Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Little Sleep: A Novel
    The Little Sleep: A Novel
    The Little Sleep: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Little Sleep: A Novel

    Written by Paul Tremblay

    Narrated by Pete Simonelli

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    The Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Survivor Song and The Cabin at the End of the World “slices, dices, and spins the neo-noir in his own strange way” in his “fast, smart, and completely satisfying”* debut novel featuring a narcoleptic detective from Southie.

    *Stewart O’Nan

    The Little Sleep is Paul Tremblay’s nod to Raymond Chandler starring a PI who nods off. Mark Genevich is a South Boston private detective who happens to have a severe form of narcolepsy, which includes hypnagogic hallucinations, like waking dreams. Unsurprisingly, his practice is not exactly booming.

    Then one day the daughter of an ambitious district attorney and a contestant on the reality talent show American Star named Jennifer Times comes to him for help—or does she? A man has stolen her fingers, she claims, and she’d like Genevich to get them back. When the PI wakes up from what must surely be a hallucination, the only evidence that his client may have been real is a manila envelope on his desk. Inside are revealing photos of Jennifer. Is Genevich dealing with a blackmailer or an exhibitionist? And where is the mysterious young lady, who hopefully still has her fingers attached?

    The detective has no choice but to plunge into what proves to be a bad dream of a case, with twists and turns even his subconscious could not anticipate. Chloroforming the hardboiled crime genre then shaking it awake and spinning it around, Paul Tremblay delivers a wholly original, wildly imaginative, gleefully entertaining noir mystery—guaranteed to keep you up all night, even if Mark Genevich won’t be joining you.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJan 26, 2021
    ISBN9780063065857
    Author

    Paul Tremblay

    Paul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the nationally bestselling author of The Beast You Are, The Pallbearers Club, Survivor Song, Growing Things and Other Stories, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. His novel The Cabin at the End of the World was adapted into the Universal Pictures film Knock at the Cabin. He lives outside Boston with his family.

    More audiobooks from Paul Tremblay

    Related to The Little Sleep

    Titles in the series (2)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Hard-boiled Mystery For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Stoker Winners

      Jul 1, 2021

      The Horror Writers Association has announced the winners of the 2020 Bram Stoker Awards. The winners were: Superior Achievement in a Novel: The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones; First Novel, The Fourth Whore, EV Knight; Young Adult Novel, Clow

      1 min read

    • Article

      Paul Tremblay

      Jun 17, 2020

      IT’S ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF MY BIGGEST FEARS that I would live to see the end of everything,” says Paul Tremblay, speaking to SFX from his Massachusetts home in the middle of lockdown. It’s a singularly peculiar time, and a peculiar interview for him to

      3 min read

    • Article

      Terrify Yourself with These Ten Horror Novels

      Jun 19, 2019

      A list of books so scary you definitely won't keep them on your nightstand. The post Terrify Yourself with These Ten Horror Novels appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Hide

      May 18, 2022

      RELEASED 24 MAY 256 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook Author Kiersten White Publisher Del Rey “The book you need after Squid Game!” yells the hype for Kiersten White’s latest. Well, sort of. In fact this well-written horror novel feels closer to The C

      1 min read

    • Article

      Proverbs Of A Faceless Time

      Dec 1, 2023

      Proverbs Of A Faceless Time
      9 min read

    • Article

      Come with Me

      Dec 1, 2022

      Come with Me
      12 min read

    • Article

      We Don't Talk About That Here

      Nov 4, 2021

      We Don't Talk About That Here
      4 min read

    • Article

      Shame Is Ever-Present When You’re Sitting in a Cell

      Oct 23, 2020

      Between a strained relationship with my family and the death of a good friend, I’ve struggled to feel like I’m worth something.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Performance

      Nov 10, 2022

      “Wait here,” the guard said as he shut the door behind him, leaving me by myself. The floor inside the lab was polished, and the air smelled of disinfectant, and yet the room felt unclean. Leaves shook on a tree outside the window, making shadows on

      18 min read

    • Article

      Rising Sign

      Feb 4, 2021

      Rising Sign
      10 min read

    • Article

      Split scream TECHNOLOGY

      Mar 16, 2021

      Anne Jirsch, 61, from Maidenhead, Berkshire Shuffling my tarot cards, I opened myself up to spirit, waited to see what messages came through. Suddenly, with a crackle of static, my telly switched itself on. My client raised her eyebrows. I’d not re

      3 min read

    • Article

      Search and Destroy

      Oct 24, 2017

      My daughter has bugs living in her hair. It is my job to kill them. The post Search and Destroy appeared first on Guernica.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Chain Of Events

      Oct 9, 2023

      Chain Of Events
      6 min read

    • Article

      Coming To Terms

      May 25, 2021

      Coming To Terms
      14 min read

    • Article

      Two Poems

      Mar 1, 2022

      There are not enough hours in the day before I have to perform affection. That’s an objectively robotic thing to say, my therapist tells me, when I speakabout my responses to sentimentality. My weekly battle with the laser printer—a kind of intimacy,

      3 min read

    • Article

      After “The End”

