Chris Bohjalian is a master at picking a hot-button or intriguing topic, and creating an entire novel to explore the issue (in much the same way as [a:Jodi Picoult|7128|Jodi Picoult|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1475775448p2/7128.jpg]). While I've thoroughly enjoyed several of his earlier books, this one seemed merely average.

In this novel, Bohjalian navigates parasomnias -- sleep disorders that include abnormal behaviors, emotions, perceptions, and what one might refer to as "sleepwalking" to the extreme. Bohjalian includes real-life data, which I found to be the most interesting part of the book (i.e. people charged with sexual assualt have been found "not guilty" because it was determined that while a non-consensual act took place, the offender was asleep at the time, etc.)

The novel centers around mother and known parasomniac, Annalee Ahlberg, who goes missing one night, and the aftermath as her family grapples with what might have happened to her. Interspersed with the narrative are first-person accounts from unknown parasomniac characters, which felt more like red herrings to me as the reader never knows exactly who is speaking and the partial confessions are never fully revealed.

3 stars

Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian has a great premise about sleepwalking. There are explanations for sleep walking sex too. Unfortunately, the novel turns into a routine mystery with characters undeveloped and routine writing. I have been a fan of this author even though the quality is inconsistent. ( )

Mystery surrounding a mother’s disappearance and death. She was a sleepwalker. ( )

I have heard about sleepwalking before, but not in this way. This is novel can seem slow, but it's steady and engaging. The story is rich with feeling, the poignant sense of despair, and the mind numbing reality of tragedy. Having experienced seeming back to back deaths in recent years, I could identify with the characters' forced movement, a zombified existence while trying to cope with an unbearable loss. Chris Bohjalian shocks you just when you've become comfortable in the scenic, autumnal Vermont setting. So masterful was the story woven that never did I think I had solved this mystery, it was still something I had to reread when it came to light. ( )

This would be a good beach book. You don't really need a lot of concentration. It takes a while to find out whether the mom is still alive and I think that's revealed at just the right time. ( )