The Sleepwalker is a powerful, moving, and disturbing book, with a blend of domestic drama and crime fiction that kept me guessing until the end.

Doubleday Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Sleepwalker. This is my honest opinion of the book.

Annalee Ahlberg does not merely sleepwalk, she puts herself and others in danger. After she goes missing in the night, her husband and her children are subject to scrutiny by Gavin Rikert, one of the detectives in charge of Annalee's case. 12 year old Paige and 21 year old Lianna are desperate to know what happened to their mother, as her somnambulism manifested itself when their father was away, so he has no knowledge of where she went. As Lianna questions the motivation of the detective, will she be able to uncover the truth behind her mother's disappearance?

I am not really sure that I like Lianna all that much, especially in regards to her early interactions with Gavin. She accuses him of deception, yet that is exactly what she is doing. As the author unfolds more and more of the story, I had an inking as to the conclusion, but certain details were a complete surprise. Overall, I found it hard to sympathize with most of the characters due to the level of deceit, although Paige was an exception. With a well paced and developed plot, The Sleepwalker should appeal to readers who like mystery/thrillers.

So – you know that I LOVE Chris Bohjalian’s writing (plus he’s like the nicest and most humble guy ever!). I was so very excited when I saw that he a new book out – THE SLEEPWALKER. I was able to get it from Net Galley.

Here’s the overview:

Description

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest Room comes a spine-tingling novel of lies, loss, and buried desire—the mesmerizing story of a wife and mother who vanishes from her bed late one night.
When Annalee Ahlberg goes missing, her children fear the worst. Annalee is a sleepwalker whose affliction manifests in ways both bizarre and devastating. Once, she merely destroyed the hydrangeas in front of her Vermont home. More terrifying was the night her older daughter, Lianna, pulled her back from the precipice of the Gale River bridge. The morning of Annalee’s disappearance, a search party combs the nearby woods. Annalee’s husband, Warren, flies home from a business trip. Lianna is questioned by a young, hazel-eyed detective. And her little sister, Paige, takes to swimming the Gale to look for clues. When the police discover a small swatch of fabric, a nightshirt, ripped and hanging from a tree branch, it seems certain Annalee is dead, but Gavin Rikert, the hazel-eyed detective, continues to call, continues to stop by the Ahlbergs’ Victorian home. As Lianna peels back the layers of mystery surrounding Annalee’s disappearance, she finds herself drawn to Gavin, but she must ask herself: Why does the detective know so much about her mother? Why did Annalee leave her bed only when her father was away? And if she really died while sleepwalking, where was the body?
Conjuring the strange and mysterious world of parasomnia, a place somewhere between dreaming and wakefulness, The Sleepwalker is a masterful novel from one of our most treasured storytellers.

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I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happened! It was oddly reminiscent of my very first Chris B. read: MIDWIVES.
What are you waiting for? Go get it now and read it.
You can thank me later!

Every one of Chris Bohjalia's books are completely different. He is not a predictable writer. From his first book to this one, I have fell in love. He never disappoints. I loved Sleepwalker. Maybe because I am a sleepwalker myself. But more than that, I just love this author's writing style, this book is beautifully written, as I've come to expect.

After reading and enjoying The Guest Room, I was excited to begin reading The Sleepwalker. The disappearance of a woman who sleepwalks is certainly an original concept. I’ve read stories of people who do some pretty outrageous things in their sleep; from making sandwiches to killing a spouse. (Honest, officer, I dreamt I was wrestling a deer!) But nothing could have prepared me for Annalee’s particular brand of parasomnia. Let’s just say she’s not your garden variety sleepwalker.

The pacing of the first 2/3 of this book was slow but steady. The author did a fabulous job of setting up the story in such a way that my head spun with multiple theories about multiple characters. Who is responsible? Was it the husband? The detective who knew too much? The daughter? One of the neighbors? A current or former love interest? Colonel Muster in the library with the candlestick? Who???



And then there was the what and the why… Again, so many scenarios were rolling around in my head!

Though I didn’t grow particularly fond of any of the characters in the this book, save, perhaps, Joe the Barn Cat, I felt they were well-rendered and realistically flawed. It was difficult for me to feel that I was getting to “know” them very well because everyone was on my, if not the police’s, list of suspects. So the very thing that worked well for the book, didn’t work well for me on an individual character basis.

