What do you think?
Rate this book
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep
Not yet published
Expected 30 Jun 26Philip K. Dick meets the Coen Brothers in this genre-bending near-future tech nightmare that is as bitingly funny as it is horrifically believable from the
New York Times
bestselling author of
Horror Movie.
Meet Julia Flang, a twenty-something former semi-professional gamer, living with her retired uncle, and working two jobs she doesn’t like. Out of the blue, her estranged mother, a CFO for one of the world’s largest tech companies, offers her a temp job with a payday Julia can’t refuse. One sham interview later, she’s offered the to chaperone a man in a vegetative state—one with proprietary AI implanted in his head—from California to the East Coast.
To sum up in Julia’s own “You want me to remote control this dead dude across the country.” In a word, yes. But he’s not dead dead.
Meet a middle-aged man who wakes within a disorienting hellscape filled with monstrous grotesqueries. Worse than the fluid, morphing reality in which he’s trapped, he has no memory of who he is. He certainly doesn’t remember getting the rabbit tattoo on his arm. He only knows that he must find a certain person. Who? He can’t remember.
Using a cell phone modeled after a video game controller, Julia fumblingly navigates the man she calls “Bernie” from the company campus and onto planes and through one of the largest airports in America. All the while, the man endures an ever-changing and worsening nightmare that offers clues as to who he was—and who he must track down. And as their two lives intertwine, Julia and Bernie become unlikely allies and fugitives on a collision course with reality.
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep is a heady, horrific genre-bender from one of the most groundbreaking voices in fiction today.
Meet Julia Flang, a twenty-something former semi-professional gamer, living with her retired uncle, and working two jobs she doesn’t like. Out of the blue, her estranged mother, a CFO for one of the world’s largest tech companies, offers her a temp job with a payday Julia can’t refuse. One sham interview later, she’s offered the to chaperone a man in a vegetative state—one with proprietary AI implanted in his head—from California to the East Coast.
To sum up in Julia’s own “You want me to remote control this dead dude across the country.” In a word, yes. But he’s not dead dead.
Meet a middle-aged man who wakes within a disorienting hellscape filled with monstrous grotesqueries. Worse than the fluid, morphing reality in which he’s trapped, he has no memory of who he is. He certainly doesn’t remember getting the rabbit tattoo on his arm. He only knows that he must find a certain person. Who? He can’t remember.
Using a cell phone modeled after a video game controller, Julia fumblingly navigates the man she calls “Bernie” from the company campus and onto planes and through one of the largest airports in America. All the while, the man endures an ever-changing and worsening nightmare that offers clues as to who he was—and who he must track down. And as their two lives intertwine, Julia and Bernie become unlikely allies and fugitives on a collision course with reality.
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep is a heady, horrific genre-bender from one of the most groundbreaking voices in fiction today.
336 pages, ebook
Expected publication June 30, 2026
31 people are currently reading
15001 people want to read
About the author
Paul Tremblay
134 books12.1k followersPaul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, the Sheridan Le Fanu, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the author of the New York Times bestselling Horror Movie, The Beast You, Are, The Pallbearers Club, Survivor Song, Growing Things, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. His novel The Cabin at the End of the World was adapted as the Universal Pictures film Knock at the Cabin. An adaptation of A Head Full of Ghosts is currently filming. His novel Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep is coming in June 2026.
His short fiction and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly online, and numerous year’s-best anthologies. He has a master’s degree in mathematics and lives outside Boston with his family. He is represented by Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management.
His short fiction and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly online, and numerous year’s-best anthologies. He has a master’s degree in mathematics and lives outside Boston with his family. He is represented by Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
Read
November 2, 202511/2/25 There's a brief excerpt from the book at VARIETY: https://variety.com/2025/scene/news/p...
April 1, 2026
Starred review in the April 2026 issue of Library Journal
Three Words That Describe This Book: AI Horror, character centered, unique, disorienting (on purpose) and compelling narrative style.
I know that is a lot more words than 3, but this is my review and I get to make the rules.
More words: unforgettable, overlapping narratives with dual POV, meta, existentially terrifying, biting satire, middle finger to the AI companies, heartwarming and full of love even in the face of evil.
Draft Review: Throwing down the gauntlet for AI horror, with a novel that would make Philip K. Dick beam with pride, Tremblay introduces readers to Julia, a semi-pro gamer short on cash, offered a job by her estranged, Silicon Valley, CEO mother to test a groundbreaking technology, controlling the AI bots implanted in a braindead employee as he is returned to his mom in Rhode Island. Told in alternating and overlapping narrations by Julia and “You,” the voice of what is left of the body Julia nicknames, Bernie, readers watch Julia contemplate the ethics of her task, while Bernie simultaneously fights the “clicks” overwhelming him and struggles to remember who he was. Quirky textual choices in Bernie’s chapters enhance the disorientation, unease, and heartbreaking beautiful tone. Readers are quickly and emotionally invested in Julia and Bernie, separately and together, as they “abide*” across the country, A masterpiece of storytelling, injected with a squirming worm of fear,** forcing all who encounter it to take a critical look at AI’s encroachment, how it is actively stripping away our humanity, and rushing us all down the road to ruin.
Verdict: A not-to-miss reading experience for fans of a wide range of chilling, darkly humorous, existentially terrifying titles like Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill, Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle, and The Wanderers Duology by Chuck Wendig.
This is THE standard for AI horror as of this moment and it will be for a long time to come. It is also the darkest buddy comedy you have ever read.
Are there more than 5 stars to give? Well I would if I could. Let me back up. I love the way Paul Tremblay writes. As a professional reviewer I am even tougher on the authors to whom I hold to the highest standard. This book exceeds that standard-- in every facet of its writing and as a superior horror novel.
The allusion to Philip K Dick is there to put you in the right frame of mine to read this book. There are also two characters with Richard in their name (one first and one last). They are both corporate shills. But I point this out because it adds to the dark humor here. This book is deadly serious and existentially terrifying-- readers will not be able to NOT see themselves as part of the horror. And yet, I need to say this before I write more-- Tremblay is able to tell this deadly serious story and still imbue it with heart and humor. This is key to why it is such a great read.
All you need to know about the plot is this-- Julia is a recent college grad whose mom is an executive for a HUGE computer company. Julia is a former semi-pro gamer and her mom calls her up to San Fran up to LA. They have a strained relationship, but Julia agrees because her mom is offering a job that pays very well. She is asked to help the company test a new AI that they have implanted in an employee who had a stroke. He is brain dead. She is supposed to pilot him across the country using a controller and bring him to RI, back to his mother.
This is a horror novel, so come on, you know the big tech company is not telling the truth about its motives.
Julia ia whole and real from the start, Without sacrificing the narrative pacing, we get a fully fleshed out woman while the action is moving briskly. So by the time she gets to San Fran, we know who she is.
But it is the alternating narrative-- which is why this novel goes from just terrifying to excellent.
The story fluctuates between chapters told by Julia and those told by "You." You is the man that this AI is implanted in. First of all, the choice to make it "you" is perfect! "You" as the narrator instantly makes the reader an intimate player in the story. The man, who Julia calls Bernie because it is like she is in the movie Weekend at Bernies, is for all intents and purposes all of us readers, or he could be, at first. His narration begins oddly to us the reader. We are seeing the story we get from Julia overlap with how it appears from inside "Bernies" head. As the story moves on, Bernie begins to remember more of who he was, even as the
This adds a level of heartbreaking emotion to the story. It also allows Julia to connect to Bernie as well-- even though she does not know what is happening in his head, she knows he is regaining himself as they move across the country, but our chapters in his head help.
Tremblay uses textual images to help make the "You" chapters easier to from his perspective. Trapped in his head, part the man he was and part AI technology, we need to be able to see how he is interacting insides his own head with himself. It works very well and helps to orient the reader into a perspective that is purposely disorienting and hard to understand. But again, as it moves along, the reader and Bernie get more comfortable. Great narrative choice.
I also enjoyed all the Big Lebowski references. It helped to flesh out Julia's character and get the reader to know her as a person before this story's events. I am going to add something about Julia and Bernie "abiding" in the review to make reference to this (I only get 200 words so I have to make them count).
Also Tremblay fans will chuckle as Bernie's real identity comes to light.
Julia and Bernie will come to feel like friends as they follow them across the country. The characters are so fully developed that you will miss them when it is over. This novel will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you think long and hard about how AI is encroaching on our lives, stripping away our humanity and leading us down a road to ruin. It will make you feel a fear that will worm its way off the page and into your body, a fear you will not be able to shake. But all of this is the entire point.
And get ready for the ending because it is doozy. Terrifyingly realistic. And spoiler alert-- not really if you have ever read any AI horror (Sea of Rust is a good comp here)-- rise of the machines sf/horror never works out well for the humans.
For readers who enjoyed The Wanderers Duology by Wendig, Sea of Rust by Cargill, and the world of Blake Crouch. But in terms of the tone here, the dark humor mixed with existential terror but always centering love of Lucky Day or Bury Your Gays by Tingle. Also the real world horror being novelized in a way that makes is a good horror read but doesn't allow you to not think about the real world implications is similar to Mariana Enriquez.
And if you made it this far-- touche to Tremblay for the NOS4A2-esque use of the "Notes on the Type" to enhance the novel.
Three Words That Describe This Book: AI Horror, character centered, unique, disorienting (on purpose) and compelling narrative style.
I know that is a lot more words than 3, but this is my review and I get to make the rules.
More words: unforgettable, overlapping narratives with dual POV, meta, existentially terrifying, biting satire, middle finger to the AI companies, heartwarming and full of love even in the face of evil.
Draft Review: Throwing down the gauntlet for AI horror, with a novel that would make Philip K. Dick beam with pride, Tremblay introduces readers to Julia, a semi-pro gamer short on cash, offered a job by her estranged, Silicon Valley, CEO mother to test a groundbreaking technology, controlling the AI bots implanted in a braindead employee as he is returned to his mom in Rhode Island. Told in alternating and overlapping narrations by Julia and “You,” the voice of what is left of the body Julia nicknames, Bernie, readers watch Julia contemplate the ethics of her task, while Bernie simultaneously fights the “clicks” overwhelming him and struggles to remember who he was. Quirky textual choices in Bernie’s chapters enhance the disorientation, unease, and heartbreaking beautiful tone. Readers are quickly and emotionally invested in Julia and Bernie, separately and together, as they “abide*” across the country, A masterpiece of storytelling, injected with a squirming worm of fear,** forcing all who encounter it to take a critical look at AI’s encroachment, how it is actively stripping away our humanity, and rushing us all down the road to ruin.
Verdict: A not-to-miss reading experience for fans of a wide range of chilling, darkly humorous, existentially terrifying titles like Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill, Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle, and The Wanderers Duology by Chuck Wendig.
This is THE standard for AI horror as of this moment and it will be for a long time to come. It is also the darkest buddy comedy you have ever read.
