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    Sleepyhead
    Sleepyhead
    Sleepyhead
    Audiobook10 hours

    Sleepyhead

    Written by Mark Billingham

    Narrated by Simon Prebble

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Alison Willetts is unlucky to be alive. She has survived a stroke, deliberately induced by a skilful manipulation of pressure points on the head and neck. She can see, hear and feel and is aware of everything going on around her, but is completely unable to move or communicate. Her condition is called Locked-In Syndrome. In leaving Alison Willetts alive, the police believe the killer made his first mistake.Then D.I. Tom Thorne discovers the horrifying truth; it isn't Alison who is the mistake, it's the three women already dead. “An appropriate margin of error” is how their killer dismisses them, and Thorne knows they are unlikely to be the last. For the killer is smart, and he's getting his kicks out of toying with Thorne as much as he is pursuing his sick fantasy. Thorne knows immediately he's not going to catch the killer with simple procedure. But with little more than gut instinct and circumstantial evidence to damn his chief suspect, anesthetist Jeremy Bishop, his pursuit of him is soon bordering on the unprofessional. Especially considering his involvement with Anne Coburn, Alison's doctor and Jeremy's close friend.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateNov 5, 2013
    ISBN9781622312887
    Author

    Mark Billingham

    Mark Billingham is the author of nine novels, including Sleepyhead, Scaredy Cat, Lazybones, The Burning Girl, Lifeless, and Buried—all Times (London) bestsellers—as well as the stand-alone thriller In the Dark. For the creation of the Tom Thorne character, Billingham received the 2003 Sherlock Award for Best Detective created by a British writer, and he has twice won the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. He has previously worked as an actor and stand-up comedian on British television and still writes regularly for the BBC. He lives in London with his wife and two children.

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    Reviews for Sleepyhead

    3.5/5

    369 ratings20 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I found the writing style a little awkward at times and find that I had to read slowly in order to concentrate on what the writer was trying to convey. The characters were all unlikeable and the police and doctors in the story were all unprofessional. The plot was good but the novel would be better if executed by a better writer. Not much suspension until the very end which had a good twist and a surprise. I will probably not be reading any more of Billingham's books as there are far better writers with far better books out there to read.
    • 4/5
      A strikingly original and disturbing plot marks an impressive debut from this author. Billingham has crafted a compelling and chilling read which sets his protagonist, DI Tom Thorne, in pursuit of a cold and calculating killer with a haunting penchant for how they leave their signature on their victims. With the discovery of the last victim still alive in a vegetative state, the awful realisation soon dawns that this induced stroke victim, in what is termed a 'locked-in syndrome', is not as was assumed the first mistake, but rather the killer's first true success. Billinghman not only masters the craft of plot device and characterisation, but reveals literary skill in switching narrator, with great effect, to include the stream of consciousness of the paralysed victim. A British author to challenge the best in this genre.
    • 3/5
      Great characterisation but a weak plot made this a bit weak. If I'd read the book I'd have DNF'd, but the audio was strongly performed by Robert Glenister. Guessed the red herring - I'm sure most people would!
    • 2/5
      A great disappointment!
    • 2/5
      We are introduced to Detective Inspector Tom Thorne in the first book of the series, 2001's Sleepyhead. Thorne is all about his job, an obsession that's left him with a reputation in the Metropolitan Police for being an awkward bastard and someone who it's best not to associate with too much if you have any care for your job. His latest case is a serial killer whose MO is to target women in their homes, drug them and then give them strokes by kinking an artery in their necks. Except the fourth victim, Alison Willetts, has survived the procedure and is currently hooked up to a ventilator in hospital, unable to speak or move, a casualty of locked-in syndrome. Thorne finds a note underneath his car windshield wiper from the killer, explaining "practice makes perfect". Thorne now realizes that Alison Willetts wasn't a mistake, she was the first success.

