Admittedly, I grabbed Ellie Marney’s book, None Shall Sleep, in the bargain section of the nearest bookstore solely based on the pop art that graced the cover. But can you blame me? The sleeve itself was a baby blue, but the main action was a bloody knife reflecting some sinister eyes. Count me in!
Turns out, this book was way more my speed than I was anticipating! From a very high level it reminded me of any other final girl you’d see in popular culture, but then it also seemed to pay homage to the Red Dragon, a novel that kicked off the world of Hannibal Lector. Once again, these are things that mean I’m all in! Also add in some Criminal Minds, then you’ve got yourself a hit!
We meet teen, Emma Lewis, on Ohio State’s campus attempting to be recruited by an FBI special agent looking to get useful information out of teen murderers. After much thought, Emma decides to take part and is immediately trusting of her other teen partner in crime, Travis Bell. Together, these two would seem to make a random pair for a random assignment, but horrific tragedy is what connects them. Emma is the sole survivor of a man named Huxton who collected and eventually killed many “brides.” Bell’s father was a fatality in taking down a teen serial killer, Simon Gutmunsson. Emma thinks accepting this “internship” will help rid her of the guilt she’s felt since her escape, and Travis hopes to earn his belated father’s respect in following in his footsteps.
Though the two share a tragic trauma, they are both drastically different in their approach. While Bell is a bit stiff and by the book, Emma is all emotion. She is good at controlling it, but it is all-consuming. I couldn’t help but to think of Will Graham as Emma was being further described in the book. So it only makes sense that Emma’s Hannibal is Simon. He is extremely intelligent, but also very sick. His crimes got him dubbed “the Artist” by the media, and again, I think of one of the first episodes of Hannibal where he’s arranged his victims to look like a work of art. I say all of this in absolute delight. I need to re-watch Hannibal again soon!
Simon’s only weak spot is his sister, though he’s cunning enough to mess with everyone involved in a new investigation. Evidently, there’s a criminal going around draining his victims of their blood and just dumping them, like trash. They’ve gotten to calling him “The Butcher,” and since all of his victims are young, the FBI hopes that getting younger agents to interview imprisoned subjects will glean them the information they need to take this new monster down. The plot is luckily more complicated than that, and there was enough emotional punch to make my eyes well.
Needless to say, I really liked this bargain find, and I was thrilled to learn that Marney has a sequel out there! Certainly expect to see a review of that before the end of the year!