The last 1/3 of the book provided a page-turning experience! I loved that the ending was not one of the many I’d imagined. Though I would guess the events in this book are statistically unlikely, I didn’t find them to be so outlandish as to prevent me from becoming invested in the story.

Having now read two books by Chris Bohjalian, I can see why he has such a loyal fan base. I can’t wait to see what he’ll come up with next.

Thanks to Doubleday via NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Annalee is a wife and a mother. She suffers from parasomnia or sleepwalking. One evening she just disappears. She was sleepwalking and never returned home. Her family’s life has been turned upside down. Lianna refuses to go back to college. Paige is constantly searching for her mother. And Warren has turned into a lush. What happened to Annalee? Was she murdered? Did she run away with another man?

There are so many things to say about this novel. It is unique, intriguing and beyond interesting. The author creates an intricate web within this story. Annalee’s disappearance, Annalee’s miscarriages, Lianna’s relationship with the detective, the parasomnia traits in the family, just to name a few.

I was so wrapped up in the story and the characters I never saw the twist coming. And Mr. Bohjalian always has a twist. This novel does not move as fast as some reads. The intricacies of the story and the characters are pretty complex. It is not a book you can skim. You WILL miss something.

Kudos to the author for originality. The sleepwalking premise is enthralling. Basically because I knew so little about it and I learned a lot as I was reading. Lots of research went into this story and it is so well thought out and displayed. Impressive, very impressive.
I received this novel from Netgalley for a honest review.

Master storyteller, Chris Bohjalian returns following The Guest Room landing on my Top Books of 2016 with an intriguing tale of the mysterious world of parasomnia and dark family secrets. Recommend reading the novella, The Premonition, a prequel to THE SLEEPWALKER.

“I am terrified by this dark thing that sleeps in me.” – Sylvia Plath

Set in Vermont, a young mother sleepwalks and performs complex behaviors. Now she has gone missing. Annalee is a sleepwalker. A condition, or a state, a sleep behavior somewhere between dreaming and wakefulness

Her daughter Lianna was twenty-one and her sister, Paige was twelve. The husband and father, Warren (English Professor) at the elite New England college--was away on business. They have not recovered.

Annalee embarrassed her husband. They both felt shame, but for different reasons. He because of what people saw and she because of what she could not control. The parents often fought. Annalee was smart and beautiful. She battled depression and took antidepressants.

“They tell you there is no connection between sleepwalking and dreams. Perhaps. After all, you can remember your dreams."

The girls were years apart and there had been five miscarriages between the two births. Seven years later the sleepwalking began. Lianna was in high school and Paige in the second grade.

When the mother was sleepwalking, it seemed she was oblivious, even to the weather, and no recollection of the events the follow day.

"You climb out of bed. You search out a stranger who will satisfy the craving. With any luck, you will wake before you find one. But not always."

The events only occurred when the father was out of town—including the night when she vanished once and for all. It was why the police almost instantly discarded him as a suspect. He had been at a poetry conference in Iowa City.

Both the girls are feeling guilty since neither woke up that night. No body had been found.

“It’s only when the dreams lead you from your bed; from sleep, that the amusements become dangerous.

The next morning, the patient is amnestic. They remember nothing or next to nothing or presumes it was merely a dream.

Detective Gavin Rikert with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Waterbury is on the case. Lilanna is sure her mother did not kill herself and she was not having an affair.

An accident? Did she drown? They found a scrap of nightgown; it was by the river. A concussion. They hoped she was not in the water. The Detective and the mom had attended the same sleep center. He mentioned they had not seen one another for the last several years. Lianna thinks he knows more than he is saying.

The author sprinkles first person notes in italics between chapters. The reader is unsure who is speaking-adding to the mystery.

The novel unfolds surrounding the fallout emotions of the disappearance of Annalee. Warren throws himself in work and drinking; whereas Lianna takes drugs to dull the pain, and Paige swims the river in search of the mother. Everyone handles the guilt and grief in different ways.

People go to the extremes when sleepwalking. From having sex, commit crimes, cook, drive, and drown. It also runs in the family. The ongoing mystery of what really happened to Annalee- to the final conclusion.