Are there more than 5 stars to give? Well I would if I could. Let me back up. I love the way Paul Tremblay writes. As a professional reviewer I am even tougher on the authors to whom I hold to the highest standard. This book exceeds that standard-- in every facet of its writing and as a superior horror novel.
The allusion to Philip K Dick is there to put you in the right frame of mine to read this book. There are also two characters with Richard in their name (one first and one last). They are both corporate shills. But I point this out because it adds to the dark humor here. This book is deadly serious and existentially terrifying-- readers will not be able to NOT see themselves as part of the horror. And yet, I need to say this before I write more-- Tremblay is able to tell this deadly serious story and still imbue it with heart and humor. This is key to why it is such a great read.
All you need to know about the plot is this-- Julia is a recent college grad whose mom is an executive for a HUGE computer company. Julia is a former semi-pro gamer and her mom calls her up to San Fran up to LA. They have a strained relationship, but Julia agrees because her mom is offering a job that pays very well. She is asked to help the company test a new AI that they have implanted in an employee who had a stroke. He is brain dead. She is supposed to pilot him across the country using a controller and bring him to RI, back to his mother.
This is a horror novel, so come on, you know the big tech company is not telling the truth about its motives.
Julia ia whole and real from the start, Without sacrificing the narrative pacing, we get a fully fleshed out woman while the action is moving briskly. So by the time she gets to San Fran, we know who she is.
But it is the alternating narrative-- which is why this novel goes from just terrifying to excellent.
The story fluctuates between chapters told by Julia and those told by "You." You is the man that this AI is implanted in. First of all, the choice to make it "you" is perfect! "You" as the narrator instantly makes the reader an intimate player in the story. The man, who Julia calls Bernie because it is like she is in the movie Weekend at Bernies, is for all intents and purposes all of us readers, or he could be, at first. His narration begins oddly to us the reader. We are seeing the story we get from Julia overlap with how it appears from inside "Bernies" head. As the story moves on, Bernie begins to remember more of who he was, even as the
This adds a level of heartbreaking emotion to the story. It also allows Julia to connect to Bernie as well-- even though she does not know what is happening in his head, she knows he is regaining himself as they move across the country, but our chapters in his head help.
Tremblay uses textual images to help make the "You" chapters easier to from his perspective. Trapped in his head, part the man he was and part AI technology, we need to be able to see how he is interacting insides his own head with himself. It works very well and helps to orient the reader into a perspective that is purposely disorienting and hard to understand. But again, as it moves along, the reader and Bernie get more comfortable. Great narrative choice.
I also enjoyed all the Big Lebowski references. It helped to flesh out Julia's character and get the reader to know her as a person before this story's events. I am going to add something about Julia and Bernie "abiding" in the review to make reference to this (I only get 200 words so I have to make them count).
Also Tremblay fans will chuckle as Bernie's real identity comes to light.
Julia and Bernie will come to feel like friends as they follow them across the country. The characters are so fully developed that you will miss them when it is over. This novel will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you think long and hard about how AI is encroaching on our lives, stripping away our humanity and leading us down a road to ruin. It will make you feel a fear that will worm its way off the page and into your body, a fear you will not be able to shake. But all of this is the entire point.
And get ready for the ending because it is doozy. Terrifyingly realistic. And spoiler alert-- not really if you have ever read any AI horror (Sea of Rust is a good comp here)-- rise of the machines sf/horror never works out well for the humans.
For readers who enjoyed The Wanderers Duology by Wendig, Sea of Rust by Cargill, and the world of Blake Crouch. But in terms of the tone here, the dark humor mixed with existential terror but always centering love of Lucky Day or Bury Your Gays by Tingle. Also the real world horror being novelized in a way that makes is a good horror read but doesn't allow you to not think about the real world implications is similar to Mariana Enriquez.
And if you made it this far-- touche to Tremblay for the NOS4A2-esque use of the "Notes on the Type" to enhance the novel.
Want to Read
October 23, 2025Nobody else could make me read sci-fi xxx
March 10, 2026
Afraid of AI? No? Well you will be after reading Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep.
I’m a huge fan of Paul Tremblay’s work and this is both his most unique novel to date and also one of his scariest, despite not being a “traditional” horror novel on the surface.
Julia, a Big Lebowski loving young woman, is tasked by her tech company mother with transporting a man she calls “Bernie” (ha ha, get it?) across the country with the goal to get him home to his family. The catch: “Bernie” is in a coma and has been implanted with AI in his brain.
This novel is told in alternating POVs, limited third person from the POV of Julia as a more traditional narrative, and You chapters that are told in 2nd person with “you” as the man implanted with AI. I especially loved these (intentionally) disorienting sections as they make the reader feel culpable with what is happening. It’s similar to how tech companies foist AI upon as against our will, whether we want it or not.
On the surface this is a sci-fi buddy road trip kind of story with lots of humor and lots of heart, which is an excellent counterbalance to the bleak horror of the AI and the implications of what is happening to Bernie and the incredible dilemma that Julia faces as she learns more about the intentions of the tech company. I think what makes this even scarier than many other tech horror or sci-fi stories is that this novel doesn’t feel far off at all in the future. It feels like the now and a major warning for what we are doing to ourselves by feeding into this terrible technology.
Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep is Paul Tremblay at his absolute best - smart, witty, humorous, and outright scary. It is an incredibly important novel that is unfortunately way too relevant and will continue to be.
Wake us up from this nightmare.
Thank you to the author and the publisher for an ARC for review.
I’m a huge fan of Paul Tremblay’s work and this is both his most unique novel to date and also one of his scariest, despite not being a “traditional” horror novel on the surface.
Julia, a Big Lebowski loving young woman, is tasked by her tech company mother with transporting a man she calls “Bernie” (ha ha, get it?) across the country with the goal to get him home to his family. The catch: “Bernie” is in a coma and has been implanted with AI in his brain.
This novel is told in alternating POVs, limited third person from the POV of Julia as a more traditional narrative, and You chapters that are told in 2nd person with “you” as the man implanted with AI. I especially loved these (intentionally) disorienting sections as they make the reader feel culpable with what is happening. It’s similar to how tech companies foist AI upon as against our will, whether we want it or not.
On the surface this is a sci-fi buddy road trip kind of story with lots of humor and lots of heart, which is an excellent counterbalance to the bleak horror of the AI and the implications of what is happening to Bernie and the incredible dilemma that Julia faces as she learns more about the intentions of the tech company. I think what makes this even scarier than many other tech horror or sci-fi stories is that this novel doesn’t feel far off at all in the future. It feels like the now and a major warning for what we are doing to ourselves by feeding into this terrible technology.
Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep is Paul Tremblay at his absolute best - smart, witty, humorous, and outright scary. It is an incredibly important novel that is unfortunately way too relevant and will continue to be.
Wake us up from this nightmare.
Thank you to the author and the publisher for an ARC for review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.*
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep follows Julia Flang who is in her twenties, lives with her uncle and works two jobs she doesn’t like. Julia isn’t close to her mother who is the CFO for one of the world’s largest tech companies. Out of the blue, Julia’s mother gets in touch with Julia and invites her to a job interview and Julia gets the job. The job is to chaperone a man from California to the East Coast but the issue is he is in a vegetative state with an AI mind/chip implanted into his head. This book also follows a man who is existing in a disorienting hellscape, who cannot remember who he is and doesn’t know what he is doing.
I enjoyed this novel and I really liked following Julia as a character. This book is compelling and is very much against AI (and rightly so). This book provides some interesting ideas to think on and this book does particularly well in pondering the vegetative man and how much autonomy he has. Without giving any spoilers, there is a point in this book where Julia wonders if the vegetative man is actually alive which leads to interesting ideas about AI and how ‘real’ it actually is. The only thing I struggled with in this book was the man’s chapters as I found those difficult to read due to the disorienting nature of those chapters. I will be recommending this book and I appreciate how this shows the potential dangers of AI. This book kept me interested and I think this is one of this author’s stronger novels.
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep follows Julia Flang who is in her twenties, lives with her uncle and works two jobs she doesn’t like. Julia isn’t close to her mother who is the CFO for one of the world’s largest tech companies. Out of the blue, Julia’s mother gets in touch with Julia and invites her to a job interview and Julia gets the job. The job is to chaperone a man from California to the East Coast but the issue is he is in a vegetative state with an AI mind/chip implanted into his head. This book also follows a man who is existing in a disorienting hellscape, who cannot remember who he is and doesn’t know what he is doing.
I enjoyed this novel and I really liked following Julia as a character. This book is compelling and is very much against AI (and rightly so). This book provides some interesting ideas to think on and this book does particularly well in pondering the vegetative man and how much autonomy he has. Without giving any spoilers, there is a point in this book where Julia wonders if the vegetative man is actually alive which leads to interesting ideas about AI and how ‘real’ it actually is. The only thing I struggled with in this book was the man’s chapters as I found those difficult to read due to the disorienting nature of those chapters. I will be recommending this book and I appreciate how this shows the potential dangers of AI. This book kept me interested and I think this is one of this author’s stronger novels.
February 21, 2026
Rounded up. Dystopian Weekend at Bernie's in an unsettling big tech hellscape. This is Paul Tremblay at his most literary.
February 8, 2026
This is somehow the most Paul Tremblay book that ever Tremblayed (yes, it is now a verb), despite it being entirely unlike any of his other novels. Thank you to the man himself and William Morrow Books for an arc that I was able to read and honestly review ahead of its release day.
This novel is broken up into two main perspectives that alternate back and forth. One perspective follows Julia, who is an incredibly compelling character to read about, especially as the novel kicks off and she struggles with the morality of the situation she has been put in. The other perspective is written entirely in second-person POV, and "You" is a bit of a mystery (at least at the start). I think some readers will struggle with this second-person narrative, but I am a huge fan of second-person and don't think it is utilized enough in stories. Second-person was, in my opinion, the best way to tell half of this narrative. It forces the reader to be as close as possible to the horror that is occurring.
As someone who works in biotech, I struggle to even call this book science fiction due to the believability of the plot. And just because I am calling it science fiction does not mean it is not horror. I'd argue this is one of Tremblay's most horrifying books, if not the most horrifying, because of its believability. The overarching theme of this novel is the AI takeover. The novel does not hide Tremblay's stance (the correct one) on AI, and if you follow him on any social media, you already know it. I think that is where this novel differs vastly from a chunk of Tremblay's back catalog. There is no ambiguity in this novel. If anything, this novel is anti-ambiguity. The themes present a narrative that you would be hard-pressed to find a different meaning in. This does not mean the story is not nuanced, as I think Tremblay explores nuance in different ways throughout the novel, especially when following Julia.
As previously mentioned, this novel alternates between two perspectives, and this decision does wonders for the pacing. I think this is a nearly perfectly paced novel. I took it extremely slowly, annotating as I went, but I could've finished this rapidly in one setting because of how compulsively readable it was.
