Saturday, May 21, 2022

5.21.2022 - Sleepwalk

 Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon

Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest book by Dan Chaon - 4.5 stars!

We meet Will Bear (one of many aliases) on his road trip for his job, a murky underworld job, that takes him across the country, flanked by his trusty rescue dog, Flip.  At 50 years old, Billy lives totally off the grid - or so he thought, until a supposed daughter born from a sperm donation somehow contacts him on of his burner phones.  And she needs his help.  Not really trusting her or himself, the cat-and-mouse game of his life continues.

I started reading the digital copy but when I switched to the audio, I never went back.  The narration by John Pirhalla is spot on - he sounds like the burnout stoner that Billy is and the somewhat stream-of-consciousness narrative is portrayed perfectly.  This is a dark and dark comedic tale that touches on practically every aspect of modern politics and life, while taking place in an obscure near future world as well.  I loved hearing Billy narrate his road trip through places I've lived.  This probably won't be for everyone but I loved the dark humor.

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