If you have read any of Bohjalian’s previous books, you come to expect he tackles highly charged emotional topics with informative and well-researched compelling information. Twisty, slow-burning, and absorbing.

“The earth is as rich with magic as it is with horror and sadness.”

While the subject was fascinating, I will admit this was not my favorite of his books. Felt, it was missing the intensity, suspense, and literary flair of his previous books. Not sure I enjoyed it enough, to read "book two" in the series.

In addition to the reading copy, I also purchased the audiobook, and while I enjoy Cady McClain, the other performer Grace Experience had the most irritating voice. Later discovered Grace is Chris's daughter (sorry); however, a narrator will make or break a book.

There are six common parasomnias that afflict sleepers:
* Sleepwalking. More commonly seen in children, sleepwalking (also called somnambulism) affects about 4 percent of American adults
* REM sleep behavior disorder
* Nightmares.
* Night terrors
* Nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder
* Teeth grinding

A special thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

JDCMustReadBooks

Mr. Bohjalian is a master storyteller and this one is just another great one in his coffer. The Sleepwalker has several different meanings during the course of the book. I never knew how serious or the different "types" of parasonomia there are; how people are afflicted. He weaves the story of loss and understanding of the downstream effects on each of the family members.

I love how the story comes together at the end and how he weaves it together but keeps you guessing.

Warren Ahlberg is out of town at a conference when he gets the call that his wife, Annalee, has gone missing. He knew it was a risk leaving Annalee home with his daughter, Lianna and Paige, but he did. Annalee's sleepwalking has been under control, but it always gets worse when Warren is out of town. The family accepts Annalee's disappearance with a broken heart, assuming she fell in the river. Twenty-one year old Lianna strikes up a friendship with a detective n the case, it turns out that the detective had a sort of relationship with Annalee. Through Gavin, Lianna learns more about her mother than she ever wanted to know. Information about her sleepwalking that will change the Ahlberg family forever. But will they ever find out what happened to Lianna? Was her disappearance a tragic accident or was it something much more sinister?

Chris Bohjalian has outdone himself. The Sleepwalker starts out as a bit of a mystery and then meanders into a fascinating story about a twist on a common ailment, sleepwalking. Annalee and Gavin, the detective had one thing in common and met at a support group for people who have parasomnia. They don't walk in their sleep, they do something so much more. I enjoyed Lianna, who was desperately trying to hold her family together after her mother's disappearance. Her younger sister was still in high school and Lianna felt a sense of responsibility for Paige. She took a semester off of college to be there. I didn't have a good feeling about Gavin, the detective. He was considerably older than Lianna and I thought he was a bit of a predator. When the truth is revealed, I have to say that I was shocked. It was not what I had expected. -- CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom line - The Sleepwalker was such a terrific read. The book has all of the components of a good mystery, but the characters were so much more developed than your average mystery novel. There is so much in this novel that is up for discussion. You won't regret it

Details:
The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian
On Twitter
Pages: 304
Publisher: Doubleday Publishing
Publication Date: 1/10/2017
Buy it Here!

Parasomnias are a big part of the plot in The Sleepwalker. They are more than just sleepwalking, There are additional sleep problems like sleep sex, night terrors, and nightmares. Typically a person experiencing a parasomnia might be hard to wake and once awake they might not remember at all what happened while they were experiencing the episode.

Lianna's mother is a sleepwalker. One night while everyone is asleep, she leaves the house and disappears. It's presumed she was sleepwalking and something happened to her that prevented her coming home. Lianna experienced episodes of sleepwalking and night terrors when she was younger. Now she is worried a little about what might happen to her and her sister if they experience the same sort of behaviors.

During a massive search for her mother, Lianna meets a detective with the State Police who was also a friend of her mother. Gavin and her mother had formed their own sort of mini support group since they had parasomnias in common. Lianna finds herself drawn to the detective. They begin a covert sort of dating relationship.

The Ahlberg family doesn't want to give up hope on finding Annalee, but the longer she is gone, the less likely it is they will recover her alive. This kind of tension in the family is hard on them all, but particularly it would seem on Paige, Lianna's younger sister.

The mystery continues for the rest of the book. There are red herrings and suppositions. As the book progresses, the speed of the action increases. By the time I reached the end I was reading as fast as I could. It was a real page turner.