      I understand there's a TV series based on these novels (currently twelve) so maybe it translates better in film. I didn't care of Thorne, who I thought selfish and manipulative. I don't plan to read any more in the series, unless they fit in with a challenge I'm completing. I didn't care for any of the characters, other than Alison, who whose thoughts we hear at the end of each chapter. The book was difficult to follow and it was a chore to finish, especially when I have much more interesting books in my TBR pile.
    • 5/5
      The power of a good book is in the effect it has on our own perceptions. Sometimes we are uplifted. Sometimes we are emotionally moved. And on occasions we are left like a limp rag, exhausted by the journey that an author has taken us on, desperate for someone to take us to a place that is light and resuscitating...Such was my own position after reading ‘Sleepyhead’ by Mark Billingham. This is the first in a series about a detective (Tom Thorne) that, for me, held parallels with the Rebus character of Ian Rankin. But there is something deeper and darker about Billingham’s characters, and Thorne is not your typical bruised-ego-rebelling-against-superior-officers detective. There are so many well-written detective stories out there, each authentically researched for their era, and their location. Crime and the pursuit of justice is a perennial subject for writers and readers alike, so to a certain extent I was simply expecting a general presentation of another story where the cop deals with a brutal murder while sorting out some of his own personal difficulties. That’s what we all like, right? A delicious marriage between human interest and inhuman treatment. But this one was different: This one deals with a non-murder. This one bites us on the bum when we least expect it, and leads us into psychological territories that many real-life policemen and women must have to face on a daily basis. There’s nothing glamorous in that – and I suppose it is the author’s ability here to keep his story unfolding , while allowing us to realise (with some distaste) that this is not necessarily going to finish with everything neatly bundled up and filed away. Yes, the villain is caught – but that doesn’t necessarily means that everyone gives three cheers and dashes off to the pub to celebrate over three pints and a packet of pork scratchings. Crimes have been committed, and there are far-reaching consequences. We have to deal with that, and sometimes the taste of success can be a little sour.I applaud Mr Billingham for his clear-cut characters and gritty storyline. The medical background to the case in question comes across as well-researched and presented, and at times I felt as helpless at the audacious nature of the crimes as the particular victim that is the principal subject of the title. This then was why I finished the book with mixed feelings: Yes, it had been an engrossing story, and very well-told, but I also came to the end with a feeling of relief. I had been in a dark place, and it was good to get out in the sunshine again!‘Sleepyhead’ is a sort of Ian Rankin meets Robin Cook (author of ‘Coma’) crime thriller – highly recommended, and not for the faint of heart...
    • 4/5
      Another one of these world weary flawed policeman, bent on catching a serial killer. I quite enjoyed it. There was a fair bit of wry humour thrown in, andi did skip a couple of grusome parts, and there was an unexpected twist at the end
    • 5/5
      What an excellent read. Mark Billingham is a master of suspense with a little humour thrown in. Three murdered girls, the fourth left in a state of being paralysed but aware.

      D.I. Thorne (with the wit of Frost (David Jason)) follows his hunch in which he is alone. The killer is playing a game with Thorne willing him to catch him.