I can't end this review without talking about the different way the "You" chapters are comprised. I hesitate to call it a mixed-media aspect of the story, but I don't really know what else to call it. Other Tremblay novels have something fun/different within them; The Pallbearers Club has the notes in the margins, Horror Movie contains a script. This novel has a different aspect entirely, so much so that I am not sure how an ebook or audiobook version captures the experience of reading this book physically. And I think these extra/ different bits add so much to the novel and truly elevate the reading experience and the story.
I am going to end this review despite the fact that I could go on and on about this novel. This book forces people to look at the catastrophe going on around us in the world today and acknowledge that AI is, can, and will be bad for human civilization. I was filled with so many emotions while reading. I was disgusted, horrified, depressed, hopeful, confused, enlightened, and so much more. I laughed, I cried, and I cringed. I wanted to make it to the end, but I never wanted it to end. Chills ran down my spine as the last lines of this novel consumed me.
This novel is broken up into two main perspectives that alternate back and forth. One perspective follows Julia, who is an incredibly compelling character to read about, especially as the novel kicks off and she struggles with the morality of the situation she has been put in. The other perspective is written entirely in second-person POV, and "You" is a bit of a mystery (at least at the start). I think some readers will struggle with this second-person narrative, but I am a huge fan of second-person and don't think it is utilized enough in stories. Second-person was, in my opinion, the best way to tell half of this narrative. It forces the reader to be as close as possible to the horror that is occurring.
As someone who works in biotech, I struggle to even call this book science fiction due to the believability of the plot. And just because I am calling it science fiction does not mean it is not horror. I'd argue this is one of Tremblay's most horrifying books, if not the most horrifying, because of its believability. The overarching theme of this novel is the AI takeover. The novel does not hide Tremblay's stance (the correct one) on AI, and if you follow him on any social media, you already know it. I think that is where this novel differs vastly from a chunk of Tremblay's back catalog. There is no ambiguity in this novel. If anything, this novel is anti-ambiguity. The themes present a narrative that you would be hard-pressed to find a different meaning in. This does not mean the story is not nuanced, as I think Tremblay explores nuance in different ways throughout the novel, especially when following Julia.
As previously mentioned, this novel alternates between two perspectives, and this decision does wonders for the pacing. I think this is a nearly perfectly paced novel. I took it extremely slowly, annotating as I went, but I could've finished this rapidly in one setting because of how compulsively readable it was.
I can't end this review without talking about the different way the "You" chapters are comprised. I hesitate to call it a mixed-media aspect of the story, but I don't really know what else to call it. Other Tremblay novels have something fun/different within them; The Pallbearers Club has the notes in the margins, Horror Movie contains a script. This novel has a different aspect entirely, so much so that I am not sure how an ebook or audiobook version captures the experience of reading this book physically. And I think these extra/ different bits add so much to the novel and truly elevate the reading experience and the story.
I am going to end this review despite the fact that I could go on and on about this novel. This book forces people to look at the catastrophe going on around us in the world today and acknowledge that AI is, can, and will be bad for human civilization. I was filled with so many emotions while reading. I was disgusted, horrified, depressed, hopeful, confused, enlightened, and so much more. I laughed, I cried, and I cringed. I wanted to make it to the end, but I never wanted it to end. Chills ran down my spine as the last lines of this novel consumed me.
May 2, 2026
Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay
Got as an arc from netgalley.
Julia is a former professional online gamer who lives with her uncle. Dead end job.
She gets a call from her disappointed at her mother about an interview for a job at her company and crazy amount of money for a few days work.
She reluctantly goes to it to find out she’d be escorting via her using a sophisticated controller a “dead” man who has been connected to an AI system to make his body be controlled. Purpose is to get him to his mother for self termination.
Julia’s past skills easily gets her the position but she questions is his mind really not functioning or is he trapped not being able to communicate.
Intertwined with Julia’s sense of humor of movies, tv, and music she wants to help “Bernie”.
As the person”Bernie” his chapters are You. Him in his mind of memories old, new, and AI created to help him comply, understand Or is helping recreate himself?
Julia has to figure if this is corporate cruelty assuming Bernie/ You still has conscious thoughts.
She has to get him home regardless of reckoning from evil corporate that created him.
Tremblay as always creates a great character or two where one is returning his mind.
5⭐️
Got as an arc from netgalley.
Julia is a former professional online gamer who lives with her uncle. Dead end job.
She gets a call from her disappointed at her mother about an interview for a job at her company and crazy amount of money for a few days work.
She reluctantly goes to it to find out she’d be escorting via her using a sophisticated controller a “dead” man who has been connected to an AI system to make his body be controlled. Purpose is to get him to his mother for self termination.
Julia’s past skills easily gets her the position but she questions is his mind really not functioning or is he trapped not being able to communicate.
Intertwined with Julia’s sense of humor of movies, tv, and music she wants to help “Bernie”.
As the person”Bernie” his chapters are You. Him in his mind of memories old, new, and AI created to help him comply, understand Or is helping recreate himself?
Julia has to figure if this is corporate cruelty assuming Bernie/ You still has conscious thoughts.
She has to get him home regardless of reckoning from evil corporate that created him.
Tremblay as always creates a great character or two where one is returning his mind.
5⭐️
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thanks to Bloomsbury for sending me a proof copy.
My rating: 2.5 ⭐️
I want to preface this by saying I am so behind what this book is about, and I do think especially in this day and age with all the shit surrounding AI and tech in general, we need more books like this.
This book follows two main POVs, a woman who has just got a job with a tech company for her great controller skills (she’s a gamer) & the fact her mum is high up in the company. Second POV is a little more complicated - it’s essentially the robot she is controlling (POV labelled “you”). She is tasked by the company to move this robot from one place to another, but there’s a catch - the robot is actually a real persons body with an ai consciousness. The book is influenced by Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and is a commentary on how our society is changing and what determines consciousness. There’s a lot to unpack in it to be honest, which I don’t think I can even begin to do, or add any value to. I did think the concept sounded amazing, but I think I learned some things while reading this personally.
The execution of this book felt very empty and disjointed to me, which is kind of the point, but I’ve realised that I need a book with characters I either love or hate. These characters I just felt indifferent towards.
I am disappointed, as I am a massive Paul Tremblay fan and I loved his other books like Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts. This felt very different, so just bear that in mind. I do think if you like books which focus on detail and puzzles this could be for you. I am not blind to the fact that a lot of elements of this book probably went over my head. The format of this book played a big part in the “you” character. Plus, it probably doesn’t help that our main character has a huge obsession with The Big Lebowski, which I’ve probably only seen once in my life and forgotten most of.
I think I’m a reader that relies heavily on evoking some sort of emotional response in my reading, which I didn’t get here. I guess the whole concept of the way the world is going with AI and this sort of subject is very scary, and while it does make me angry, it’s one that I also just feel numb towards at the same time because we are living through it right now. That combined with the writing style intentionally leaning into this robotic, technical tone was where the book fell short for me.
Paul Tremblay has a very intellectual style of writing which leans heavily into the subject matter and plot in general. With Horror Movie, this worked for me because it was obviously leaning into the artsy way of making movies and criticising/satirising that world. The writing was descriptive and pretentious and I lapped it up. With this, it was written in such a technical way, leaning into tech companies and AI, that I appreciated what he was doing but I just could not enjoy my experience reading it.
It was also written like a satire but I didn’t enjoy it because I already know just how empty and grey these people can be anyway - lacking conscious morals, treating everything as transactional and cold, treating people with as little care as possible. These criticisms of AI and tech companies aren’t funny to me, they are just sad. If you’ve watched the Louis Theroux manosphere documentary, I felt similarly towards that. As Louis approaches his interviews in quite a satirical way, taking the piss out of people who quite literally play this game in real life and see everything as transactional and lacking any sort of conscious or emotional integrity was not something I enjoyed or gained much from.
This does reach a resolution at the end which is quite cleverly executed. Ultimately, this books topic is very interesting, but did I enjoy my experience reading it? No.
I do think it does a good job at pinning human consciousness against artificial consciousness, there were definitely parts of this book I enjoyed and parts I quite frankly hated.
It could have worked better for me as a shorter book. I really enjoyed the first 100 pages or so, but then the middle became mundane, repetitive, and just a slog with all the technical elements.
My rating: 2.5 ⭐️
I want to preface this by saying I am so behind what this book is about, and I do think especially in this day and age with all the shit surrounding AI and tech in general, we need more books like this.
This book follows two main POVs, a woman who has just got a job with a tech company for her great controller skills (she’s a gamer) & the fact her mum is high up in the company. Second POV is a little more complicated - it’s essentially the robot she is controlling (POV labelled “you”). She is tasked by the company to move this robot from one place to another, but there’s a catch - the robot is actually a real persons body with an ai consciousness. The book is influenced by Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and is a commentary on how our society is changing and what determines consciousness. There’s a lot to unpack in it to be honest, which I don’t think I can even begin to do, or add any value to. I did think the concept sounded amazing, but I think I learned some things while reading this personally.
The execution of this book felt very empty and disjointed to me, which is kind of the point, but I’ve realised that I need a book with characters I either love or hate. These characters I just felt indifferent towards.
I am disappointed, as I am a massive Paul Tremblay fan and I loved his other books like Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts. This felt very different, so just bear that in mind. I do think if you like books which focus on detail and puzzles this could be for you. I am not blind to the fact that a lot of elements of this book probably went over my head. The format of this book played a big part in the “you” character. Plus, it probably doesn’t help that our main character has a huge obsession with The Big Lebowski, which I’ve probably only seen once in my life and forgotten most of.
I think I’m a reader that relies heavily on evoking some sort of emotional response in my reading, which I didn’t get here. I guess the whole concept of the way the world is going with AI and this sort of subject is very scary, and while it does make me angry, it’s one that I also just feel numb towards at the same time because we are living through it right now. That combined with the writing style intentionally leaning into this robotic, technical tone was where the book fell short for me.
Paul Tremblay has a very intellectual style of writing which leans heavily into the subject matter and plot in general. With Horror Movie, this worked for me because it was obviously leaning into the artsy way of making movies and criticising/satirising that world. The writing was descriptive and pretentious and I lapped it up. With this, it was written in such a technical way, leaning into tech companies and AI, that I appreciated what he was doing but I just could not enjoy my experience reading it.
It was also written like a satire but I didn’t enjoy it because I already know just how empty and grey these people can be anyway - lacking conscious morals, treating everything as transactional and cold, treating people with as little care as possible. These criticisms of AI and tech companies aren’t funny to me, they are just sad. If you’ve watched the Louis Theroux manosphere documentary, I felt similarly towards that. As Louis approaches his interviews in quite a satirical way, taking the piss out of people who quite literally play this game in real life and see everything as transactional and lacking any sort of conscious or emotional integrity was not something I enjoyed or gained much from.
This does reach a resolution at the end which is quite cleverly executed. Ultimately, this books topic is very interesting, but did I enjoy my experience reading it? No.
I do think it does a good job at pinning human consciousness against artificial consciousness, there were definitely parts of this book I enjoyed and parts I quite frankly hated.