Structurally, each chapter is introduced by what could be a journal entry by another voice. The rest of the book is pretty much written from Lianna's point of view. You wonder who it is that is saying the things in the beginning of the chapter about their experiences with parasomnias. As the mystery goes on, the things seem to take on more and more potential for revelation, but without an identity.

The writing is beautiful. The sentence structure is varied and words are well chosen.

Overall, I give t his book 5 out of 5 possible stars. It's a good mystery/thriller written beautifully. Lianna makes a great narrator. I liked the structure of the different voice at the beginning of each section. And I stayed up half the night to finish it risking a book hangover, but I had to know what was going to happen next. This is the first book I've read by this author. I will have to read more of his works,

If you enjoy books where you might learn a little (in this case about parasomnias) and a mystery that becomes a bit of a thriller then you should find this book enjoyable.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am a fan of Chris Bohjalian's books two reasons. One because I find myself reading unstoppably from start to end. Second because each book that I have read takes on a completely different topic meticulously researched. I have enjoyed the books to varying degrees but always appreciated the thoughtfulness with which the topic is handled. The Sleepwalker is no different as it takes on parasomnia and a family's grief. Stayed up to read it!

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/01/the-sleepwalker.html.

Reviewed based on a publisher’s galley received through NetGalley.

Considering how widely popular the mystery genre is, it’s kind of remarkable just how difficult it seems to write a really good one. Creating a puzzle that presents just the right balance of fun and difficulty in its unraveling is the key – too far one way, the reader is bored; too far the other, they’re simply frustrated.

Chris Bohjalian has threaded that particular needle with his latest offering. “The Sleepwalker” (Doubleday, $26.95) presents just the sort of complexity for which the author has become well-known known; this mystery of a vanished woman and her daughter’s struggle to find out just what happened is driven by the sort of twisting narrative and relatable characters that make Bohjalian’s work so compellingly readable.

Lianna Ahlburg was just 21 back in the early days of the 2000s – back when her mother Annalee disappeared. One fall night, Annalee rose from her bed, walked out the door … and never returned. Lianna and the rest of her family – English professor father Warren, sports-crazy younger sister Paige – fear the worst; Annalee has a history of sleepwalking. Said history includes at least one near-miss when Lianna herself actually pulled a somnambulistic Annalee back from the precipice of a local bridge.

As the days pass with no sign of Annalee, Lianna becomes consumed with finding her mother. Dead or alive, Lianna needs to know what happened. With her father and sister each grieving in their own way, Lianna finds herself going it alone. Alone, that is, until she finds herself increasingly drawn to Gavin Rickert, a detective with the State Police whose devotion to the case seems above and beyond – at least until Lianna discovers that Gavin might have his own reasons for wanting to solve this particular mystery.

Down the rabbit hole she goes, peeling back layers of the mystery even as she slowly grows closer to Gavin. Yet it seems that for every answer she uncovers, there are even more questions that need to be answered. And as she learns, there’s far more nuance to the notion of parasomnia than she might ever have dreamed; it turns out that there was a lot about Annalee that Lianna never understood, and her journey could lead to some unexpectedly dark truths.

“The Sleepwalker” is a well-constructed work, with a narrative that manages to maintain a fast pace while still only gradually revealing the pieces of the puzzle. Too often, a story’s twists and turns feel forced and/or unearned, but Bohjalian’s plot moves with grace and elegance – each moment has a just-right connection to the circumstances from which it sprang. The picture is constantly moving toward clarity, even when things seem their cloudiest.

But even the most meticulously-constructed mystery means nothing with character engagement. This too is a Bohjalian strength that continues with Lianna. The author endows her with the sorts of details – she’s a party magician; she smokes a little too much pot – that allow for a richness that we don’t always see in a narrator. The hindsight inherent to the story – Lianna is relating the tale from years down the road – also contributes to the thoroughness of the narrative, as do the interspersed journal entries that offer a little more insight into the mind of the parasomniac.

Yes, there are occasional moments when things get perhaps a bit more complicated than is absolutely necessary, but that’s a symptom of the larger narrative – you might notice, but it doesn’t really detract from the overall experience. And let’s be real – would it surprise you to learn that the decisions made by a grieving 21-year-old turn out to be needlessly complicated?

