Play Book Tag discussion

The Sleepwalker – Chris Bohjalian
Book on CD read by Cady McClain & Grace Experience.
3.5***

Annalee Ahlberg – a wife and mother of two – goes missing. She is a known sleepwalker and past episodes have ranged from quirky (she spray-painted the hydrangeas with silver) to dangerous (her oldest daughter, Lianna, found her on the lip of a bridge over the river). As a search team begins to comb the area, detective Gavin Rikert questions Lianna. As time passes, little sis, Paige, takes to swimming in the river to look for clues.

What an interesting concept for a missing-person mystery! The basic storyline is occasionally interrupted by a “memoir” of sorts where a sleepwalker (who remains unidentified until the very end) relates his/her own experiences.

I appreciated all that I learned about sleep disorders, sleepwalking in particular. I recall one of my grade-school friends telling us about her brother’s episode of sleepwalking and we all found it VERY spooky (I think were about 8 or 9 years old). She only ever related the one incident, but I easily imagine how distressing this is for a family when episodes happen repeatedly and without any discernible schedule or trigger.

I really liked Lianna as the main narrator. She is basically an adult, being a sophomore in college. She takes on the responsibility of keeping her family fed and clothed, and makes sure her younger sister gets to school and sports activities. But she is vulnerable, and I wasn’t sure that her relationship was a healthy one. I could feel the continued tension of “not knowing,” and the slow realization of loss.

The ending and final reveal of what happened to Annalee Ahlberg was a stunner that I didn’t see coming.

Cady McClain and Grace Experience do a fine job of performing the audiobook, though I’m not sure which voice artist narrated which section.




LINK to my review