The Sleepwalker; An Audible Book Review

I am having a love affair with Chris Bhojalian, it seems.  I just finished listening to his latest release, The Sleepwalker.  This novel was narrated by Cady McClain and Grace Experience.  Grace Experience was also the narrator in the last Bhojalian novel I listened to, The Guest Room.

This was a little disconcerting for me at first.  I thought that Experience was perfect narrating a young girl who was forced into sex slavery in The Guest Room. I had a hard time reconciling that voice with the voice of the Sleepwalker in this novel. Of course, in true Bohjalian style, it all came together at the end and it turns out that Experience, once again, was a great choice.

This is the story of Annalee, a wife and mother of a daughter home from college and an athletic tween.   Annalee suffered 5 miscarriages between these girls and they mean everything to her.  Annalee suffers from parasomnia, commonly referred to as sleepwalking.  This sleepwalking only occurs when her husband is not at home with her. In the past, her eldest daughter, has found her spray painting the hydrangea bush and once rescued her, naked, from a bridge over the river.  It was after this scary bridge incident that Annalee attended a sleep clinic and appeared to be cured.  Her husband, decides to attend a work related convention while the eldest daughter is home during a break from college, when Annalee disappears during the night.

Thus starts this novel that immediately grabs you and pulls you kicking and screaming through all the twists and turns that make up a Bohjalian novel.  This author never fails to surprise me.  I thought that I had this novel figured out several times, and I came close, but I was still surprised at the end.  If you love mystery/suspense stories, this novel will not disappoint.

The Guest Room: An Audible Book Review

Wow.....all I can say is Wow!!  This latest novel by Chris Bohjalian is mind boggling and frightening...not Stephen King scary, more like John Grisham scary....like OMG, these things really happen right under our noses and we are oblivious to it.

This novel, about the very real and ongoing problem of Sex Slavery.  Every day, young girls are taken from their homes and lives and turned into slaves that are used to provide sexual release to men who either don't realize or don't care.  I had, of course, heard about sex slaves and I know that there is a sex crime ring that is located in a neighboring State but I never really understood.  Oh sure, if something was mentioned on the news or in the media....I would tsk tsk  and shake my head at the evil in the world.  I know that many young girls run away from disfunctional families and wind up in the hands of men who exploit them and use them for monetary gain.  But listening to these narrators, who were so excellent and who drew you into the story so well, was like being hit between the eyes with a brick.  It was the difference of knowing that cancer is a terrible disease and then having someone you love or yourself get cancer and KNOWING it is a terrible disease.  

Chris Bohjalian is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. In this novel he brings  to life a young woman who was forced into prostitution.  It also tells the story of an average American, middle class family and how their lives were torn apart by the sex slave trade as well.  I normally prefer reading a book myself over an audible book but I can't believe that I would have enjoyed reading this book nearly as much as I enjoyed listening to it.  Mozhan Marno and Grace Experience did that tremendous of a job.