It could have worked better for me as a shorter book. I really enjoyed the first 100 pages or so, but then the middle became mundane, repetitive, and just a slog with all the technical elements.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Anyone familiar with the work of Paul Tremblay will know that when he is on form in such novels as ‘Head Full Of Ghosts’ and ‘Survivor Song’ he is one of the very best writers working in the horror genre today.
It is on this basis that I was absolutely delighted to be given an advance copy of his new work prior to its publication in June.
All I really knew about the new book was that this work was to tackle AI through the genre lens and this together with the Philip K dick referencing title had me intrigued.
The story, such as it is concerns a young woman named Julia who is clearly lost in life following the traumatic death of her beloved Father. Directionless & aimless both professionally and personally she now lives with her uncle owing to a complicated relationship with her narcissistic mother Janice.
Inexplicably, It turns out that Janice just happens to be the Finance Director of a huge tech firm and offers her daughter some short term work at the firm that will be so well paid that she will even get $5,000 for just attending the interview.
Inevitably Julia gets the job which involves escorting a man across the country to be reunited with his mother. The catch here being that the man is in a vegetative state following a stroke and has had AI implanted in his brain to allow his body to be remote controlled which is where Julia’s particular skill set comes in as it turns out she has been something of a semi-professional gamer in her time.
The true identity of this man is kept from Julia but given the nature of the assignment she christens him Bernie in reference to the eighties cult film ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ whose plot I won’t explain here but suffice to say it would appear that this whole novel drew its inspiration from this cult comedy.
Whilst reading this book I felt the pull of nostalgia and googled ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ reviews which led me to the legendary film critc Roger Ebert who stated ‘“Weekend at Bernie’s” makes two mistakes: It gives us a joke that isn’t very funny, and it expects the joke to carry an entire movie.’
I mention this only because when reviewing this novel this quote actually makes a very salient point in that this premise is indeed not enough to carry an entire novel as the synopsis is exactly what you get nothing more and nothing less.
It is even queried by a character as to what the point of all this technology is when ‘Bernie’ could just as easily be ferried around in a wheelchair ! What is the point indeed !
The point is ultimately and mercifully revealed in an ending that is no doubt designed to be polarising and I must confess that when I first read it I felt both cheated and angry but as the days passed I realised that not only could I not stop thinking about the ending but that those feelings of anger and betrayal were exactly the point.
The book reads as though it was a first draft and one in desperate need of a second. In fact, I personally felt that it read more like a writing exercise than a fully realised novel. I say this because we even get two interchapters from the novelist one of which is a comment on the writers’ process telling us that it takes up to two years to write a novel and the other interchapter seems to toy with our narrative expectations.
The main narrative driving the novel is a third person one from Julia’s perspective but we also have a first person narrative from Bernie’s perspective which seems to serve no other purpose that to highlight the fact that he is not as brain dead as we are led to believe and that there is a real person in there.
The problem is that ultimately, we don’t really care and I found myself skimming these pages as they seemed to serve little or no narrative purpose.
All in all this was a fascinating exercise but one that doesn’t even come close to his very best efforts.
It is on this basis that I was absolutely delighted to be given an advance copy of his new work prior to its publication in June.
All I really knew about the new book was that this work was to tackle AI through the genre lens and this together with the Philip K dick referencing title had me intrigued.
The story, such as it is concerns a young woman named Julia who is clearly lost in life following the traumatic death of her beloved Father. Directionless & aimless both professionally and personally she now lives with her uncle owing to a complicated relationship with her narcissistic mother Janice.
Inexplicably, It turns out that Janice just happens to be the Finance Director of a huge tech firm and offers her daughter some short term work at the firm that will be so well paid that she will even get $5,000 for just attending the interview.
Inevitably Julia gets the job which involves escorting a man across the country to be reunited with his mother. The catch here being that the man is in a vegetative state following a stroke and has had AI implanted in his brain to allow his body to be remote controlled which is where Julia’s particular skill set comes in as it turns out she has been something of a semi-professional gamer in her time.
The true identity of this man is kept from Julia but given the nature of the assignment she christens him Bernie in reference to the eighties cult film ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ whose plot I won’t explain here but suffice to say it would appear that this whole novel drew its inspiration from this cult comedy.
Whilst reading this book I felt the pull of nostalgia and googled ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ reviews which led me to the legendary film critc Roger Ebert who stated ‘“Weekend at Bernie’s” makes two mistakes: It gives us a joke that isn’t very funny, and it expects the joke to carry an entire movie.’
I mention this only because when reviewing this novel this quote actually makes a very salient point in that this premise is indeed not enough to carry an entire novel as the synopsis is exactly what you get nothing more and nothing less.
It is even queried by a character as to what the point of all this technology is when ‘Bernie’ could just as easily be ferried around in a wheelchair ! What is the point indeed !
The point is ultimately and mercifully revealed in an ending that is no doubt designed to be polarising and I must confess that when I first read it I felt both cheated and angry but as the days passed I realised that not only could I not stop thinking about the ending but that those feelings of anger and betrayal were exactly the point.
The book reads as though it was a first draft and one in desperate need of a second. In fact, I personally felt that it read more like a writing exercise than a fully realised novel. I say this because we even get two interchapters from the novelist one of which is a comment on the writers’ process telling us that it takes up to two years to write a novel and the other interchapter seems to toy with our narrative expectations.
The main narrative driving the novel is a third person one from Julia’s perspective but we also have a first person narrative from Bernie’s perspective which seems to serve no other purpose that to highlight the fact that he is not as brain dead as we are led to believe and that there is a real person in there.
The problem is that ultimately, we don’t really care and I found myself skimming these pages as they seemed to serve little or no narrative purpose.
All in all this was a fascinating exercise but one that doesn’t even come close to his very best efforts.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep is a new novel by horror author Paul Tremblay, in which a former gaming streamer has to control an AI-powered man in a vegetative state on behalf of a huge tech company. Julia lives with her uncle doing dead-end jobs when her estranged mother gets in touch with the offer of a job interview at the tech company she is CFO for. The job is to use her gaming skills to navigate a man across the country, but Julia is suspicious around the company's intentions. At the same time, a man is waking up in a dreamscape, unable to remember who he is.
The title of this book really gives away quite a lot about it: a modern spin on Philip K. Dick's classic novel that explores AI in a very forthright way. It is very near-future sci-fi with tech that feels almost real and a lot of contemporary references to imply it is basically happening right now. The narrative is told alternately by focusing on Julia, whose story is most easily summarised as an episode of Black Mirror in the way it unfolds and escalates, and also from the perspective of the man waking up in a confusing unreality without most of his memories. The latter part can be quite difficult to get into because it cuts back to the straightforwardly-written Julia narrative just as you're getting into the style, which highlights the confusion that the man is facing.
Unfortunately, I found the book difficult to get into and occasionally a bit tiresome to read. The writing style is darkly comic, but I found it often verging on cringeworthy in the way that it references modern trends or very heavy-handedly makes references to current tech issues. I wanted more depth from the characters to build more of a sense of individual horror, as I felt like any horror element relied too much on the existential concepts around what tech companies are doing or might do with AI, and not enough on what was actually happening in the book (which is something that I feel that good Black Mirror episodes do well, combining the existential side with real, human horror). As someone who engages a fair bit with books and other media about Big Tech (and generative AI specifically), I perhaps am not the target audience for this novel, as nothing felt particularly new or shocking, and the purposeful lack of subtlety in the book's AI themes just felt a bit basic to me.
I think that plenty of people will get a lot from this book, especially those looking for something in the 'AI-is-evil satirical sci-fi' realm. For me, I was hoping for something a bit deeper and more complex, and, if I'm honest, something that made a bit more of the 'horror' side of things, as technology horror is fascinating. Sadly, this wasn't one for me, even though it sounded like it could be.
The title of this book really gives away quite a lot about it: a modern spin on Philip K. Dick's classic novel that explores AI in a very forthright way. It is very near-future sci-fi with tech that feels almost real and a lot of contemporary references to imply it is basically happening right now. The narrative is told alternately by focusing on Julia, whose story is most easily summarised as an episode of Black Mirror in the way it unfolds and escalates, and also from the perspective of the man waking up in a confusing unreality without most of his memories. The latter part can be quite difficult to get into because it cuts back to the straightforwardly-written Julia narrative just as you're getting into the style, which highlights the confusion that the man is facing.
Unfortunately, I found the book difficult to get into and occasionally a bit tiresome to read. The writing style is darkly comic, but I found it often verging on cringeworthy in the way that it references modern trends or very heavy-handedly makes references to current tech issues. I wanted more depth from the characters to build more of a sense of individual horror, as I felt like any horror element relied too much on the existential concepts around what tech companies are doing or might do with AI, and not enough on what was actually happening in the book (which is something that I feel that good Black Mirror episodes do well, combining the existential side with real, human horror). As someone who engages a fair bit with books and other media about Big Tech (and generative AI specifically), I perhaps am not the target audience for this novel, as nothing felt particularly new or shocking, and the purposeful lack of subtlety in the book's AI themes just felt a bit basic to me.
I think that plenty of people will get a lot from this book, especially those looking for something in the 'AI-is-evil satirical sci-fi' realm. For me, I was hoping for something a bit deeper and more complex, and, if I'm honest, something that made a bit more of the 'horror' side of things, as technology horror is fascinating. Sadly, this wasn't one for me, even though it sounded like it could be.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
*ARC received from Netgalley*
I went into Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep a bit cautiously. I’ve read Paul Tremblay before, and A Head Full of Ghosts is genuinely one of my favourite books of all time, but if I’m honest, some of his more recent work (looking at you, Horror Movie) hasn’t quite hit the same mark for me, so I was a little apprehensive going into this one. Thankfully, this felt like a step back in the right direction.
This is definitely a strange, slightly unsettling read, but in a way I really appreciated. The concept alone is enough to make you pause: AI implanted into a human body, being controlled remotely, blurring the line between consciousness and control. It sounds far-fetched at first, but the way it’s written makes it feel just close enough to reality to be properly eerie. That quiet, creeping discomfort is where Tremblay really shines.
There were parts of this I genuinely loved. The shifting perspectives added to that disorienting, dreamlike feel, and I found myself really pulled in during certain sections, especially when things started to unravel and reality became a bit slippery. It’s one of those books where you don’t always fully understand what’s happening, but you feel it, which I think is very intentional.
That said, it wasn’t a completely smooth ride for me. Some sections dragged a little, and I found my attention dipping here and there. The pacing felt uneven, I’d go from being completely hooked to having to push myself through a few chapters. I think that’s where it lost that extra star for me.
And then there’s the ending… which, unfortunately, felt far too sudden. After everything the story builds, I really wanted just a bit more time at the end. Not a full explanation or everything neatly tied up, but something to sit with - an extra chapter, an extra hour, just a little more space to process what had happened. Instead, it cuts off quite abruptly, and I was left feeling like I’d missed that final bit. I know ambiguity is very much Tremblay’s style, and sometimes it works brilliantly, but here it just felt a bit too sharp of an ending.
