German author Romy Hausmann saw global success with her first novel, DEAR CHILD, which contained an ending that blew me away. Her sophomore effort, SLEEPLESS, is another terrific thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end.

The novel opens with a disarming letter sent from an anonymous author to an equally unknown recipient. In the note, made out to “My angel,” the writer claims, “Today I’m going to die. Just like her. He’s won.” This all will be clearly explained and understood before the last page is turned, but what a fun ride Hausmann has in store for you until you learn the whole truth.

"There is not a wasted word in SLEEPLESS, and Hausmann ties everything up nicely. She also includes a heartwarming bit at the end, which makes the effort of reading this joyfully complex novel all worthwhile."

Narrators in thriller fiction are typically either good or unreliable. Nadja Kulka falls somewhere in between. At times you are getting the full picture from her, and at others it is a bit more cryptic and questionable. Hausmann challenges readers to piece together what is happening and figure out the puzzle that she has laid before you.

When we meet Nadja, she has passed out at a petrol station. Upon gaining her balance and wits, she reapplies her wig and takes off again for her destination with a body in the trunk of her vehicle. We will not learn the identity of the corpse for a little while, which will make readers suspicious of our humble narrator. The chapters tend to jump back and forth in time, and we slowly learn about the horrible crime that Nadja was accused of when she was just a teenager. She did her time and now resides in a small, sparse apartment, has a respectable job with a law firm, and has one close friend, Laura.

There are so many juicy tidbits for readers to sink their teeth into that it is difficult to discuss the novel for fear of giving away an important revelation that just begs to be discovered. Back to Nadja, the crux of the book centers on Laura reaching out to her in desperation. Once Nadja arrives at Laura’s house, she finds the dead body of a strange man --- a business colleague of Laura’s husband, Gero, with whom Laura has had a long affair. He apparently came over and accosted her, prompting the struggle that killed him. So we now have the body in the trunk part of the puzzle figured out.

Throughout the novel are chapters dealing with a completely different character, Nelly Schütt, a young woman who has grown up at the inn that her parents run. There she meets Paul, a business traveler and a married man with whom she begins her own affair. We will find out later how these two storylines intersect, and it’s a doozy. Meanwhile, Nadja and Laura descend upon a family home of Laura’s in Spreewald that they hope will be empty. They will be in for a rude awakening when Gero finds them there. What follows is a triangle of secrets, deceit, crosses and double-crosses to the point that your head will be spinning.

There is not a wasted word in SLEEPLESS, and Hausmann ties everything up nicely. She also includes a heartwarming bit at the end, which makes the effort of reading this joyfully complex novel all worthwhile.