About The Book

Sleepyhead is Mark Billingham’s thrilling debut novel. Alison Willetts is unlucky to be alive. She has survived a stroke that was deliberately induced by a 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. 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. With little more than gut instinct to damn his chief suspect, Thorne’s pursuit of the killer is soon bordering on the unprofessional. He must find a man whose agenda is terrifyingly unique, and Alison, the one person who holds the key to the killer’s identity, is unable to speak.

Praise

“Billingham’s flawless plotting and the steadily increasing sense of fear combine to make this one of the best debut novels of the year.” —Rocky Mountain News (Grade: A)

“A new twist to the twisted mind of a psychopath—an exciting debut novel.” —The Baltimore Sun