      Oct 10, 2022

      I walked down the road with a hunched back and a wet cigarette in my mouth—the fire had died a while back. My hands were tucked into the pockets of my jacket, and my hair fell over my face, limiting my sight. But I wasn’t really seeing where I was go

      10 min read

    • Article

      Here’s What I Don’t Say

      Jun 1, 2019

      Here’s What I Don’t Say
      13 min read

    • Article

      Longer on Moon

      Sep 22, 2022

      Longer on Moon
      19 min read

    • Article

      Daughters’ Bodies

      Dec 1, 2019

      WHEN I’M about to go away to college, my grandmother dies and my mother silently puts herself up for adoption. LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO ADOPT ME: Kind, lonely, beautiful woman in her 50s. Dead husband. No children. Cooks and cleans. 4’11 and 90 lbs. Gu

      20 min read

    • Article

      I Failed My Daughter

      Jul 29, 2022

      I Failed My Daughter
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Girl I Knew Somewhere

      Dec 2, 2021

      The Girl I Knew Somewhere
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Little Sleep

    3.5/5

    119 ratings13 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      Mark Genevic is a Private Investigator with a problem. He suffers from nacrolepsy. Falling asleep during an initial meeting with a client leaves him with a racy photograph, no recollection of the context of the case and a bunch of bad guys after him. This was a fun book.
    • 4/5
      Private Eye Mark Genevich leads a desk bound existence as he suffers from narcolepsy with the odd hallucination thrown in. This is shattered when he wakes at his desk to find some nude pictures of the DA's daughter. Someone hired him for a case, but who and what exactely do they want?Well if the idea hooks you then just go buy the book as you will not be disappointed. Rest assured it is not a one trick pony that tires quickly. Tremblay weaves the narcolepsy into noir genre wonderfully, making a relatively simple case insanely complex and transforming mundane activities into high drama (a narcoleptic driving?). On top of this its just a fascinating take on a condition I knew little about. However I there were a few plot hiccups that jarred a bit, plus a bit more fleshing out of the bad guys would have been good. I do like the protagonist a lot so I will definitely get the next book.
    • 4/5
      The central premise for this story is that the detective who is the main character is narcoleptic. The fact that Mark Genevich is likely at any time to fall asleep is rather a disadvantage in his line of work. There are other side effects,such as hallucinations and occasional cataplexy. One wonders why he didn't try an easier career.A woman turns up at his office,who wants him to 'find her fingers'!'. Is she real or is she just one of his hallucinations ?.As he spirals deeper and deeper into a dark case that involves not only the local DA and his daughter but also Genevich's own family,he seems to be getting further from the truth with each step.Told in the style of Raymond Chandler,this is a strange tale indeed. When I began reading it,I found it difficult to find empathy with any of the characters. However I continued and finally found this quite an interesting excursion.
    • 4/5
      I don't read much noir, or much mystery, but I enjoyed this one. Mark is a PI with narcolepsy who misses significant chunks of time due to little sleeps. His latest case becomes a bit of a problem because he doesn't know who actually hired him.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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, 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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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) 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.
    • 4/5
      I loved this book! I read it in about two days. As a mystery fan, I really appreciated the play on The Big Sleep. I found this book to be very different and very well written. Admittedly, I was curious, perhaps a little skeptical about how the narcoplepsy, insomnia, and hallucinations were going to work, but the author did a great job with this while also providing just the right amount of humor with his description of the other characters.I am looking forward to reading the sequel, as I have become fond of this new character. My only suggestion for future books in this series would be for the author to provide just a tad bit more information about the "Southie" area, as I was having a little trouble picturing it in my mind.
    • 4/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      Tremblay succeeds at putting the reader in the gumshoes of Mark Genevich, a narcoleptic P.I. who quickly finds himself in over his head. Having gotten used to working nearly blackout-proof paper-trail and archive-diving jobs, Mark is nearly overwhelmed by this new world of untrustworthy people confounded by his own unreliable memories.The constant possibility of hypnagogic hallucinations adds an interesting twist to the unreliable narrator phenomenon. Both the character and the reader are aware that any moment and any clue may simply be part of an extremely vivid dream. The doubting of reality can get to near Cartesian levels, if you let it get the better of you.Tremblay's pace is quick and he's able to ratchet up the tension, especially in situations where the onset of Mark's symptoms would be unpleasant to say the least.One relatively minor disappointment: I found myself missing a sense of place. I never really got a feel for Southie or the general Boston area.
    • 3/5
      I am not a huge mystery fan, although I do like the Spenser books by Robert B. Parker. Unfortunately, this hero is neither as interesting or as well-realized as Spenser. Mark Genevich is a Boston PI who suffers from narcolepsy and some other related problems. I did not find Genevich character particularly interesting and the narcolepsy seemed like kind of a gimmick and a way to differentiate him from all the other fictional detectives out there. Unfortunately, it seemed overdone because it seemed ridiculous that he could make the progress that he did under the circumstances. He tries to come off as hard-boiled, but it didn't really work for me. In any event, he believes he has been hired by the daughter of a local DA, which leads him on the trail of a typical story of corruption and family ties. The action is reasonably well done and the plot makes sense.I think perhaps this book would appeal more to the hard core mystery readers than to the more casual mystery reader.