Overall though, I did enjoy it. It’s different, unsettling, and thought-provoking in a way that sticks with you, even if not every part lands perfectly. It felt closer in spirit to what I love about Tremblay, even if it doesn’t quite reach those same heights.
So, three stars. A clever, eerie concept with some genuinely gripping moments, but an ending that needed just a little bit extra. Give me that extra final stretch, and this easily could have been a four-star read.
I went into Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep a bit cautiously. I’ve read Paul Tremblay before, and A Head Full of Ghosts is genuinely one of my favourite books of all time, but if I’m honest, some of his more recent work (looking at you, Horror Movie) hasn’t quite hit the same mark for me, so I was a little apprehensive going into this one. Thankfully, this felt like a step back in the right direction.
This is definitely a strange, slightly unsettling read, but in a way I really appreciated. The concept alone is enough to make you pause: AI implanted into a human body, being controlled remotely, blurring the line between consciousness and control. It sounds far-fetched at first, but the way it’s written makes it feel just close enough to reality to be properly eerie. That quiet, creeping discomfort is where Tremblay really shines.
There were parts of this I genuinely loved. The shifting perspectives added to that disorienting, dreamlike feel, and I found myself really pulled in during certain sections, especially when things started to unravel and reality became a bit slippery. It’s one of those books where you don’t always fully understand what’s happening, but you feel it, which I think is very intentional.
That said, it wasn’t a completely smooth ride for me. Some sections dragged a little, and I found my attention dipping here and there. The pacing felt uneven, I’d go from being completely hooked to having to push myself through a few chapters. I think that’s where it lost that extra star for me.
And then there’s the ending… which, unfortunately, felt far too sudden. After everything the story builds, I really wanted just a bit more time at the end. Not a full explanation or everything neatly tied up, but something to sit with - an extra chapter, an extra hour, just a little more space to process what had happened. Instead, it cuts off quite abruptly, and I was left feeling like I’d missed that final bit. I know ambiguity is very much Tremblay’s style, and sometimes it works brilliantly, but here it just felt a bit too sharp of an ending.
Overall though, I did enjoy it. It’s different, unsettling, and thought-provoking in a way that sticks with you, even if not every part lands perfectly. It felt closer in spirit to what I love about Tremblay, even if it doesn’t quite reach those same heights.
So, three stars. A clever, eerie concept with some genuinely gripping moments, but an ending that needed just a little bit extra. Give me that extra final stretch, and this easily could have been a four-star read.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Following a string of lauded but divisive novels, such as Horror Movie, A Head Full Of Ghosts and The Cabin At The End Of The World, Paul Tremblay has returned with... a novel that I expect will be lauded but divisive. Dead But Dreaming Of Electric Sheep proudly wears the Philip K. Dick influence on its sleeve through the title alone, and I'd say it leans towards sci-fi thriller more than outright horror – although some of the concepts here are pretty terrifying. As you'd expect, there's more than a little Blade Runner-inspired moments here, but there's a lot more than that going on too. I'll be vague, but almost anything I can say about the book feels at least a little spoiler-y, so reader beware.
This book is made up of alternating chapters. The bulk of the story is the "Julia"-headed sections, which follow our protagonist – you guessed it – Julia. She's lucked into a high-paying, short-term job utilising her video game skills, and while she knows deep down that it sounds too good to be true, she accepts. The interspersing chapters headed "You" are a little less straightforward. Written in the second person and putting the reader directly in the addressed character's headspace, these feel more like unravelling mysteries. Combined, these form a kind of AI-fuelled sci-fi Weekend At Bernie's that manages to be at turns quietly scary, laugh-out-loud funny, and occasionally emotionally devastating.
I'm a Tremblay fan generally, and if I wasn't pre-disposed to like it based on that, I certainly was by the end of the second chapter or so – references to Welsh noise-rockers mclusky, and two of the finest LA noir shaggy dog stories, The Long Goodbye and The Big Lebowski, immediately seized my interest. The rest of the book lives up to that initial excitement, thankfully.
I will admit that I struggled with the "You" chapters for a while – they felt a little repetitive and deliberately vague, and I just wanted to spend more time with Julia. Whether it's her strained maternal relationship, her love of her relative-slash-roommate Uncle Fun, or her rebellious but vulnerable inner monologue, these were the chapters I wanted to be reading. By the final chapters of the book, however, the "You" sections were the ones really putting me through the emotional wringer. I expect they would feel more necessary and less perplexing on re-reading, and I wouldn't be surprised if I liked it even more the second time around.
Oh, and to address the most frequent Tremblay complaint I see – you may not know EVERYTHING by the time you turn the final page, but I can assure you that there's very little ambiguity in the ending this time around.
This book is made up of alternating chapters. The bulk of the story is the "Julia"-headed sections, which follow our protagonist – you guessed it – Julia. She's lucked into a high-paying, short-term job utilising her video game skills, and while she knows deep down that it sounds too good to be true, she accepts. The interspersing chapters headed "You" are a little less straightforward. Written in the second person and putting the reader directly in the addressed character's headspace, these feel more like unravelling mysteries. Combined, these form a kind of AI-fuelled sci-fi Weekend At Bernie's that manages to be at turns quietly scary, laugh-out-loud funny, and occasionally emotionally devastating.
I'm a Tremblay fan generally, and if I wasn't pre-disposed to like it based on that, I certainly was by the end of the second chapter or so – references to Welsh noise-rockers mclusky, and two of the finest LA noir shaggy dog stories, The Long Goodbye and The Big Lebowski, immediately seized my interest. The rest of the book lives up to that initial excitement, thankfully.
I will admit that I struggled with the "You" chapters for a while – they felt a little repetitive and deliberately vague, and I just wanted to spend more time with Julia. Whether it's her strained maternal relationship, her love of her relative-slash-roommate Uncle Fun, or her rebellious but vulnerable inner monologue, these were the chapters I wanted to be reading. By the final chapters of the book, however, the "You" sections were the ones really putting me through the emotional wringer. I expect they would feel more necessary and less perplexing on re-reading, and I wouldn't be surprised if I liked it even more the second time around.
Oh, and to address the most frequent Tremblay complaint I see – you may not know EVERYTHING by the time you turn the final page, but I can assure you that there's very little ambiguity in the ending this time around.
Read
April 25, 2026I received my copy of this book as an ARC via Goodreads giveaway, which has no bearing on my review.
This is the second Tremblay book I've read (after The Cabin at the End of the World, shortly after its release), and he is rapidly becoming a favorite writer. I believe I rated Cabin at 4 stars, and that was mainly because I wasn't sure about the ending, but the longer it has sat with me, the more fitting it seems, and I feel like retroactively changing it to 5 stars.
This book was very different from Cabin in a lot of ways, but there were also some similarities in that the reader may or may not understand what is actually happening. I was better prepared this time, so I wasn't completely surprised by where things ended up going.
Julia is a former competitive gamer (my inner nerd did a little happy dance at the mention of my favorite game) currently working two jobs, and whose mostly estranged mother is CFO of a large tech company. When her mother contacts her with a job offer, Julia isn't sure she should go, but for what she will be paid just for going to the interview, she decides it's worth it.
Spoiler alert:
Julia is tasked with test-driving new technology, which is basically nanobots that have been introduced into the body of a brain-dead stroke patient. Ostensibly, his mother wishes her son to be brought to her in a right-to-die state, where she can carry out his final wishes instead of letting him persist in a vegetative state, and Julia is given a controller that will allow her to direct him (or his nanobots) from point A to point B without interference.
Soooo, yeah. Too much more info would venture into spoiler territory. If you're into a thriller involving cutting-edge technology, a race against time, a shady corporation, moral dilemmas, and unforgettably quirky characters, then you need to check this out.
5 out of 5 stars
This is the second Tremblay book I've read (after The Cabin at the End of the World, shortly after its release), and he is rapidly becoming a favorite writer. I believe I rated Cabin at 4 stars, and that was mainly because I wasn't sure about the ending, but the longer it has sat with me, the more fitting it seems, and I feel like retroactively changing it to 5 stars.
This book was very different from Cabin in a lot of ways, but there were also some similarities in that the reader may or may not understand what is actually happening. I was better prepared this time, so I wasn't completely surprised by where things ended up going.
Julia is a former competitive gamer (my inner nerd did a little happy dance at the mention of my favorite game) currently working two jobs, and whose mostly estranged mother is CFO of a large tech company. When her mother contacts her with a job offer, Julia isn't sure she should go, but for what she will be paid just for going to the interview, she decides it's worth it.
Spoiler alert:
Julia is tasked with test-driving new technology, which is basically nanobots that have been introduced into the body of a brain-dead stroke patient. Ostensibly, his mother wishes her son to be brought to her in a right-to-die state, where she can carry out his final wishes instead of letting him persist in a vegetative state, and Julia is given a controller that will allow her to direct him (or his nanobots) from point A to point B without interference.
Soooo, yeah. Too much more info would venture into spoiler territory. If you're into a thriller involving cutting-edge technology, a race against time, a shady corporation, moral dilemmas, and unforgettably quirky characters, then you need to check this out.
5 out of 5 stars
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
"Outside the windows, the indifferent city melts, and oozes and rebuilds, is always rebuilding, and that others would describe the stubborn, mindless remaking as improvement, as progress, is another horror in a world of horrors."
Paul Tremblay's new novel is about Julia Flang. A young woman in her twenties, a former professional gamer, living with her retired uncle, and working two jobs she isn't keen on. One day her estranged mother, a CFO for one of the world’s largest tech companies, offers her a temp job. The biggest thing keeping Julia from declining is the payday. After a quick but suspicious interview, Julia is offered the job. All that's required of her is to chaperone a man in a vegetative state from California to the East Coast. This man however still has a functioning mind...an AI implanted mind. Then there is a man who wakes up suddenly to find himself in a morphing reality where he seems to be trapped. He can't recall much only knows that he has a strange rabbit tattoo and is looking for a specific person, but for what purpose?
This novel felt like a mind bending trip. It is equally bizarre and hilarious too.
I liked the range of characters in this novel. Some irritated me so much and others worked so well in creating the tension and atmosphere throughout. The dynamics between the characters helped in understanding the backstories of Julia's family and to solve the mystery behind this man in his weird reality.
The creepiest thing about this novel however is how relatable it is giving our current ways of the world. AI is everywhere, this alone is eerie because of the potential future with the way things are progressing.
I enjoyed this book for its suspense, I figured out many clues early on but when it reached the conclusion that was unsettling in its own weird way. I can honestly see this book being adapted into a film or TV show.
Many thanks to @bloomsburypublishing for the arc.
