Sleep Over: an Oral History of the Apocalypse

November 27, 2017
In Bell’s intriguing themed debut collection, a plague of insomnia instantaneously grips the world and is chronicled via accounts from those who survive. The linked stories span the globe and the human spectrum, made even scarier by their relatability. Some accounts are poignant, highlighting heroism and self-sacrifice in the midst of destruction and carnage, and some are feverish accounts of those succumbing to sleep deprivation. Particularly harrowing is the story told by a pediatric nurse about exhausted pregnant women going into premature labor, almost always resulting in the death of both mother and child. Another reveals the high-wire act of a power company trying to keep the power on for residences that are now in use 24/7. In a chilling tale, a cop discovers the killing room of a man who’s taking full advantage of his neighbors’ new vulnerability. Despite the grim elements, human resilience and compassion are the overwhelming themes of this well-written collection, and the coda is full of hope.

December 15, 2017
When the apocalypse comes, it might just keep you up at night. Various accounts from people around the world tell of a sudden, irreversible plague of insomnia. Whether it's viral, chemical, or something else matters less and less as society breaks down and people start dying. Doctors, gamers, teachers, gurus, researchers, and more share their accounts in turn of society's breakdown and spiral into oblivion as people start to hallucinate and become catatonic. Perhaps most poignant is the lone account of an insomniac child whose prior experience with sleep loss steels her to the difficulties as the adults around her succumb to madness. Bells' debut presents creatively imagined chaos, from planes crashing to natural disasters to drug abuse brought on by those trying both uppers and downers in a frantic search for relief. Readers looking for a twist on conventional apocalypse tales will enjoy this look at alternative human zombies that is no less political than Nancy Kress' Beggars Trilogy. A grimly suspenseful tale with a brutally real ending.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)