      The intricate story unravels slowly and unexpectively.
    • 4/5
      This is the fist Tom Thorne novel. I really liked this murder mystery. The author writes very well, the characters were engaging, and the story kept me guessing. I look forward to the next one in the series.
    • 4/5
      A new author for me. IThis is his first book and it is a good one. Very scary. Well done. I will read more from him.
    • 3/5
      'Sleepyhead' provides a pacy, well-constructed mystery, but the characters and location fail to stand out from the crowd of British police procedurals.Billingham takes a risk by introducing a detective who is so pig-headedly wrong about identity of the culprit for the vast majority of the book, but he is not so vastly wrong that it requires a complete about turn or negation of what has gone before to bring about a resolution. Indeed, the whole book is well-structured, building to the conclusion without too many convoluted detours or red herrings.It is clear that this book is the first in a series; Billingham self-conciously compares Thorne to the tropes of the genre, and most of the other characters remain scantily described, mainly establishing their relationship to Thorne. London could, as described, be any big city. While the writing style is somewhat choppy, the use of multiple narrative perspectives is mostly successful. Billingham seems least comfortable with the voice of younger women: both the teenage girl and the 'locked in' victim fail to ring true.My response to this introduction to Thorne was rather mixed; the engaging plot means that I will be looking up the next in the series, but my lack of connection with the characters ensures that I will not be rushing to do so.
    • 4/5
      This is not the first Mark Billigham book I read. But I wanted to read it since it was the first one of the Tom Thorne series. I did find it a bit annoying to read because of the obsession of Thorne on this one suspect, I felt that it was a bit too much and I couldn't wait until he was either proved right or wrong. At the end, I did understand a bit more the direction of the novel as it sets the character for the following books. Interesting, I wil read the others in the series.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic start to British crime series. Detective Inspector Tom Thorne appeals because he is so authentic. He is shortish and heavy-set, intelligent but not infallible, and does not consistently react heroically when the opportunity presents. He is likeable and earnest. As with most detective or crime novels, that I enjoy, the book largely concerns Thorne's personal journey dealing with past issues, a doomed relationship and solving the present crime. You see the beginning of what is presumed to be the evolution of Thorne's more permanent relationships in later novels. I like Billingham's voice and cultural references -- name checks some good music. The mystery set-up is good. The killer's victims are "mistakes", as what he intends to do is leave his victims in a "locked-in" state where they are intellectually aware but unable to physically function. I found the book's conclusion satisfying. Often times, the book's conclusion is my least favorite part, I assume there is no way the author is going to be able to land the story once up in the air. Here, the action was plausible, the result logical, and I felt the human responses were honest. I compare Thorne to a younger, childless, more hip Wallander. Overall, a highly recommended read.
    • 4/5
      Superb crime thriller featuring D.I. Tom Thorne, as he seeks to catch a serial killer on the loose in London. Thorne is a damaged cop not fully trusted by his colleagues, whose only witness is a victim who has survived her ordeal paralysed and unable to speak. The novel was a page-turner with a superb twist in it's ending. I look forward to reading more novels by this author.
    • 4/5
      What woman doesn’t want to be known for just her mind? Most women would bend over backwards to find a man who could appreciate what she was thinking, not what she was wearing or how full her bra was. Being waited on hand and foot doesn’t seem like such a bad idea either does it? People to feed you when you are hungry, bathe you and adjust your bed when the pillows need fluffing? Sounds like the life, doesn’t it? You can have all of this and more.All you need is a night out, in England, with a creepy sorta guy. Surprise! The next thing you know, you are laying in bed suffering from a stroke which leads to a condition called “locked in syndrome”. Poor, poor Allison. She was the one who made it. She was the one who lived. Allison could have died from the stroke induced on her, but instead she is trapped in her body not able to move, talk, or breathe on her own at first.Thorne, a local detective comes in thinking he has a serial killer to catch, only to learn early on that he has a serial wacko on his hands. This guy is not out to kill his victims. He simply wants to put them into a stasis, where the only thing that is able to be used by the women are their brains. Everything in their lives are provided for, the criminal thinks he is doing these women a favor. The women have people to wait on them hand and foot, they will never have to lift a finger again, besides, they couldn’t even if they wanted to…Thorne is a typical novel detective. The funny thing is that, in the novel, he seems to point out how he seems to ooze out the stereotypes of the typical detective. I find it amusing that the author points out Thorne’s un-uniqueness in the story. Every time our typical detective gets close to honing in on the perpetrator, something seems to slip through the cracks, and Thorne is left standing holding his own…notebook. The back and forth game goes on and on until finally the stakes are raised. Thorne has about thrown in the towel. The games are tearing him apart mentally. Now is not the time to give up, there are many lives on the line now and Thorne is the one who needs to finish the ordeal. Blood will be spilled, but whose and how much is the final question.Creepy is all over this book. The mental processes needed by the antagonist to do to these women what he does is just insane. Trapping someone in their own mind is horrifying! We get to hear a bit from Allison in the book, these passages, to me are