Paul Tremblay's new novel is about Julia Flang. A young woman in her twenties, a former professional gamer, living with her retired uncle, and working two jobs she isn't keen on. One day her estranged mother, a CFO for one of the world’s largest tech companies, offers her a temp job. The biggest thing keeping Julia from declining is the payday. After a quick but suspicious interview, Julia is offered the job. All that's required of her is to chaperone a man in a vegetative state from California to the East Coast. This man however still has a functioning mind...an AI implanted mind. Then there is a man who wakes up suddenly to find himself in a morphing reality where he seems to be trapped. He can't recall much only knows that he has a strange rabbit tattoo and is looking for a specific person, but for what purpose?
This novel felt like a mind bending trip. It is equally bizarre and hilarious too.
I liked the range of characters in this novel. Some irritated me so much and others worked so well in creating the tension and atmosphere throughout. The dynamics between the characters helped in understanding the backstories of Julia's family and to solve the mystery behind this man in his weird reality.
The creepiest thing about this novel however is how relatable it is giving our current ways of the world. AI is everywhere, this alone is eerie because of the potential future with the way things are progressing.
I enjoyed this book for its suspense, I figured out many clues early on but when it reached the conclusion that was unsettling in its own weird way. I can honestly see this book being adapted into a film or TV show.
Many thanks to @bloomsburypublishing for the arc.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Paul Tremblay books never disappoint. Over the last few years, I have found his books to become more personal to him. He is getting more creative and thinking outside of what is uniform in the world of horror. It’s no long ghosts and end of days, it’s the horrors of our reality. In this book, Paul is taking on the world of AI, and it’s no joke.
Julia is asked to remote control a brain dead man across the country. It’s a modern day Weekend at Bernie’s, but not at all funny. But then again, it’s not that movie at all. Julia doesn’t feel right about controlling the body of another human, even if they supposedly have no idea. How can we ever really be sure that someone isn’t still inside of a brain dead body? Sort of a locked in syndrome, Bernie ( yup he gets nicknamed Bernie), is still inside but is being controlled by technology. Did I explain that well enough? lol he has a narrative in this book, but it’s a strange perspective that isn’t quite his own. The tech is trying to push him back down so they can take over. But human emotions and thoughts may be too powerful to contain.
The book is a literally mind trip. I enjoyed the printed chaos of Bernie’s thoughts. I haven’t seen that in a book since Filth by Irvine Welsh. There is a seemingly pointless interlude in the book that readers will question, but u got its purpose. When the tech is controlling Bernie’s thoughts, there is a mind fu&k of strange imagery and random things that make no sense. You may want to give up, because you don’t get it. Yet, you will if you hold on. Bernie is such an important character. He is the heart of the book. I dare you to read this and not get emotional.
The scary thing is, this book is not scifi fiction. It’s actually a reality we can face. AI is everywhere. We can still fight it though, so please don’t give up.
Julia is asked to remote control a brain dead man across the country. It’s a modern day Weekend at Bernie’s, but not at all funny. But then again, it’s not that movie at all. Julia doesn’t feel right about controlling the body of another human, even if they supposedly have no idea. How can we ever really be sure that someone isn’t still inside of a brain dead body? Sort of a locked in syndrome, Bernie ( yup he gets nicknamed Bernie), is still inside but is being controlled by technology. Did I explain that well enough? lol he has a narrative in this book, but it’s a strange perspective that isn’t quite his own. The tech is trying to push him back down so they can take over. But human emotions and thoughts may be too powerful to contain.
The book is a literally mind trip. I enjoyed the printed chaos of Bernie’s thoughts. I haven’t seen that in a book since Filth by Irvine Welsh. There is a seemingly pointless interlude in the book that readers will question, but u got its purpose. When the tech is controlling Bernie’s thoughts, there is a mind fu&k of strange imagery and random things that make no sense. You may want to give up, because you don’t get it. Yet, you will if you hold on. Bernie is such an important character. He is the heart of the book. I dare you to read this and not get emotional.
The scary thing is, this book is not scifi fiction. It’s actually a reality we can face. AI is everywhere. We can still fight it though, so please don’t give up.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley.
Julia is a waitress and gamer with a small Twitch following. Her mother is CFO of a major tech company and offers her a quick job with the promise of a big payout. That job is to escort and navigate a man in a vegetative state who carries a groundbreaking AI system in his head across the country via remote control. Hesitant at first, Julia soon decides she's up for the gig after going through a quick training on the video game-like controller. But the ethical dilemma of just how "dead" is the patient really and a mysterious message asking her to help sabotage the project lead to a harrowing adventure beyond what she thought she was getting into.
Who knew Paul Tremblay could not only write something Philip K. Dick-ish but also punctuate it with LOL humor akin to the likes of Jason Pargin, T. Kingfisher or Grady Hendrix? Those moments of hilarity along with numerous Weekend at Bernie's and The Big Lebowski references, and an overall lighthearted tone to cover the bleaker underlying, really made the book. The story mainly follows Julia and her various misadventures trying to control her subject from San Francisco to Rhode Island. However, intervening chapters are told from the prospect of said subject, a man caught in fever dream hellscape, mainly from being controlled. While I totally get the point of those chapters, their purposely bizarre narrative often made them hard to reckon with, and at times felt way longer than they needed to be to convey their message. I think the novel would have been a better read with those edited down, and the ending really needed more resolution of a few questions raised in the story. 3.75/5*
Julia is a waitress and gamer with a small Twitch following. Her mother is CFO of a major tech company and offers her a quick job with the promise of a big payout. That job is to escort and navigate a man in a vegetative state who carries a groundbreaking AI system in his head across the country via remote control. Hesitant at first, Julia soon decides she's up for the gig after going through a quick training on the video game-like controller. But the ethical dilemma of just how "dead" is the patient really and a mysterious message asking her to help sabotage the project lead to a harrowing adventure beyond what she thought she was getting into.
Who knew Paul Tremblay could not only write something Philip K. Dick-ish but also punctuate it with LOL humor akin to the likes of Jason Pargin, T. Kingfisher or Grady Hendrix? Those moments of hilarity along with numerous Weekend at Bernie's and The Big Lebowski references, and an overall lighthearted tone to cover the bleaker underlying, really made the book. The story mainly follows Julia and her various misadventures trying to control her subject from San Francisco to Rhode Island. However, intervening chapters are told from the prospect of said subject, a man caught in fever dream hellscape, mainly from being controlled. While I totally get the point of those chapters, their purposely bizarre narrative often made them hard to reckon with, and at times felt way longer than they needed to be to convey their message. I think the novel would have been a better read with those edited down, and the ending really needed more resolution of a few questions raised in the story. 3.75/5*
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep explores a thought-provoking premise about the potential dangers of AI when innovation outpaces regulation and ethical boundaries.
The story follows Julia, a lost soul who is living with her uncle. Her father passed away, and she is not close with her mother, who happens to be the CEO of a major tech company. Her mother calls to offer her $5,000 just to attend an interview, while remaining very cryptic about the details of the job. Julia agrees, only to discover she’s being hired for a highly unusual assignment, she'll be accompanying a clinically dead man with experimental AI technology implanted in his brain on a cross-country flight, controlling his movements via remote. Julia nicknames him Bernie (from the movie Weekend at Bernie’s).
The book alternates between Julia’s perspective and chapters from Bernie’s point of view, presented as “You.” I found Julia’s sections much more engaging, especially as she begins questioning the true nature of the experiment and whether she’s being told the full story. The Bernie/You chapters let us know that there is a piece of Bernie’s brain that is still alive. Bernie’s chapters read like a dream sequence and don’t make a lot of sense. I get the is the point, but the chapters were really long and dense, and just made me un-engage from the whole story.
That said, readers who enjoy more experimental storytelling and surreal narrative styles may connect with those sections much more than I did. While this one ultimately wasn’t the best fit for my personal reading preferences, I appreciated the originality of the concept and the unsettling questions it raises about the future of technology.
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The story follows Julia, a lost soul who is living with her uncle. Her father passed away, and she is not close with her mother, who happens to be the CEO of a major tech company. Her mother calls to offer her $5,000 just to attend an interview, while remaining very cryptic about the details of the job. Julia agrees, only to discover she’s being hired for a highly unusual assignment, she'll be accompanying a clinically dead man with experimental AI technology implanted in his brain on a cross-country flight, controlling his movements via remote. Julia nicknames him Bernie (from the movie Weekend at Bernie’s).
The book alternates between Julia’s perspective and chapters from Bernie’s point of view, presented as “You.” I found Julia’s sections much more engaging, especially as she begins questioning the true nature of the experiment and whether she’s being told the full story. The Bernie/You chapters let us know that there is a piece of Bernie’s brain that is still alive. Bernie’s chapters read like a dream sequence and don’t make a lot of sense. I get the is the point, but the chapters were really long and dense, and just made me un-engage from the whole story.
That said, readers who enjoy more experimental storytelling and surreal narrative styles may connect with those sections much more than I did. While this one ultimately wasn’t the best fit for my personal reading preferences, I appreciated the originality of the concept and the unsettling questions it raises about the future of technology.
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Read
April 27, 2026Let me start by saying, this book will absolutely not be for everyone. And I LOVE that. It took me a week to finish this because - life - but I devoured the last 40% in one day when I could finally sit down with it. I just didn't want to put it down. Paul drops you right into the thick of "WTFishappeningland" and takes you on a full tour.
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep was a much different concept/plot than probably anything I've read before which is refreshing. I've been in my #scifigirlie era, so this fit right in. The story follows Julia, a semi professional gamer working two jobs, and "Bernie", a middle aged man in a mostly dead state, on their adventure. Julia is hired to "remote control" him via AI implanted in his brain across the country to bring him to his mother for his final resting. Told through alternating POVs of Julia and YOU, this was a carefully crafted intense, funny, and unsettling world.
If I'm being honest, there were a few things that left me confused, the ending didn't immediately leave me feeling a good type of way, and frankly, I didn't know how I felt. So, I sat on it and messaged Paul. Without spoilers, he reminded me of something I had thought earlier in the book that slipped my mind and it put everything into place.
While I did really enjoy this book, I truly cannot give it a star rating because for me there isn't one that is appropriate, not because it doesn't deserve one - 5 stars for pages 110-111 and 246-247 alone.
Thank you, Paul Tremblay and William and Morrow for putting this book into the universe and allowing me to read it a little bit early.
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep was a much different concept/plot than probably anything I've read before which is refreshing. I've been in my #scifigirlie era, so this fit right in. The story follows Julia, a semi professional gamer working two jobs, and "Bernie", a middle aged man in a mostly dead state, on their adventure. Julia is hired to "remote control" him via AI implanted in his brain across the country to bring him to his mother for his final resting. Told through alternating POVs of Julia and YOU, this was a carefully crafted intense, funny, and unsettling world.
If I'm being honest, there were a few things that left me confused, the ending didn't immediately leave me feeling a good type of way, and frankly, I didn't know how I felt. So, I sat on it and messaged Paul. Without spoilers, he reminded me of something I had thought earlier in the book that slipped my mind and it put everything into place.
While I did really enjoy this book, I truly cannot give it a star rating because for me there isn't one that is appropriate, not because it doesn't deserve one - 5 stars for pages 110-111 and 246-247 alone.
