No Sleep Till Wonderland is the second book in the Mark Genevich PI series by Paul Tremblay. Released 20th April 2021 by Harper Collins on their William Morrow imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This is a humorous but very very dark PI novel with a quirky protagonist who's struggling/failing with narcolepsy. His life is difficult, which is understandable, and his narration is by turns full of pathos, hopelessness, gallows humor, and a seething sub voce anger. The author is gifted with the more technical aspects of writing and I found the prose compelling, although I honestly found it challenging to engage with most of the characters and also found the (undoubtedly intentional) wandering and disconnected plotline more distracting than clever. (He's a narcoleptic, so the first person train of thought stutters, wanders, and stops dead in places). The author has a straightforward style, unvarnished, and unpolished. It went to the same place in my head that Tim Dorsey and Carl Hiaasen live, with a little glimmer of Elmore Leonard. The setting, Boston, has a starring role, and the author seems intimately familiar with the area and the special linguistic vernacular.

This is the second book in the series and since there is a *strong* continuity between the books, I do not recommend trying to jump into this book without having read the first one. The language is gritty and rough in places and there's very little refined sensibility to be found. Readers who enjoy darkly sarcastic gritty realism will find a lot to like here.

Three and a half stars for me. I would recommend it to fans of bleak and gritty PI stories.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Being that I enjoyed THE LITTLE SLEEP so much, I was excited to see the next in the series was available from NetGalley. I clicked on that request tout sweet and here we are.

NO SLEEP TILL WONDERLAND continues the story of Mark Genevich, P.I. and narcoleptic. With his dark, dry and wry sense of humor, I can't help but feel sorry for the man. This time around Mark is hired by a man to follow his woman to see if she's cheating on him. It's all over pretty quickly when Mark discovers that she's clean as a whistle. Then, somehow, Mark is caught up with a new best friend, (sort of), he's pulling people out of burning homes, (kind of), and of course, he's falling asleep and hallucinating and can't tell what's real. That's just another day in the life of Mark Genevich.

I admit to still being fascinated by narcolepsy, which involves a lot more than falling asleep all the time. However, this being the second book now, I feel like I'm being hammered over the head with repeats of the different ways the situation affects Mark. I'm sad to say that Mark's self-deprecating humor about his situation is also getting tired for me. I like the guy, but enough already.

Lastly, I'm having a hard time finding the whole thing believable, to be honest. In this book, Ellen, (Mark's mom), is requiring him to go to therapy if he wants her to keep his office open. Let's face it, a detective that falls asleep all the time-how successful is he going to be? Mark smokes, he drinks and he's not supposed to drive. It costs money for cigarettes, liquor and Ubers or cabs. Is his mom paying for all that too?

Setting those particulars aside, there was a big reveal here that took my legs out from under me, and there were a few very tense scenes as well. I learned a bit about Cataplexy in this book and now that's like my number one new fear. Imagine being awake and cogent, but unable to move or speak. (So yeah, now you can be afraid of it too.)

The mystery here ebbed and flowed, but it just didn't get under my skin like the first book did. I still like Mark, but he has to take some control of his life. Otherwise, he's getting kind of boring. I wish I could report this book was just as good as the first, but I don't feel like it was. However, I remain eager to continue with the series in the hopes that Mark cleans up his act in the future and maybe comes up with a little bit of new material.

*Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

3.5 Stars

Interesting concept for a plot but it fell short for me.
Mark is a narcoleptic PI who's landlord mother has required him to attend group therapy for her continued financial support. It's here that he meets Gus and they end up on a two day bender. From here things get messy both in plot and dialog. Told entirely from Mark's self loathing POV the conversation often goes off on 'witty' tangents but this quickly got annoying for me. I didn't realize this was a follow-up to an earlier novel but I'm not sure if reading that first would have improved my enjoyment of this one. I love the author's other books that I've read that are of a different genre and I wasn't aware he wrote stories other than the horror/thrillers I've enjoyed. What saved this from being a total disappointment is the way the story comes together at the end and how it concludes.
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Thank you to William Morrow Custom House and NetGalley for the ebook to read for my honest review.

3 Stars!

When I picked up a copy of No Sleep Till Wonderland by Paul Tremblay, I have to admit that I had made a mistake. It was not a mistake to pick up this book. It could be a very good book. But I have to admit that I mistook the author for a different author I had not read in a while and realized this as I started the novel. That being said, there is nothing wrong with reading someone new so I was hoping to find a story that would capture my imagination.



Nothing is coming easy for Mark Genevich. He is being forced to attend therapy session for his narcolepsy in order to keep a roof above his head and his private detective business barely running. Even worse, he not only dislikes the therapy sessions but they are not working and his narcolepsy is getting no better. When he meets Gus, he seems to have found a sympathetic friend and the two bond over a couple alcohol-fueled days. Then Gus asks for what seems a simple favor: just keep an eye on a friend who is being pursued by an overenthusiastic suitor. It seemed simple at first glance. It would soon lead to murder.



When the evenings surveillance leads Mark to an apartment building on fire, he leaps into action to try to help out. Unfortunately, his narcolepsy kicks in leaving him without much memory of the events and a suspect in a police investigation. The plot thickens around him leaving his head spinning as he is approached on all sides by people that seem to have different angles into the strange events. When all is said and done, Mark learns that all was definitely not what it seems and he finds himself set up to take the fall for a murder he did not commit and that is only if he can make it out alive.



I did experience some confusion at the beginning of this novel as I did not realize that it was a sequel. This did lead me to miss some of the context for the novel and maybe not get as deep an understanding of the characters as I would have if I read the first novel. I do not know, though, that it is absolutely necessary to read the first. The writing is slick and it was easy to get into the flow of the story. I did feel as if I was missing something in Mark’s character but not enough to ruin the story. I could catch up with a lot of it as the story progressed and it only made the first pages a little clunky due to no fault of the author. Once I settled in, the book became a quick read that just kind of swept me through the narrative until the end.



There is something to be said for slick prose and a story that races by. This certain describes No Sleep Till Wonderland. I was through the story before I knew it. The problem, though, is that the book was too shallow for it to really drive me in. Instead of becoming invested in the story, I just kind of watched it flow by. There were things that were certainly interesting but nothing that really reached out to grab me. I also found the characters, including Mark, to be a little shallow and his narcolepsy almost became a crutch as the story went on as it seemed more of a way to cop-out of a tough situation than a real ailment for the character. I enjoyed the book but I also wish that it could have been much more. And I really think it had the potential to be so if the writer had chosen to dig in and fill the story out. As it stands, No Sleep Till Wonderland is a diversion for a couple hours that provides some entertainment but falls short of achieving all it was capable of achieving.



I would like to thank William Morrow and Custom House and NetGalley for this review copy. No Sleep Till Wonderland is scheduled to be released April 20, 2021.

This was bout a character named Mark and is second in a series which came as a surprise to me. I was spoiled somewhat so I really wish I had read book one. This one was just ok.

This has been around for over 10 years has a number of helpful reviews and ratings, so I don't have a lot to add. This is written in a friendly style, and I stayed mostly engaged in this solid mystery. Recommended for mystery fans.

Thanks very much for the review copy!!