the most interesting parts of the book. For a girl in an almost coma, the girl’s got a sense of humor! It seems that Billingham really enjoyed himself the most when he was writing from her point of view. These parts seemed too short in my opinion.There were several parts of the book that seemed to drag on that I couldn’t figure out why he had put them in the book. I know background is always important to have, but sometimes too much background is tedious. Some of Thorne’s information could have been omitted or maybe condensed. The one thing I was definitely glad to see not drawn out was the gore in the book. Yes, there are killings. Yes, there is death. Yes, there are MULTIPLE deaths. We understand what happens in messy killings, and we were given plenty of details, but it wasn’t anything I was going to be throwing my lunch up over. For a debut book, it showed a great sense of maturity as a writer. The imagination can fill in a great deal with the right lead from the author, and Billingham filled that role perfectly.Get out some fish and chips and go on a serial whacko chasing adventure with Thorne. Your dentist won’t hate you just for imagining you are in England.
    • 4/5
      The first Tom Thorne book, a new entry in to the crowded market of gritty and troubled detectives.If you like Rebus, and you want a London based equivalent then you may just have found it.A dark crime novel with an interesting premise. There is a killer on the loose, and he's made a mistake, with his fourth victim left alive. Or has he? The killer's MO is unusual, he appears to be using a difficult manipulation of the neck which is intended to block blood flow to the brain, with the intention of leaving his victims paralysed and trapped in a nightmare world of their own mind.As an indication of how much I've enjoyed the first book in the series I've gone on the read all the following novels. It is worth noting that the books have got better as time has gone on. Billingham's handling, especially of the complex endings of the stories where several things might be going on at once has especially improved. But this book is a good place to start, especially in order to learn the beginnings of the central character.
    • 4/5
      Sleepyhead is popular crime fiction, with little added to make it fresh. That said, the plot has what makes a successful crime thriller in spades - jaded detectives, a love tangent, an undisclosed killer and plenty of twists. The killer isn't revealed until the end and there are plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing (although it's not impossible to work it out). That's all standard though, and what makes Sleepyhead a little smarter is that the crime is a fresh angle. Billingham's twisting tale is at times difficult to follow due to the anonymity of several chapters to keep the reader in the dark, however it is a requirement of the approach of the story. Solid and entertaining.
    • 5/5
      If I remember correctly, I got the recommendation for this book from the comments on a post about mystery novels on Tod Goldberg's blog. If I weren't terminally (lazy) busy, I'd go check out who recommended it, and find out if they have other recommendations, because they obviously have taste that matches mine.Tom Thorne is a police detective whose unorthodox methods and insubordination would have gotten him fired long ago if he didn't consistently solve cases. His latest case is pushing even his limits.It's a serial killer with a twist--the twist being that the one woman who survived was the success, not the failure. See, our killer's purpose is to invoke locked-in syndrome, leaving his victims in what he believes to be the perfect state: physically paralyzed, mentally aware. No pesky details to deal with, all bodily needs taken care of by someone else, they can just relax and be.As Tom closes in on the killer, he spends time with the survivor and her doctor, and begins a romantic relationship with the doctor--a relationship which is threatened as his investigation points him to her long-term friend.I'm not sure if I was relating too closely to Dr. Coburn, but that was the one thing that bugged me about this story--I wasn't clear on why Tom focused on the friend, and it seemed to me as it did to Anne that his pursuit was more about jealousy than police work.It was clear at the end, though, and was more than made up for by the chapters written from the surviving victim's point of view, which were a wonderful blend of chilling and amusing.I do have to address one complaint from the Amazon reviews. Yes, it's a British book. The author is British. It takes place in London. Why, then, are they shocked, surprised, and upset that there are British slang, TV shows, etc. in the book? I've never been to England, and I had no trouble understanding. Insert rant here about expectations of cultural homogeneity.Billingham's next book, Scaredy Cat, is on my to-be-bought list.
    • 2/5
      Great mystery, the only reason I gave 3 stars was the fact that I'm not a big fan of British fiction. It took me about 1/4 of the book to get used to the British slang; after that I enjoyed the book and it had a really good ending.
    • 4/5
      Talk about angst! Not only does the main character of this novel have lots of it (for good reason, as it were), but just reading this book built up a lot of tension as well. For a series opener, it was amazing. Not a cozy by any stretch, not a quick nor surface-level book, Sleepyhead really delivers a great mystery and an incredibly original plot. Yay.here we go:Alison Willetts is a victim of a horrible crime. The same man who killed other women left her with "locked-in" syndrome - in which she is fully alert but cannot talk, cannot move, cannot do anything except exist within her body. DI Tom Thorne comes into the case and as the investigation proceeds, fixates on a suspect. But is the suspect the right man? Thorne brings with him a lot of emotional angst based on a previous case, and can never be certain if his judgment is sound considering what happened in the past. It is a very dark story, although it has its moments; reading Alison's words locked up in her head was one of the best parts of this novel. I would highly recommend it to readers of British mystery series novels, to mystery readers who want something a little off the beaten path.