Thank you, Paul Tremblay and William and Morrow for putting this book into the universe and allowing me to read it a little bit early.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
In Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay, we are introduced to Julia, a young woman currently adrift in her life. She lives with her retired uncle, is a semi-professional gamer, and is juggling two jobs she hates.
Unexpectedly, her estranged mother, who also happens to be the CFO of a major tech firm, reaches out with an unusual job opportunity that urgently requires Julia’s gaming skills.
After some internal turmoil, Julia agrees to attend the interview and soon learns what the role entails: travelling across the country with a clinically brain-dead patient, delivering him to his family so they can begin end-of-life care. The twist is that Julia will be guiding his movements remotely; the patient has been fitted with AI in what is presented as a breakthrough that could reshape medical science.
And so the story begins.
While I enjoyed the novel, I also found it frustrating at times. The narrative alternates between Julia’s perspective and that of ‘Bernie’, who is, in a sense, still alive. The chapters from Bernie’s viewpoint are the clear highlight. They are experimental, sharply executed, and allow Tremblay to fully flex his abilities as a writer.
By contrast, Julia proved harder to connect with. She felt less like a fully realised person and more like a collection of quips and generational film references, with a layer of angst on top.
Overall, although I found the premise compelling, disquieting, and topical, I wasn’t entirely convinced by its execution. That said, this may well be a minority view.
Worth a look.
With thanks to Bloomsbury for the ARC
Unexpectedly, her estranged mother, who also happens to be the CFO of a major tech firm, reaches out with an unusual job opportunity that urgently requires Julia’s gaming skills.
After some internal turmoil, Julia agrees to attend the interview and soon learns what the role entails: travelling across the country with a clinically brain-dead patient, delivering him to his family so they can begin end-of-life care. The twist is that Julia will be guiding his movements remotely; the patient has been fitted with AI in what is presented as a breakthrough that could reshape medical science.
And so the story begins.
While I enjoyed the novel, I also found it frustrating at times. The narrative alternates between Julia’s perspective and that of ‘Bernie’, who is, in a sense, still alive. The chapters from Bernie’s viewpoint are the clear highlight. They are experimental, sharply executed, and allow Tremblay to fully flex his abilities as a writer.
By contrast, Julia proved harder to connect with. She felt less like a fully realised person and more like a collection of quips and generational film references, with a layer of angst on top.
Overall, although I found the premise compelling, disquieting, and topical, I wasn’t entirely convinced by its execution. That said, this may well be a minority view.
Worth a look.
With thanks to Bloomsbury for the ARC
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the eARC.
Julia is tasked with a strange and extremely difficult task: assist travel with a clinically brain dead man from California to Rhode Island. The man has AI implants in his brain, and Julia, being a semi professional gamer, will need to “control”his every move to get him on and off planes until he arrives at his destination. But is he actually dead? Does he really have nothing going on in his brain? Is he incapable of thought and feeling?
This was such a mind bending book, but also incredibly timely considering how Gen AI is trying to take over the world. Of course, there are half truths and straight up lies to cover the actual purpose and truth behind this man and what purpose he may serve. Is this tech giant really just doing this final transport to his mother out of the kindness of their own heart? Or is there a more sinister reason?
The book is divided into two POVs, one that’s straightforward following Julia’s path, and the other being that of the man, whom Julia has given the nickname Bernie. Despite being in a vegetative state, how can we be positive they feel or hear nothing? And that nothing goes on in the brain? This book questions morality, ethics in science, and what the actual heck large corporations are really trying to achieve.
It was a bit of a mind f*ck at times, trying to navigate Bernie’s mind because it’s completely out there, and I really applaud Paul Trenblay for going so far with this, coming up with the scenes, and giving this man a solid backstory despite his condition. It’s quite depressing, and it just solidifies my decision to never feed into Gen AI.
Julia is tasked with a strange and extremely difficult task: assist travel with a clinically brain dead man from California to Rhode Island. The man has AI implants in his brain, and Julia, being a semi professional gamer, will need to “control”his every move to get him on and off planes until he arrives at his destination. But is he actually dead? Does he really have nothing going on in his brain? Is he incapable of thought and feeling?
This was such a mind bending book, but also incredibly timely considering how Gen AI is trying to take over the world. Of course, there are half truths and straight up lies to cover the actual purpose and truth behind this man and what purpose he may serve. Is this tech giant really just doing this final transport to his mother out of the kindness of their own heart? Or is there a more sinister reason?
The book is divided into two POVs, one that’s straightforward following Julia’s path, and the other being that of the man, whom Julia has given the nickname Bernie. Despite being in a vegetative state, how can we be positive they feel or hear nothing? And that nothing goes on in the brain? This book questions morality, ethics in science, and what the actual heck large corporations are really trying to achieve.
It was a bit of a mind f*ck at times, trying to navigate Bernie’s mind because it’s completely out there, and I really applaud Paul Trenblay for going so far with this, coming up with the scenes, and giving this man a solid backstory despite his condition. It’s quite depressing, and it just solidifies my decision to never feed into Gen AI.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I had high hopes for this. I've been a fan of Paul Tremblay's books for a while; his creeping Horror Movie was an instant favourite for me. So when I heard about an upcoming Tremblay foray into science fiction (my favourite genre), I was really excited.
Unfortunately, I struggled with this one. The novel tells the story of a coma patient, whose body is remotely controlled by a young gamer, hired by your classic Evil Sci-fi Megacorp, dressed in shiny Silicon Valley techwear. We see this play out from two perspectives: one is the young gamer called Julia, the dorky 19-year-old daughter of said megacorp's CFO. The other perspective is the warped meta-reality of the 'brain-dead' patient - "Bernie" - as they navigate unreal and creeping spaces.
The sections from "Bernie's" perspective are definitely experimental, with typographical page breaks and inserted text boxes, showcasing the Unreality of this world. The prose in these sections are suberbly written. The reason I struggled were primary because of the sections with the young gamer, Julia. I couldn't get on board with her wise-cracking, her constant references to 80s films. Having loved Tremblay's 'Head Full of Ghosts', I've previously enjoyed the way he can write younger characters and make them feel authentic. Unfortunately, Julia's sections of the book, specifically her dialogue, feel like YA, packed with 'cool teen' Marvel-style quips. I personally really dislike that kind of dialogue choice in books so this one wasn't for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the ARC for this book
Unfortunately, I struggled with this one. The novel tells the story of a coma patient, whose body is remotely controlled by a young gamer, hired by your classic Evil Sci-fi Megacorp, dressed in shiny Silicon Valley techwear. We see this play out from two perspectives: one is the young gamer called Julia, the dorky 19-year-old daughter of said megacorp's CFO. The other perspective is the warped meta-reality of the 'brain-dead' patient - "Bernie" - as they navigate unreal and creeping spaces.
The sections from "Bernie's" perspective are definitely experimental, with typographical page breaks and inserted text boxes, showcasing the Unreality of this world. The prose in these sections are suberbly written. The reason I struggled were primary because of the sections with the young gamer, Julia. I couldn't get on board with her wise-cracking, her constant references to 80s films. Having loved Tremblay's 'Head Full of Ghosts', I've previously enjoyed the way he can write younger characters and make them feel authentic. Unfortunately, Julia's sections of the book, specifically her dialogue, feel like YA, packed with 'cool teen' Marvel-style quips. I personally really dislike that kind of dialogue choice in books so this one wasn't for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the ARC for this book
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep is a bleak, brain-bending road trip through a future that feels closer then humanity may be comfortable with. Its a story about control of bodies, of minds, of narratives and how quickly those things unravel when technology starts treating people like hardware. The premise is immediately compelling, It’s strange, unsettling, and just grounded enough to feel disturbingly.plausible.
What Tremblay does best is the atmosphere. The sections inside the fractured mind are especially effective, almost dreamlike. They do not always make sense but that is the point and that is exactly what makes it so effective. Its at times grotesque and feels disorienting giving the feeling of being trapped inside them.
That said the worldbuilding is restrained. This isn’t a flashy sci-fi future instead we are given a glimpse of a time where corporations quietly push past ethical boundaries while society looks the other way. Which somehow makes the feeling of foreboding even worse. The story also often withholds more than it reveals and that can occasionally cause frustration but it does create a haunting effect that works well when its needs to.
Overall, Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep is a bold, unsettling, and deliberately imperfect book. For me the central idea is strong enough to carry the entire novel, and Tremblay uses it to explore identity, control, and the quiet horror of a world where people can be reduced to systems.
What Tremblay does best is the atmosphere. The sections inside the fractured mind are especially effective, almost dreamlike. They do not always make sense but that is the point and that is exactly what makes it so effective. Its at times grotesque and feels disorienting giving the feeling of being trapped inside them.
That said the worldbuilding is restrained. This isn’t a flashy sci-fi future instead we are given a glimpse of a time where corporations quietly push past ethical boundaries while society looks the other way. Which somehow makes the feeling of foreboding even worse. The story also often withholds more than it reveals and that can occasionally cause frustration but it does create a haunting effect that works well when its needs to.
Overall, Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep is a bold, unsettling, and deliberately imperfect book. For me the central idea is strong enough to carry the entire novel, and Tremblay uses it to explore identity, control, and the quiet horror of a world where people can be reduced to systems.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay is a novel that left me with mixed feelings, and I suspect it may divide readers just as much. The story alternates between two perspectives. Julia, a recent college graduate and avid gamer who feels a bit adrift after finishing school, and “you,” a mostly-dead, unnamed person being transported across the country to his mother.
On one hand, the book offers an imaginative and unsettling, horror-tinged satire of our current moment with AI. It taps into the sense that AI is still a wild frontier, with unknown limits and unsettling possibilities. The scenario Tremblay explores is genuinely eerie, even if the underlying concept isn’t entirely new.
On the other hand, Julia didn’t work for me at all. I found her characterization unconvincing, overly naive and almost childlike, and her repeated references to The Big Lebowski and Weekend at Bernie’s felt forced rather than natural.
Because of the novel’s structure and tone, what could have been a deeply unsettling premise often landed as more awkward and cringeworthy rather than frightening. That said, the “you” chapters stood out for their creativity and originality, and they’re ultimately what brought my rating up. I’m still conflicted, but I’ve settled on 3 stars for the strength of those sections.
Many thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Paul Tremblay for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
On one hand, the book offers an imaginative and unsettling, horror-tinged satire of our current moment with AI. It taps into the sense that AI is still a wild frontier, with unknown limits and unsettling possibilities. The scenario Tremblay explores is genuinely eerie, even if the underlying concept isn’t entirely new.
On the other hand, Julia didn’t work for me at all. I found her characterization unconvincing, overly naive and almost childlike, and her repeated references to The Big Lebowski and Weekend at Bernie’s felt forced rather than natural.
