Sleepyhead

Mark Billingham

Sleepyhead on one level is your typical serial killer novel, complete with a hardened detective with a disturbing past, a serial killer obsessed with said hardened detective, and a little romance to even out the rough edges. Very thematic, often predictable. However, Billingham, in his debut novel, finds a new slant to add to the serial killer resume, in that this particular serial killer does not wish his victims to die. His goal is to keep them alive, but in a comatose and vegetative state which will carry them through to the end of their days. He's not often successful in his attempts to achieve this ultimate satisfaction and it is this failure which drives him ever onward. I found the novel intriguing enough to keep me turning to the last page, even though I figured out who the killer was after the half way mark. But I felt that overall it suffered too many cliches and too much residue from all the other serial killer novels out there. Now that said, I also think that Billingham shows great promise with this kind of novel and once he captures his own style, he'll be tough to beat. So I'll not hesitate to read something else by him. Sleepyhead is not a "bad" novel, and if you're looking for something to pass a couple of days of reading with, I'd recommend tossing it into your stack.