Victor Manibo

A pandemic once again sweeps the world, this one in the 2030s. It eventually infects about one quarter of the worlds population, causing those affected to lose the ability to sleep without affecting their health. The Sleepless, as they become known, are at first quarantined and shunned, but eventually are accepted back into society. As they have no need for sleep, they can work multiple jobs, and a whole niche of the economy becomes devoted to the Sleepless.

Jamie Vega is a Sleepless and reporter for a large news network in NYC. He, another staffer and his boss are working on a story about a corrupt US Senator. As the novel opens, Jamie comes into work early, and finds his boss dead at his desk. While the police think it’s suicide, Jamie thinks otherwise and proceeds to investigate. The story then takes off and is absolutely enthralling.

The author creates one of the best near future fictional worlds I’ve had the pleasure of reading. The automated taxis and waiters, the visors that record the environment are all part of a near future that is extremely convincing. The societal implications of the Sleepless - discrimination, pro Sleepless groups, the strain on the economy - are very detailed and impressive. I was absolutely captivated by the author’s world building.

My thanks to Erewhon Books and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of this impressive book.… (mais)

Unique and absorbing science fiction thriller.

When the global pandemic struck in 2033, the panic and confusion it created started a massive world shift. The condition did not actively kill -- it produced sleeplessness. Since no one understood where it came from or the vector or the mode of transmission, those affected were hauled to quarantine as scientists scrambled for answers. Things settled down in the ensuing decade, but Jamie Vega is a bit envious of those who are now sleepless. They have a lot more time in their lives to work, to pursue all sorts of hobbies or talents. The lure of becoming sleepless makes Jamie do something really daring.

Jamie is now finally sleepless and working as a journalist for a huge media company in the midst of a corporate takeover. He's living his best life and doing hard core investigative journalism when he finds his mentor, Simon Parrish, dead in the office right before a big board vote. Not believing in the line that this was a suicide, Jamie gets caught up in something that changes everything he believed about hyperinsomnia and has to face the consequences of how what he did was more than dangerous.

This was so much fun and I really enjoyed it. The character of Jamie is well-developed and certainly an unusual protagonist. I do not understand the emphasis in advertising the book about it being queer genre as that is such a small part of the narrative that it was inconsequential to any part of the story and certainly should need keep anyone from picking up this book to read. The science fiction part, the condition of hyperinsomnia or sleeplessness, was quite an interesting theme to explore with how all of those with it must consume so many resources and how they count time. It gave me lots to ponder and the plot, though a bit typical with good vs evil and someone being tasked to save the world, was entertaining. I liked the author's writing style and the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Erewhon Publishing for the e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.… (mais)

The Sleepless is Victor Manibo’s debut novel, a smart noir mystery set in a near-future Manhattan where a segment of the population has lost the ability to sleep, through a pandemic of unknown origin.

Sometime in the 2030s the world experienced a pandemic, the main symptom of which is that people impacted no longer needed to sleep. At first panic spread around the world as lockdowns and testing of the Sleepless got underway. No one knew, or yet knows, how the pandemic spread, but over time up to a quarter of the world’s population came out as Sleepless.

Over time, as it seemed that the Sleepless suffered no other effects than the lack of need for sleep, panic and prejudice subsided, or at least went underground. Still, the Sleepless were different from the “normies”, able to work longer hours, make more money, buy more things. Some began to envy the Sleepless and wish they could become Sleepless themselves.

Now, in 2043 we find journalist Jaime Vega, a prodigy of Simon Parrish, founder of C+P Media, one of the leading news and investigative journalism firms of the day. Jaime has recently broken up with his girlfriend Hannah. She finds he’s been too distant, even forgetful. He’s deep into an investigative piece for his boss when the book starts, pulling an all-nighter to do research on the story. Which isn’t a problem for him, since he is Sleepless. Walking into the office the next day he discovers Simon dead at his desk, an apparent suicide. But something tells Jaime this is no suicide.

From that beginning Manibo peels back the layers. Chapter by chapter we learn more about Jaime and how he became Sleepless, about the Sleepless pandemic, about the pending corporate takeover of C+P, about Simon and what he was up to in his last days, about Elliott, Jaime’s Sleepless coworker, and about the extremist organizations and corporate interests pushing their own undercover Sleepless agendas. Things are not what they seem at first.

Manibo has built a wonderfully realistic near-future world, and his descriptions of it are well done. It’s filled with tablets that do holo projections, metaverse experiences delivered through visors and full body suits, strength enhancing exoskeletons called x-frames and other neat tech. The people in Jaime’s world are mostly single New Yorkers, young urban professionals who dabble in various drugs and diverse sexual couplings. It’s as if the world of Minority Report collided with the world of Russian Doll, and it’s fascinating and a lot of fun to contemplate.

The story itself is a slow burn. Clues to the mystery at the heart of the story build in a satisfying way, but the pacing bogs down in the middle. And when the payoff finally comes it isn’t as clean or as satisfying as I’d hoped it would be.

Manibo is a queer Filipino immigrant living in New York and he’s populated the book with a set of diverse characters, starting with Jaime, a bisexual Filipino American. While I loved that aspect of the book, I was not so fond of the repeated drug use and references to “oxy”.

RATING: Four Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

NOTE: I received an advanced copy of this book from Erewhon Books and NetGalley, and am voluntarily providing this review.

You can find all my book reviews on my blog: Steve's Book Stuff.… (mais)