Sleepwalk

By Dan Chaon

Book Overview

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
An NPR "Book of the Day"
A USA Today "Must Read"

" Chaon] does madcap well and likes his characters, even the killers--especially the killers."--The New York Times Book Review

Sleepwalk is a high speed and darkly comic road trip through a near future America with a big-hearted mercenary, from beloved and acclaimed award-winning novelist Dan Chaon.

Sleepwalk's hero, Will Bear, is a man with so many aliases that he simply thinks of himself as the Barely Blur. At fifty years old, he's been living off the grid for over half his life. He's never had a real job, never paid taxes, never been in a committed relationship. A good-natured henchman with a complicated and lonely past and a passion for LSD microdosing, he spends his time hopscotching across state lines in his beloved camper van, running sometimes shady often dangerous errands for a powerful and ruthless operation he's never troubled himself to learn too much about. He has lots of connections, but no true ties. His longest relationships are with an old rescue dog that has post-traumatic stress and a childhood friend as deeply entrenched in the underworld as he is, who, lately, he's less and less sure he can trust.

Out of the blue, one of Will's many burner phones heralds a call from a twenty-year-old woman claiming to be his biological daughter. She says she's the product of one of his long-ago sperm donations; he's half certain she's AI. She needs his help. She's entrenched in a widespread and nefarious plot involving Will's employers, and for Will to continue to have any contact with her increasingly fuzzes the line between the people he is working for and the people he's running from.

With his signature blend of haunting emotional realism and fast-paced intrigue, Dan Chaon populates his fractured America with characters who ring all too true. Gazing both back to the past and forward to an inevitable-enough-seeming future, Sleepwalk examines where we've been and where we're going and the connections that bind us, no matter how far we travel to dodge them or how cleverly we hide.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250871131
• ISBN13: 9781250871138
• Release Date: May 2023
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.7" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

It was okay

3 stars, It was okay SLEEPWALK by Dan Chaon A post-apocalyptical, gritty novel. Will Bear, a man of many names, and many skills is a hitman for the organization that he works for, a kind of underworld organization. He travels from job to job in his travel trailer, with a mutt named Flip that was a rescue from the vicious pit bull fights, and comfortable existence in the changing new world. One day he gets a cellphone call from a woman who claims to be his daughter, from a sperm donation. Will has never had a relationship with anyone, he doesn't know what to think about having a daughter. Received a complimentary copy of #sleepwalkbook by #henryholtandcompany I was under no obligation to post a review. #postapocalyptic #hitman #sciencefiction #dystopian #mystery #thriller #scifi #danchaon