“The Sleepwalker” is an engaging and eminently readable book. In the midst of its compelling mystery, Bohjalian introduces big questions about the nature of family, about heredity and sexuality and rationality. Its ever-quickening pace leads to fascinating reveals - and while you might see some of them coming, you won’t see them all. The mystery builds to a strong and satisfying crescendo.

And until that mystery is solved, rest assured that “The Sleepwalker” will keep you up at night.

It’s taken me over a month to write this review because I wanted to give myself time to reflect on the reasons for my disappointment in this novel. First, let me say I’ve read several of Bohjalian’s other works and am an admirer of his writing. Unfortunately, I found The Sleepwalker, a fairly mediocre gothic romance with unconvincing characters and plotline. The story is narrated in first person by Lianna Ahlberg, a practical twenty-one-year-old, whose mother, Annalee, has disappeared from her Vermont home and is presumed dead, perhaps drowned in a river located in the nearby woods. The story follows Lianna and her younger sister Paige’s attempts to solve the mystery of what happened to their mother. The main interest in the novel is Bohjalian’s focus on sleepwalking; Annalee is a sleepwalker and the author uses the novel to examine the mystifying nature of this malady. In fact, the factual scientific information included about parasomnias was fascinating and provided the motivation for me to finish the book. The narrative style, while highly literate, reminded me of an old fashioned Victoria Holt novel from the 1970s or ‘80s, only without the heroine running from a castle on the cover. Instead of a slightly suspect, good looking lord or baron hanging around to protect and pursue the damsel, in Bohjalian’s work, hazel-eyed Gavin Rikert, a detective assigned to her mother’s case plays the role of love interest. I found the whole romance between these two completely unrealistic, and in Gavin’s case, unethical. I don’t want to be a spoiler so I won’t disclose the ridiculous coincidences that abounded, but for this reader, the plot twists were predictable and anti-climactic. All that said, I anticipate a strong readership for the book based on the author’s popularity and the subject matter.
Disclosure: I received a free digital ARC from NetGalley in return for a fair honest review of the book.

I would usually be about 5 or 6 books into the new year already but babysitting my grandson has kept my days full and my nights, well, I am not as young as I used to be. This is the first book I finished this year and it was a good one to start 2017 with.

Annalee Ahlberg goes missing one night and the search for her takes up the beginning of the book, while the fallout of what happened, takes up the second. Annalee is a sleepwalker. She only does it when her husband isn’t sleeping with her and he is gone for a conference the night she disappears. The story is told through the eyes of her older daughter Lianne, who is 21. She takes over the household for her father and her younger sister Paige, a seventh grader. As the search and police case continue, Lianne finds herself drawn to Gavin Rikert, a detective on the case who knew Annalee maybe better than most. They shared something that not too many people talk about. Lianne wonders if Gavin is telling her everything he knows and even though she is drawn to him, she finds herself with a lot of doubt. As they struggle to get through Annalee’s disappearance and then the aftermath, some secrets come out that will be quite shocking.

Well I was definitely shocked at the ending! I did not see that coming at all. Good for you, Mr. Bohjalian. He has such a way around a mystery. The added dairy entries really make you wonder. I had never heard of “sleep sex” and the whole sleepwalking aspect was just fascinating. Many times I read a book written by a male in a female perspective and am disappointed but he writes women characters perfectly. It was a good read to start off 2017 and I hope the trend continues.

Around this time last year, I read The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian; it was recommended to me by one of my favorite book bloggers. I loved it and couldn't stop raving about it. When I discovered that the author had a new novel being published this year, I jumped at the chance to devour a copy; my expectations were very high.

The Sleepwalker centers around the story of a woman who, historically, has suffered from parasomnia; when she goes missing one evening, her family immediately assumes that her disappearance is related to yet another instance of this phenomenon. I found this aspect of the story fascinating; I've heard of people who behave oddly while sleeping, but Bohjalian certainly did his research. I was drawn in immediately.

As was the case with my experience of The Guest Room, I rarely wanted to put the book down; Bohjalian is magnificent with suspense. His storytelling is such that every chapter feels like the end of an episode of my favorite television program and I can hardly wait for the next one; it doesn't make me want to rush through, rather savor every moment.

