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

Maybe a three and a half. I'm not sure if the narcolepsy confuses the story. I wasn't quite sure after the first 100 pages, since it wasn't that long, I finished it. Once everything started to show a little cohesion, it was better

I absolutely loved this book! Obviously, the title is a take-off on Chandler's series fearing Philip Marlowe; where that P. I. is suave, self-assured, in command, and tough, Mark ... isn't. He was in an accident (details not given) years earlier, leaving him somewhat disfigured (how much isn't clear, but references are made), as well as narcoleptic -- those "little sleeps" that come on without warning. Without re-hashing that actual plot, here's basically what to expect: Mark receives "compromis...

I read this book because I enjoyed 'A Head Full of Ghosts,' by the same author.First off, the book was witty, modern, filled with contemporary references, has an MC who calls his mother 'Ellen,' and was a quick and enjoyable read. The main premise is tricky, though, as it involves a PI who has narcolepsy. (He even drives a car from Cape Cod home to Dorchester while fighting off sleep. There was some absolutely great writing here; the guy knows his local geography.)The story is about some photos

Tremblay’s later works (especially Head Full of Ghosts) may be more talented efforts than The Little Sleep, but the idea of a hard boiled detective who suffers from narcolepsy and isn’t sure where his dreams end and his case begins is an entertaining concept. I have to admit being a sucker for local tales as well. That there’s a body buried on a construction site that I actually worked on in my twenties (there isn’t really) was a fun detail.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the sequel in the not too distant future. The little sleep grabbed me from page one - I only meant to have a sneak look - and ended up abandoning my other "books-on-the-go" until I'd snapped the back cover shut.

Enjoyable read, reminds me of dick tracey like a 50's detective comic. I liked it , a bit quirky

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...

It's my first novel, so I'm terribly biased!

The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay sits in the sweet-spot of my interest in crime fiction: the noir detective-with-a-problem (that isn't alcoholism). It's not that I mind stories about alcoholics, it's just the trope of the hard-drinking detective wears on me after a while. In The Little Sleep, Mark Genevich is a private detective suffering from multiple narcoleptic symptoms stemming from a car accident that has left him sometimes falling asleep at the worst possible times, occasionally hallucina...

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...

Why does every writer with noir aspirations drag out the same tired formula. The powerful politican with a dark past calls on the help of a small town private eye with "insert quirky trait/disability/illness here" to help with a case involving his daughter. This cliched framework alone doesn't doom a book to failure. The problem lies more in these writers believing that the quirky trait they've given the detective is enough to carry the book.Tremblay's detective is a narcoleptic. This illness cr...

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...

After a traumatic accident some years ago, Mark Genevich is left with a brain injury that resulted in narcolepsy. While a more than inconvenient health problem, it’s made worse given his choice to become a private investigator. We pick up when Mark is approached by a Jennifer Times, the daughter of a prominent Massachusetts District Attorney, with a request to identify who stole her fingertips.Sometime later, Mark awakens to find an envelope containing photos of Jennifer in, shall we say, compro...

After reading Tom Piccirilli's Every Shallow Cut and finding myself enjoying the book's format as much as the content I went exploring the back catalogue of the Chizine Press for more interesting books by interesting authors. Amongst those that I shortlisted was Paul Tremblay, and I was sure I already knew his name from somewhere. Turns out I already owned The Little Sleep and had done for about two years without taking it off of my noir bookcase. The perils of buying everything you see.The Litt...

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

Mark Genevich is a private investigator with narcolepsy. What a great premise, right? THE LITTLE SLEEP delivers on that premise!Crime noir, (indicated by that title), with a twist! For once, it's a P.I. who does NOT have a drinking problem. However, the problem he DOES have is narcolepsy and throughout this novel we learn all about it and its effects. Catalepsy which sounds terrifying, is just one of the symptoms: "a medical condition characterized by a trance or seizure with a loss of sensation...

Book Blog | BookstagramFiled Under: A Narcoleptic Fever DreamI’ve tried a couple of times, with different authors, to read this kind of hard-boiled, noir private detective story and… it’s just not for me.That’s putting it nicely, which is unusual for me.So, to put it not so nicely, I think this particular genre is supposed to come across as classic, intense and pulpy serious. The private dick is a man of the streets and a man of law. He’s balancing his day-to-day life against the seedy underbell...

A detective with narcolepsy, who also may or may not be hallucinating when awake? And who gets a job but was "asleep" when he received the case, not knowing what he was hired to do or by who? How can this not be an enjoyable read?"The Little Sleep" is a premise-driven novel, no doubt, and while it does give in to many of the cliches in the noir genre, it does so intentionally. Almost self-deprecatingly. Tremblay's created a character that's fun to watch, from his "condition" to his snarky attitu...

Paul Tremblay’s first novel, THE LITTLE SLEEP, was just what I needed! A case being investigated by a funny P.I. with narcolepsy! Having previously read and enjoyed his A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS, I was pretty sure I would like this book as well.Mark Genevich is a South Boston P.I. Between fits of sleep and cataplexy he has to deduce what really has happened and what has not, being only in his imagination. When someone comes into his office, wanting to hire him and leaving behind two old pictures, Ma...