February 2014

THE INNOCENT SLEEP is by Karen Perry, which is the pen name of the Dublin-based writers Paul Perry and Karen Gillece. This is their first novel together (they are married but not to each other --- just friends). It opens in Tangiers where Harry and Robin are living with their son, Dillon. Harry is home with Dillon making Robin a special birthday dinner when he realizes he has forgotten her present. Dillon is asleep and makes a quick decision to race over to their friend's home to pick up the gift. While he is gone, an earthquake occurs. The building where Dillon was sleeping is destroyed, but his body is never found.

Flash forward, and Harry and Robin are back in Dublin, their native home, putting the pieces of their lives back together when one day Harry is sure that he has seen Dillon. Who has he seen?

This is a well-paced and well-plotted thriller that takes a parent's worst nightmare and ramps a story around it. Told in chapters written in first person from both Harry and Robin gives it a powerful punch. Reading it makes me look forward to much, much more from this writing team.