I wanted the resolution, the conclusion, to be as spellbinding and breathtaking as my experience of The Guest Room; unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me. I would love to have heard more about what happened after the big reveal, so to speak, because the author really had me with this whole parasomnia concept and the manner in which it is treated both medically and within the family unit.

As a firm believer that every story is experienced differently by every reader, I am happy to report that The Sleepwalker is, overall, a highly entertaining read; after all, it's still Bohjalian and it kept me interested until the final page.

Posted on my blog 1/11/17

Once again Chris Bohjalian has woven a story that held my attention so tightly. More than just a story about sleepwalking, and more than a story of a missing woman, let me explain.

The Sleepwalker is told in the voice of Lianna Ahlberg, twenty one year old daughter of Annalee who has gone missing. Lianna is telling the story from present day, looking back to the event in the late summer of 2000. What she tells us is account of a daughter struggling to adjust to first a missing mother, and the inevitable realization that she is likely dead, yet unfound. Lianna is attempting to be the glue that her mother was to their family. She has no idea how to care for her father and young sister, Paige. She does the basics, cleans, tries to have meals, but in her alone time she mentally searches for answers, and then she begins to talk to more people her mother knew. She is also drawn to the detective, Gavin, who is also attracted to her. Something maternal in my head keeps saying “no, no, be careful”, but Lianna has a mind of her own.

The secrets are always the things that cause the most trouble, this is what I keep seeing in this book. Virtually everyone in this book is keeping a secret, and while Lianna is not exempt, I admire her sense of something being off, something being wrong.

Like many books that I love this one ends in dramatic fashion and no I didn’t see it coming. Were there clues or hints I missed? Mostly there were secrets I didn’t unearth and that Mr. Bohjalian oh so perfectly kept me hanging on til the very last page. Grab this book up, yes you will learn more about parasomnia than you do today, but you will be completely hooked and entertained by the words of a brilliant storyteller.

I had the pleasure of hearing Chris speak Tuesday evening in Neptune Beach FL, at The BookMark bookstore. A tiny lovely indie bookstore. Don’t miss it if you’re in the Jacksonville area.

The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian
Fiction – Thriller (Released January 10, 2017)
304 Pages
Bottom Line: Read it.
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon
Source: Publisher (Doubleday)

Plot Summary:
When Annalee Ahlberg, a notorious sleepwalker, disappears from her home in the middle of the night, her husband and two daughters try to piece together what happened.

My Thoughts:
Chris Bohjalian’s most recent books are giving him quite a reputation for coming up with mysteries…with more. They have the who-done-it/why-done-it elements of your run-of-the-mill mystery, but he layers on something deeper. In 2016’s The Guest Room, it was sex-trafficking, and in The Sleepwalker, it’s parasomnia. I found the parasomnia angle fascinating…it’s much more than the book’s title suggests. It’s a real thing (thank you, Google) and can cause shame for the sufferer, so Bohjalian’s exploration of an extreme example of parasomnia’s potential disastrous consequences had real-life appeal for me beyond this particular story. And, I liked the psychological exploration of the impact of parasomnia on a marriage and a family.

"They both felt shame, but different reasons: he because of what people saw and she because of what she could not control."

All this being said, I would have liked to see the book go in a slightly different direction. I can’t share too many details without ruining the ending, but I would’ve liked the story to explore the legal implications of parasomnia a bit more. Still, The Sleepwalker is a book you can fly through (which I need sometimes) and is going on my Page Turners list.

I have read a number of books by Chris Bohjalian. His novels normally focus on a specific and compelling issue. In The Sleepwalker, Chris delves into the world of the sleep disorder parasomnia, particularly sexsomnia. This was a good character-driven story with the bonus of a unique learning experience.

Annalee, wife and mother of Lianna and Paige is a sleepwalker who also has sexsomnia, searching for sex in her sleep even wandering from her own bed when her husband Gavin is traveling. When she goes missing, Annalee’s family is in turmoil. A search ensues, the body is not found and the questions begin. Elder daughter Lianna makes it her mission to investigate the mystery of her mother’s disappearance which will change the lives of her family forever. As events unfold, there are some great twists and turns. Chris Bohjalian can sure craft a story and although this mystery had a few slow bits, it was compelling and had a great plot; one that kept me guessing to the end. Note: will also be posting on twitter and powells books.

Not one of my favorites from Bohjalian, but ends with a great, unexpected twist.