Insomnia

I had SO MUCH FUN with the first 80% of this book. She ratchets up the tension, then keeps increasing it, and it works.

I did keep expecting her “metaphysical twist,” and she just waited too long to introduce it. It comes at the end, which is a disappointment, because it feels like a cheat. Unlike “Behind Her Eyes” which is populated with enough hints at the metaphysical “rule breaking” from the beginning of the novel, this feels like it takes place in our world right up until the end, when we get the surprise that time traveling is allowed in this world.

I'm generally a speculative fiction fan and love magical elements in stories, but there's a social contract being violated here. She gives us NO hint that metaphysical elements will be introduced until the end... and at that point, really ANY element could have been introduced to explain the events of the novel. We needed more foreshadowing, and we needed to meet the hippie earlier.

Still this was a fun read. I'm impressed by what the author is able to pull off with sustained tension. I think I'm looking forward to watching the inevitable miniseries made from this — perhaps they'll do a better job with the foreshadowing in the screen version.