Sleepless (Narrowdale #1)
By: Michael Omer
Publication Date: January 12, 2015
Genres: Paranormal, Thriller, Young Adult
Synopsis
Don’t fall asleep. Don’t dream. Don’t get caught.
At the beginning of her freshman year of high school, Amy can think of nothing worse than moving to the boring, suburban town of Narrowdale. And that’s before she starts having the same nightmare over and over again, waking up every night to a creepy whistle outside her window and being haunted by a mysterious, menacing presence. Getting used to the new school becomes the least of her problems.
As she delves deeper to uncover the truth, she unknowingly edges closer to mortal danger. Terrible events that took place years ago threaten to happen again, but now Amy’s life is on the balance. Unfortunately, the one guy who is supposed to protect her, nineteen year old Peter, doesn’t believe her.
Some things seem to happen only in Narrowdale, where dark secrets hide beneath the surface…
As she confronts the mysteries of Narrowdale, Amy documents her experiences in her blog. The book contains live links to this blog.
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed reading Sleepless by Michael Omer. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I purchased the next book in the series Moth to a Flame yesterday when it released and I can’t wait to read it!
I have to say, I don’t often read books by male authors, not because I don’t enjoy them or because I’m anti-men, but because I feel as though they are few and far between – especially in the indie community. That being said, I LOVE Michael Omer’s writing style. He takes a no-nonsense approach to words and dialogue that drew me in and had me completing this book within 36 hours of starting!
Character development is a strong suit for this book, all while retaining some of the mystery for each character. Amy, the main character, has just moved to Narrowdale from LA and is trying to make it through her days. She isn’t sleeping because she’s experiencing the same nightmare over and over. Omer utilizes this nightmare as a plot driver, giving details to the reader and allowing us to take this exhausting journey with Amy. Each character in this story has an important role to play. The thing I found most interesting was that inanimate objects seemed to become characters – the storage closet, the air conditioner, Amy’s blog.
On that note, I love the idea of Amy’s blog being a real thing. I would have loved to see more posts to this blog and even had them as a glossary in the back of the book for those readers who decide to purchase a print edition instead of the e-book. Regardless, awesome idea.
The plot was perfectly rated at Young Adult, as this was a cleanly written book with only a few moments of violence and a focus on the thrilling moments. I appreciate that those creepier moments were typically followed up with humor or sarcasm to relieve the reader a bit, as I could imagine this could freak out some of the younger readers.
The detail was great, the characters were interesting and each played their role, and I loved the use of imagery and dialogue to move the story along. I look forward to reading Omer’s next book in the series and will definitely keep an eye out for future books by this author.
Don’t miss this great read!
The Final Countdown
Characterization – 5/5 Stars
Dialogue– 5/5 Stars
Plot – 5/5 Stars
Visual Imagery – 4/5 Stars
Ending 4.5/5 Stars
Total: 4.7 Stars
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