This was a clever concept and it works up to a point but it is Alison’s voice with which I had a bit of a problem.
It is 100% first person, it is her thoughts, her frustrations, her hopes and fears and hates. The third voice is that of Alison, the victim. The killer’s is hideously entwined with his idea of his ’mission’, it is third person but very personal and therefore it is chilling, horrible and sick. Thorne’s storyline is told in the third person but we drift in and out of his perceptions and see things through his eyes but it is still appears far enough removed to have an authorial atmosphere. We have three voices, Tom Thorne’s, the killer’s and the one woman who survived his attentions but who is now living in a seemingly permanent vegetative state. Tom Thorne, aforementioned well hard detective, struggles with the opinions and approaches of his superiors, is appallingly dismissive of his juniors and is, as he finds out later in the novel, big on self- obsession. He is a maverick, Mark Billingham does not have so little self-respect that he uses that word but he as good as shouts it from every other page. The policeman is divorced, troubled, ‘well ‘ard’ and a big drinker.
#My sleepyhead serial
It is the story of a disgruntled policeman attempting to catch a serial killer who preys on women although in reality the killings are failures the killer is actually attempting to ‘enable’ his victims to live on in their ruined bodies, bodies he has purposefully paralysed, to show the weakness of the physical and the over-riding power of the brain. And in my case Billingham’s thriller is certainly one I would probably not have chosen myself. It’s like Goodreads imposed on the whole world for just one glorious day. WBN is a great way of encouraging people to read and experiment with genre they might otherwise not taste. Having read it, my duty is to now make sure its journey continues. This one came to me through the good offices of my friend Tracy who picked it up on holiday abroad so it had, since April 23rd 2012, already travelled across an ocean or two. This is the second book that has come into my temporary possession from the 2012 World Book Night (WBN). One nostalgic aspect of buying CDs in Our Price and checking the football scores on teletext was the only clue to the books age.
#My sleepyhead series
This series recently celebrated it's 20th anniversary and still holds firmly as a strong debut in the genre. The Locked-in syndrome case is so effectively portrayed with the inclusion of Alison's own thoughts as she lays in the hospital bed. It dawns on Thorne that she wasn't a 'lucky' survivor as the previous three victims had instead been 'mistakes'. Surviving stroke victim Alison Willetts had been deliberately induced through pressure points in her hands and neck, The reason what makes this debut have such an impact is the unique twist on a serial killer plot. Thorne himself is your pretty standard damaged central character tormented by a past case that clouds his current obsession to solve his latest investigation. Tom Thorne series from the start having really enjoyed Buried way back in 2006, so it's been a long time coming!
There were a few moments that seemed a little contrived or unlikely, but overall this was a good read and I will certainly continue with the series. I thought the pages giving us Alison Willett's view of events were really interesting and moving. His obsession with one suspect threatens to cloud his judgement, but when there are more killings he knows that, ultimately, he is the only one who can stop the murders.
#My sleepyhead professional
Thorne is a typical outcast maverick - with personal and professional baggage, including the shadow of a fifteen year old case that hangs over his career. Thorne must investigate and soon finds himself involved with Alison's doctor, Anne Coburn, despite the fact that one of her closest and oldest friends is his prime suspct. The mistake was the three young women previously found dead and Alison's case the first the killer got right. When Alison Willetts is found in a deliberately induced coma, it seems that her survival is not the mistake. This is the first book featuring D I Tom Thorne.
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