Julie's Review: The Innocent Sleep

Author: Karen Perry
Series: None
Publication Date: February 18, 2014
Publisher: MacMillian Audio
Hours: 9 Hours 53 Minutes
Narrator: Aaron Abano, Michelle Ferguson
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Psychological Thriller
Rating: 3/5
Bottom Line: Takes too long to get to the point
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary: When a couple's lost child resurfaces they are forced to embark on a journey into their shared past - one rife with dark secrets and lies. Tangiers. Harry is preparing his wife's birthday dinner while she is still at work and their son, Dillon, is upstairs asleep in bed. Harry suddenly remembers that he's left Robin's gift at the café in town. It's only a five minute walk away and Dillon's so tricky to put down for the night, so Harry decides to run out on his own and fetch the present. Disaster strikes. An earthquake hits, buildings crumble, people scream and run. Harry fights his way through the crowd to his house, only to find it razed to the ground. Dillon is presumed dead, though his body is never found. Five years later, Harry and Robin have settled into a new kind of life after relocating to their native Dublin. Their grief will always be with them, but lately it feels as if they're ready for a new beginning. Harry's career as an artist is taking off and Robin has just realized that she's pregnant. But when Harry gets a glimpse of Dillon on the crowded streets of Dublin, the past comes rushing back at both of them. Has Dillon been alive all these years? Or was what Harry saw just a figment of his guilt-ridden imagination? With razor-sharp writing, Karen Perry's The Innocent Sleep delivers a fast-paced, ingeniously plotted thriller brimming with deception, doubt, and betrayal. ~amazon.com

Review: The Innocent Sleep is a book that slowly unwinds and reveals itself. It drags at times and takes a long time to get to the point. Frankly, after the reveal I could have done without the rest of the book. The ending didn't really add to the story for me.

Besides Robin's parents, none of these characters are likable, at all. Sometimes I don't have difficulty with this when I read a book but this time it made it almost unbearable. Harry is so selfish and self-absorbed it's pitiful. He's so consumed with his life and his art that it's hard to believe he's a father.  He stays with Dylan while Robin works her job and also works on his art.

The story unfolds by telling us both Robin and Harry's point of views, which definitely helps you to understand both sides but both sides are ugly. At first I felt for Robin but as her story unfolds, I didn't care or feel sorry for either of them. The true victim in their relationship is their son Dillon. Due to a split second decision their lives are forever changed.

The questions you constantly ask yourself during the novel, is Harry crazy? Should Robin believe him when it comes to seeing Dillon? Can they start over? Should they even start over? Is it really Dillon or just a doppelganger?

I pretty much finished the book just to find out if it was Dillon or not. The fact that I had another chapter or two to resolve the whole thing upset me. By the end, I just wanted to be done with these people. I didn't totally dislike it. I was kept on the edge of my seat towards the end of the novel and that has to count for something.





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