I’ve read the last three Greg Iles books and enjoyed them for the most part. But other than his second book, Black Cross, I haven’t read any of his earlier novels. So when I saw 2002’s Sleep No More in a bargain bin, I couldn’t resist. Surprisingly, it’s probably now one of my favorite Iles books, with fewer of the things that annoyed me about his more recent books. It’s a page-turner that kept me reading into the night, and it actually had some interesting characters too!

John Waters is living a beautiful life in his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi. He’s got a lovely wife, a wonderful daughter, and he’s well-respected throughout the community. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to have this idyllic life crash in flames around him. In college, he dated Mallory Candler, a woman he loved deeply but who eventually tried to kill him and then one of his girlfriends after they broke up, before finally marrying and then being brutally murdered in New Orleans. But a stray glance from a beautiful real estate agent named Eva, and a whispered word that he never thought he would hear again, has brought the past back to the present. The result of this could destroy his life and lead to his imprisonment for a murder he can’t even remember if he committed.

Iles deftly handles the intricate plot he’s developed here, with Eva convincing Waters that she’s the reincarnation of his dead lover, a woman who’s so obsessed with him that she would do anything to be with him. Iles does a wonderful job walking the fine line between the supernatural and the mundane, keeping the reader guessing on which is the truth (which is why I won’t reveal exactly what is going on in this review). What keeps you reading is how Waters is slowly convinced Eva’s telling him the truth, but every time he’s sure, a voice of reason steps in and points out how Eva could be leading him on for some reason. Throw in a wife who has been sexually distant with him since she lost a baby and a business partner who’s a lady’s man and also a lout, and you’ve got a recipe for an intriguing thriller.

I’ve always loved Iles writing, even when I found his characters thoroughly unlikable, and Sleep No More is no exception. It’s not wonderful prose, but there are few passages in the book that made me stop and stare at it for a moment. Even more, his writing style is gripping, making you want to read just one more chapter to see what’s going to happen. It’s fast-paced, yet also gives the reader plenty of Natchez atmosphere. The dialogue crackles and there are very few wasted words in it.

What made this book a standout for me, at least compared to the Iles books I’ve previously read, were the characters. There are very few characters in Iles’ books that I’ve actually liked, as I’ve found them annoyingly dumb or just not pleasant to read about. I’ve often thought that Iles was trying to make them more human by filling them with flaws, but he always seems to go over the line and affect my enjoyment. If Sleep No More is any indication, I’ll have to go back to some of his earlier works to have this problem fixed.

Yes, the characters are still flawed and occasionally do stupid things, but they seem much more likeable and “real” this time. Waters ends up having a lot of problems, but most of his extreme actions are done through the love of his family. His wife, Lily, has serious reasons for her withdrawal, and I felt horrible when she finally came out of her shell just in time to fall into the whirlpool of events that is going on in John’s life at the moment. Cole, the business partner, is extremely flawed, but we see throughout the book that Iles makes him this way for a reason. Deep down, he’s a good man who just can’t control his impulses. When Iles finally reveals the truth behind the events, the true villain can be a bit one-note at times but is still very interesting.

The only character who really annoyed me was the lawyer, Penn Cage. Cage has been the main character in at least two Iles books (Turning Angel, which takes place after this novel, and The Quiet Game, which is before), and I’ve always found him irritating. He seems a bit smug, but perhaps it’s the fact that even when he’s not the main character, Iles has to squeeze him in somehow. He had a cameo in one other Iles book I’ve read as well. Here, he plays the voice of reason to Waters’ flights of fancy about Eva. It’s not this attitude that bugged me, but the way he kept presenting it. Maybe we’re supposed to be irritated by him? I wouldn’t think so, since he’s the main character in other novels, but he definitely is.

The only thing I didn’t really like about Sleep No More was the final coda. I did love the explanation for the events in the novel, but there’s one thing that had to do with the evidence for the murder that Waters is accused of that I just found a bit hokey. I suppose if you’re buying the rest of the plot, it’s not that far out, but it just seemed horribly convenient to me.

With those two exceptions, Sleep No More is a wonderful thriller that you won’t be able to put down. The urge to read it in one sitting will definitely be there, and it’s nice to see a more recent Iles book that I truly enjoyed, rather than just enjoying with a couple of caveats. I’ll have to look up more of his backlist.

Originally published on Curled Up With a Good Book at www.curledup.com. © David Roy, 2008

Books by Greg Iles
Dead Sleep
Sleep No More
Turning Angel
True Evil
Third Degree

Recommended: Yes