Because of the novel’s structure and tone, what could have been a deeply unsettling premise often landed as more awkward and cringeworthy rather than frightening. That said, the “you” chapters stood out for their creativity and originality, and they’re ultimately what brought my rating up. I’m still conflicted, but I’ve settled on 3 stars for the strength of those sections.
Many thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Paul Tremblay for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book was definitely a curve ball. I’m not typically a sci-fi reader but I’m always looking to broaden my horizons. While I’m not sure I’m the target audience for this book I didn’t enjoy parts of it.
To start with, I loved Julia’s wit and cadence. Her overall attitude in the face of obscene ridiculousness was so fun to read and made the story relatable. I thoroughly enjoyed all of her chapters and how her voice helped propel the story along. Unfortunately the “You” chapters (or Bernie’s chapters) were really hard to get through and pulled me out of the story everytime. I began to skim through the just to get back to Julia’s chapters and back to the story at hand. While I understand needing his altered point of view and the creepiness it brought, I don’t think it truly helped the story.
We live in a time where sci-fi books are becoming more and more realistic and it’s so scary to even realize that what these characters endured throughout this novel could very well be a possibility in the near future. I love Paul Tremblay and I think he created a really unique and thought provoking book with “Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep” I’m excited to see what everyone thinks of this book when it is released, because I know it will start many conversations on the ethics of AI and all future tech advancements.
Thank you, Paul Tremblay, William Morrow, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
To start with, I loved Julia’s wit and cadence. Her overall attitude in the face of obscene ridiculousness was so fun to read and made the story relatable. I thoroughly enjoyed all of her chapters and how her voice helped propel the story along. Unfortunately the “You” chapters (or Bernie’s chapters) were really hard to get through and pulled me out of the story everytime. I began to skim through the just to get back to Julia’s chapters and back to the story at hand. While I understand needing his altered point of view and the creepiness it brought, I don’t think it truly helped the story.
We live in a time where sci-fi books are becoming more and more realistic and it’s so scary to even realize that what these characters endured throughout this novel could very well be a possibility in the near future. I love Paul Tremblay and I think he created a really unique and thought provoking book with “Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep” I’m excited to see what everyone thinks of this book when it is released, because I know it will start many conversations on the ethics of AI and all future tech advancements.
Thank you, Paul Tremblay, William Morrow, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep blends sci-fi and horror elements to create something reminiscent of a Black Mirror episode. Julia, the daughter of a tech company CEO, gets tapped for a last minute favor for her mother. The favor just happens to be using her video game prowess to pilot a braindead man like a mech from one side of the country to the other. The book alternates between a standard 3rd person perspective (Julia) and a very surreal 2nd person perspective (You, aka aforementioned braindead man). As Julia makes her way across the country with the man she dubs "Bernie", she wrestles with her place in this experiment.
I really need someone who has potent mental imagery to read this and tell me how these chapters felt for them. I have aphantasia and have a hard time visualizing regular novels let alone the vivid fever-dream imagery described in the 2nd person perspective chapters. I think that because of this some of the more horror-tinged elements didn't quite hit for me.
This book was scary more in a "technological horrors beyond our comprehension" existential dread kind of way than a traditional horror way, but that is not a bad thing.
As a closing statement, fuck gen AI forever and don't let Elon Musk put a chip into your brain.
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep blends sci-fi and horror elements to create something reminiscent of a Black Mirror episode. Julia, the daughter of a tech company CEO, gets tapped for a last minute favor for her mother. The favor just happens to be using her video game prowess to pilot a braindead man like a mech from one side of the country to the other. The book alternates between a standard 3rd person perspective (Julia) and a very surreal 2nd person perspective (You, aka aforementioned braindead man). As Julia makes her way across the country with the man she dubs "Bernie", she wrestles with her place in this experiment.
I really need someone who has potent mental imagery to read this and tell me how these chapters felt for them. I have aphantasia and have a hard time visualizing regular novels let alone the vivid fever-dream imagery described in the 2nd person perspective chapters. I think that because of this some of the more horror-tinged elements didn't quite hit for me.
This book was scary more in a "technological horrors beyond our comprehension" existential dread kind of way than a traditional horror way, but that is not a bad thing.
As a closing statement, fuck gen AI forever and don't let Elon Musk put a chip into your brain.
Read
April 24, 2026This is a tough one for me because 1) I don’t read sci-fi (with the exception of Ready Player One and also all things Richard Bachman - IYKYK) and 2) I will read a pudding menu if it was written by Paul Tremblay.
The title should have been an indication that we wouldn’t be in the usual horror realm, but I didn’t let that stop me.
The story I’d say it’s closest to is Pallbearers club, which I also didn’t particularly enjoy (I take full responsibility for that). As with Pallbearers the “horror” element is really more of an existential dread.
For those reasons I’m not giving it a a star rating because it’s just not my cup of tea.
Will I continue to read Tremblay’s books in future, and also complete the back catalogue? Hell yeah!
In the same way that I don’t enjoy the Dark Tower series, you can’t expect an author to be tied to a certain genre, and authors also don’t expect to please all of the readers all of the time (or even some of the readers some of the time! It is, when all said and done, an art form. If you don’t like it there’s a billion others you can choose from. Jog on.)
Things I did like were the pop culture references and the way the characters were written, that’s consistent across all of his work.
Would I have DNF’d this if it was by a different author? Sure.
Was the ending dissatisfying? Also yes. But I think that’s the point.
The title should have been an indication that we wouldn’t be in the usual horror realm, but I didn’t let that stop me.
The story I’d say it’s closest to is Pallbearers club, which I also didn’t particularly enjoy (I take full responsibility for that). As with Pallbearers the “horror” element is really more of an existential dread.
For those reasons I’m not giving it a a star rating because it’s just not my cup of tea.
Will I continue to read Tremblay’s books in future, and also complete the back catalogue? Hell yeah!
In the same way that I don’t enjoy the Dark Tower series, you can’t expect an author to be tied to a certain genre, and authors also don’t expect to please all of the readers all of the time (or even some of the readers some of the time! It is, when all said and done, an art form. If you don’t like it there’s a billion others you can choose from. Jog on.)
Things I did like were the pop culture references and the way the characters were written, that’s consistent across all of his work.
Would I have DNF’d this if it was by a different author? Sure.
Was the ending dissatisfying? Also yes. But I think that’s the point.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
At the heart of this novel is a warning of sorts about AI and its ever increasing invasiveness in our world. Perhaps it could be called a cautionary tale.
Julia is a young woman who gets offered a life changing amount of money for a two day job from her mother, the CFO at a tech company.
Her job would be to transport a man who suffered a stroke and is now pronounced brain dead to another state which has "right to die" laws. Sounds easy, except the company has inserted an AI project into his brain to take over his motor functions via a wireless connected remote gaming controller.
Julia must manipulate him against his will, board with him on a plane, and navigate him to his destination. But things are going to get weird.
The AI is learning and evolving, he is alive but can't speak nor fight this manipulation of his body, and Julie is morally conflicted as she starts learning the truth of what the company actually has planned.
This novel might have a sci-fi vibe to it but it's not too far fetched considering the AI wave that doesn't seem to be stopping. It's a chilling read in that "this could actually happen" kind of way and it'll give you pause. I highly recommend it. I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
Julia is a young woman who gets offered a life changing amount of money for a two day job from her mother, the CFO at a tech company.
Her job would be to transport a man who suffered a stroke and is now pronounced brain dead to another state which has "right to die" laws. Sounds easy, except the company has inserted an AI project into his brain to take over his motor functions via a wireless connected remote gaming controller.
Julia must manipulate him against his will, board with him on a plane, and navigate him to his destination. But things are going to get weird.
The AI is learning and evolving, he is alive but can't speak nor fight this manipulation of his body, and Julie is morally conflicted as she starts learning the truth of what the company actually has planned.
This novel might have a sci-fi vibe to it but it's not too far fetched considering the AI wave that doesn't seem to be stopping. It's a chilling read in that "this could actually happen" kind of way and it'll give you pause. I highly recommend it. I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
February 4, 2026
I love you Paul and I'm so sorry and ashamed to admit that I didn't click with this one.
As always, the prose was impeccable; no one else publishing in my preferred genres is giving me a vocab list like Tremblay does. The idea was solid as fuck, and the true horror of it lay right there: the absolute likelihood of this tech existing in our real world. It probably already is ffs. Maybe this world is my own nightmare consciousness realm the whole time.
Alas it was the very thing that sold me (besides being a Tremblay stan) that broke me: the Philip K Dick stuff was a very cool idea and I didn't care about it at all :( The nightmare POV was difficult to read through, grasp what was happening, and yes that was the POINT, I get it... alas. It didn't work for me. Especially when it was just a twisted lens into what I already read in the "normal world" POV. Like, interesting experiment, but I could have used less of one or the other.
Also I don't like the Coen Brothers stuff lol so, yeaaaaaaaaaaah.
As always, the prose was impeccable; no one else publishing in my preferred genres is giving me a vocab list like Tremblay does. The idea was solid as fuck, and the true horror of it lay right there: the absolute likelihood of this tech existing in our real world. It probably already is ffs. Maybe this world is my own nightmare consciousness realm the whole time.
Alas it was the very thing that sold me (besides being a Tremblay stan) that broke me: the Philip K Dick stuff was a very cool idea and I didn't care about it at all :( The nightmare POV was difficult to read through, grasp what was happening, and yes that was the POINT, I get it... alas. It didn't work for me. Especially when it was just a twisted lens into what I already read in the "normal world" POV. Like, interesting experiment, but I could have used less of one or the other.
Also I don't like the Coen Brothers stuff lol so, yeaaaaaaaaaaah.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I don't write reviews, but I got this in a goodreads giveaway. Since it hasn't come out and I was lucky enough to get an advance copy, I feel like I should at least say something about the book.
I'm a fan of Paul Tremblay and I've been working may way through his other books over the last year or two. I've liked all of them so far, and this is no exception. His books, including this one, I think are difficult to categorize. The horror in this isn't really something creepy, gory, or shocking. It's sad and unpleasant. It's about the loss of autonomy and identity. It is also, obviously, about covertly moving a mostly dead man through well populated areas.
Fair warning, to those who might be bothered by it, the writing alternates perspective from first to second person. The second-person chapters begin more surreal and confusing, but become more clear as the book goes on (at least for me). I gave it three stars, because I thought it was a really well-crafted story that I appreciated and stayed engaged with, but didn't always enjoy.
I'm a fan of Paul Tremblay and I've been working may way through his other books over the last year or two. I've liked all of them so far, and this is no exception. His books, including this one, I think are difficult to categorize. The horror in this isn't really something creepy, gory, or shocking. It's sad and unpleasant. It's about the loss of autonomy and identity. It is also, obviously, about covertly moving a mostly dead man through well populated areas.
Fair warning, to those who might be bothered by it, the writing alternates perspective from first to second person. The second-person chapters begin more surreal and confusing, but become more clear as the book goes on (at least for me). I gave it three stars, because I thought it was a really well-crafted story that I appreciated and stayed engaged with, but didn't always enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews