Novel ini merupakan salah satu dari sekian banyak karya penulis novel misteri kenamaan, Greg Iles. Sama halnya dalam novel lainnya, The Footprints of God, sekali lagi Greg Iles mengajak kita berpetualang menguak sebuah misteri dahsyat. Misteri yang membuat Anda terus terjaga sepanjang malam. Jadi, jangan baca buku ini jika Anda masih menginginkan tidur yang lelap!Sempat skeptis juga baca sinopsis buku ini, sebabnya adalah buku ini tetap bikin ngantuk di awal-awal ceritanya, alurnya agak lambat, actionnya masih belum muncul, dan tokoh-tokohnya pun masih adem ayem, sangat sedikit konflik, lebih banyak bercerita tentang masa lalu. Nah, di pertengahan buku sampai akhir, barulah misteri dahsyat ini mulai terkuak, mulai terbuka semua, tak sabar ingin segera menghabiskan buku ini, dan jujur saja baru sekarang lagi sensasi membaca buku saya rasakan kembali.Kehadiran Eve Sumner membuat Waters terperangah. Bukan karena Eve cantik dan memesona. Lebih dari itu, Eve adalah juga Malorie, yang selalu terobsesi dengannya. Mustahil memang mengingat Malorie telah terbunuh beberapa tahun yang lalu. Lantas, siapa Eve sebenarnya? Benarkah ia hanya mengarang cerita tentang jatidirinya? Apa hubungan mereka sebenarnya? Apakah Malorie benar-benar sudah mati? Waters harus tahu jawaban semua pertanyaan itu. Jika tidak, ia akan kehilangan seluruh anggota keluarganya. Awal dari sinopsis buku ini, langsung muncul typo antara Mallory di dalam buku dan Malorie di bagian belakang buku (sinopsis), entah kalau dua nama ini punya arti yang sama di luar negeri sana. Tapi sebagai orang Indonesia, tetap ingat kata-kata William Shakespeare: “Apalah Arti Sebuah Nama”. Penuh misteri, membuat bertanya-tanya, bahkan saya sendiri sampai menebak-nebak, kira-kira apa yang terjadi pada Eve, mengapa dia bisa sangat mirip dan bahkan tahu rahasia-rahasia terbesar Mallory. Mallory sendiri ialah mantan pacar John Walters semenjak muda, hingga akhirnya dia tewas sepuluh tahun yang lalu. Sebelum tewas, ternyata Mallory sempat berkehendak untuk membunuh Walters, dengan alasan dia sangat mencintai Walters, sehingga setiap kali muncul rasa cemburu dalam dirinya, emosi dan nafsu untuk membunuh Walters itu muncul, dua kali sudah percobaan pembunuhan itu dilakukan.Ternyata, semua ini memang berawal dari masa lalu. Banyak kejadian masa lalu terkuak setelah Eve alias Mallory ditemukan tewas setelah tidur bersama Waters. Bagaimana masa lalu Mallory yang begitu kelam, sampai-sampai menjadi korban kekerasan seksual dari seseorang yang sangat dekat dengannya. Bagaimana ternyata sahabat dan istri Walters ternyata pernah punya hubungan di masa muda. Hingga kisah mengapa Walters dan istrinya hanya dikaruniai seorang anak padahal Lily, sang istri sempat hamil lagi sampai dua kali.Proses pencarian dan pemecahan teka-teki kematian Eve mencapai puncaknya ketika Walters ditemani oleh pengacara dan juga sahabatnya, Penn, dalam merunut peristiwa-peristiwa logis yang terjadi diantara hidup Walters dan sekelilingnya. Disini kita diajak ikut berpikir, apakah tudingan Penn terhadap sahabat dan istri Walters bahwa mereka ikut terlibat dalam konspirasi pembunuhan ini adalah benar. Ataukah memang Mallory itu sebenarnya masih hidup, dan semua hal yang terjadi di luar nalar Walters dan terutama hukum, adalah hal yang nyata, dan bisa dibuktikan. Bukan sekedar kejadian mistis yang tidak mungkin untuk dilakukan.Bisa dibilang buku ini sangat rapi, walaupun cukup banyak adegan seks yang tersirat, namun tidak dibuat tersurat dalam buku ini. Begitu pula dengan selera sang penulis, Greg Iles, yang juga pernah tergabung dalam grup musik Frankly Scarlet, dia tidak segan untuk menulis hal-hal yang ada di dunia modern ini, seperti penyebutan merk mobil, hingga penyebutan judul buku lain, seperti Harry Potter dan Lord of the Ring, sehingga kesannya buku ini memang merupakan buku yang berdasarkan kisah nyata dan bukan hanya fiksi belaka. Cerita dari buku ini sendiri menurut saya sangat pantas untuk difilmkan, sehingga kita bisa melihat, apakah fenomena tentang jiwa yang merasuk itu benar-benar terjadi di dunia nyata, ataukah hanya sekedar fiksi. Buku ini pantas untuk mendapatkan rate 4 dari 5 bintang.
I'm kind of a sucker for any novel or movie that Stephen King recommends. It may not always pay off when it comes to movies, but when it comes to good books, King has rarely steered me wrong. It's because of King that I discovered one of my favorite authors, Laura Lippman.I didn't come to Greg Iles through King. I picked up his novel "Turning Angel" and was hooked immediately. Most Iles books are those that I'd classify as "books that own me" while reading them. I keep wanting to go and do other necessary things, but I can't because I just have to read "one more chapter" to find out what happens next.So, combine the fact that I already like Iles with a front cover blurb by King and I find myself wondering why I hadn't read "Sleep No More" before now.Set in Iles fictional town of Natchez, Mississippi, "Sleep No More" tells the story of John Waters. With his long-time friend Cole, Waters is part of an oil-drilling business that's had some solid success. He's married to Lily and they have a precocious daughter together. Their marriage looks great, but it's been on a shaky ground since Lily had a miscarriage several years before and they haven't exactly been connecting in a physical way. Years before, Waters had a long romance with Mallory Candler, a beautiful woman who turned out to be a couple of tacos short of a combo platter. The romance took place in college and the couple aborted two unwanted pregnancies. This helped bring on some of Mallory's less desirable traits and led to her stalking Waters for a period of years. She was killed several years before and Waters hasn't forgotten her but has tried to move on with his life.Enter Eve, a woman who claims she's been possessed by the spirit of Mallory. She comes to Waters and tells him this. Eve is a local real estate agent who has a certain reputation around town. Is she looking for a new fling with Waters or is she telling the truth? Waters is convinced it is Mallory and enters into an affair with Eve/Mallory. (It seems that Mallory can enter the body of a new host upon sexual peak only). If it all sounds like it takes a huge dose of suspension of disbelief to make the story work, it does. But the thing is that by grounding Waters as he does, Iles takes a page from King or Richard Matheson and gives us an ordinary person facing extraordinary circumstances. Seeing how Waters reacts as the web slowly closes in around him keeps the pages flying, just to see what happens next. And Iles is willing to at least throw in a few things that are plausible reasons as to why this could be certain people in Waters' life trying to mess with him. In fact, half the fun of the story is trying to figure out which twist is the right twist and which are red herrings.According to the critical blurbs, "Sleep No More" was recommended as a beach read when it was first published. And that's exactly what it is. Iles has done some great stories and while this may not be his most profound or important, it's one of the more enjoyable stories he's told. Like a blockbuster, popcorn movie, don't think too much about it and just enjoy the ride. You'll be glad you did.
What do You think about Sleep No More (2003)?
1.5 STARS"John Waters is a successful petroleum geologist with the perfect family. Then one day his world is turned inside out by a single word spoken from the lips of the stunning Eve Sumner. One solitary word that takes him back a decade to another woman and the most passionate of affairs. Mallory Candler was the quintessential Southern Belle. But her captivating beauty and intelligence hid a dark side that John Waters couldn't handle. Mallory loved John with a deep seething passion that threatened to destroy them both, and despite his infatuation he ended their affair. Sometime later her body was found raped and murdered on a New Orleans pier. When John and Eve meet two days later at a cocktail party her parting gesture is a slight squeeze of his hand and the words "You weren't wrong about what I said; it's me John." His blood runs cold. How does Eve Sumner know so many secrets about his past with Mallory Candler? Was their first meeting cleverly orchestrated or simply fate?" (From Amazon) A bit weird with the paranormal stuff - I finished the book but did not really care for it.
—Kris - My Novelesque Life
i've been told that greg iles is a great writer and his books are great.....i started with this one....sounded decent on the back...but it took me over two weeks to choke it down...i was very disappointed....but kept reading it because i thought it would recover itself and get better...but with every long page, came another long and boring page. and honestly i like a good sex scene....but that was too much...i couldn't connect with any of the characters, and hoped they'd all die in the end..this one was a waste of time...he had a good idea.....but he didn't know how to run with it at all and make it a good story....sad.
—Ivy
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book. The pluses: It was definitely a page turner. The reader was left to wonder for some time whether we were dealing with a real spirit or an elaborate conspiracy. The minuses: Once that was cleared up, however, the story line went downhill for me. The extreme decision that was made to eliminate the source of the problem was shocking and out of character to me. It really ruined the climax.Oh, and speaking of climax, the whole premise was based on sex, which, in and of itself, I'm not necessarily opposed to, but it might be off-putting to some people.Also, I don't believe that DNA can be altered.
—Deb
