.
Praise
“The fact that Mark [Genevich] can’t trust his own perceptions gives The Little Sleep an edge of existential crisis . . . The Little Sleep offers up an interesting gloss on the detective genre, in which the deepest and most profound mystery has less to do with any crime per se than with the enduring enigma of the self.”—David Ulin, Los Angeles Times
"Rejoice, Chandler fans. The Little Sleep is as bitingly sardonic as it is hardboiled. Like Jonathan Lethem in Motherless Brooklyn, Paul Tremblay slices, dices, and spins the neo-noir his own strange way and delivers a fast, smart, and completely satisfying read."—Stewart O'Nan, author of Last Night at the Lobster, A Prayer for the Dying, and The Speed Queen
“Well-crafted in a witty voice that doesn’t let go, Tremblay’s debut is part noir throwback, part medical mystery, part comedy, and thoroughly, wonderfully entertaining. Highly recommended.”— Library Journal (starred review)
"Tremblay does a yeoman's job of conveying his character's internal world, constantly teetering on the verge of unconsciousness. This is a fine debut from a Massachusetts author."—Hallie Ephron, Boston Globe
“Tremblay gives the detective story a wildly absurdist spin, and Genevich’s sardonic, self-deprecating voice complements it perfectly. The plot turns out to be a classic—all about those old sins we think we get away with, but don’t.”—Colette Bancroft, St. Petersburg Times
“The mystery is a twisty one (how could it not be?), and the confusion in much of it makes it never dull or even guessable. . . This is a great new character for mysteries. It will be fun to see what happens to him next.”—Brian Robinson, Anniston Star (Alabama)
"The Little Sleep is an amazingly refreshing take on the standard hard-boiled crime novel. Whimsical and sardonic, fast-paced, and yet introspective and atmospheric. Impossible to put down. The crown jewel in the new noir." Brian Keene, author of Castaways and Ghost Walk
“It’s hard not to root for the loopy Genevich. This is a promising debut.”-Booklist
“If Philip K. Dick and Ross Macdonald had collaborated on a mystery novel, they might have come up with something like The Little Sleep. . . . I’ve never used the phrase “new noir” before, but I think I will now. The Little Sleep is new noir with panache. Check it out.”—Bill Crider, author of the Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery series
"I picked up The Little Sleep, planning to just read a few pages, knowing full well I didn't have time to dip into it. Several hours later I was closing the book with a satisfied grin. The best thing I can say about this is the classic "I couldn't put it down" and mean it. It’s original and different, and yet somehow good kin folk to what has gone before in the tradition of Raymond Chandler."—Joe R. Lansdale, author of Lost Echoes and The Bottoms
“The Little Sleep is one of the most engaging reads I've come across in a good long while. Tremblay does the near-impossible by giving us a new take on the traditional PI tale. Tremblay writes in clear prose that is by turns atmospheric, haunting, and sharply humorous. The mystery is layered but always forward-moving, taking us along on a unique journey that features most of the traditional elements of a PI novel, but skewed and twisted into a fresh perspective. You've never read a PI novel like this one before."--Tom Piccirilli, author of The Coldest Mile and The Cold Spot
Press Clippings
The Boston Globe, "Who is the next face of Boston Crime fiction"
The Los Angeles Times, "D is for Daycare"
About the author
Paul G. Tremblay, a two-time nominee of the Bram Stoker Award, has sold over fifty short stories to markets such as Razor Magazine, CHIZINE, Weird Tales, Last Pentacle of the Sun: Writings in Support of the West Memphis Three, and Best American Fantasy 3.
Along with his first novel The Little Sleep, he is the author of the short speculative fiction collection Compositions for the Young and Old and the hard-boiled/dark fantasy novella City Pier: Above and Below. He served as fiction editor of CHIZINE and as co-editor of Fantasy Magazine, and was also the co-editor (with Sean Wallace) of the Fantasy, Bandersnatch, and Phantom anthologies. No Sleep till Wonderland, the follow up to The Little Sleep, will be published in February, 2010. Paul has also served as a juror for the Shirley Jackson Awards and is currently an advisor. He lives outside of Boston, Massachusetts, has a master’s degree in Mathematics, has no uvula, and he is represented by Stephen Barbara of Foundry Literary + Media.