The Sleepwalkers by J. Gabriel Gates

Privileged and popular Caleb Mason is celebrating his high school graduation when he receives a mysterious, disturbing letter from his long-lost childhood playmate, Christine. Caleb and his jokester friend Bean decide to travel to his tiny hometown of Hudsonville, Florida, to find her. Upon arrival, they discover the town has taken a horrifying turn for the worse. Caleb's childhood home is abandoned and his father has disappeared. Children are going missing. The old insane asylum has reopened, and Christine is locked inside. Her mother, a witch, is consumed with madness, and Christine's long-dead twin sister whispers clues to Caleb through the static of an a.m. radio.


The terrifying prophesies of the spirits are coming to pass. Sixteen clocks are ticking; sixty-six murdered souls will bring about the end of the world. As Caleb peels back layer after layer of mystery, he uncovers a truth more horrible than anything he had imagined, a truth that could only be uttered by the lips of the dead.

Review:

Going into The Sleepwalkers, you need to be aware of one fact, and one fact only: this book is SCARY. When I read the summary, I thought Oh, well, it sounds kind of creepy, but nothing too intense. And then I read the book.

And then I couldn't sleep.

It's like a horror movie on paper. I'm telling you, don't read it at night. Or, if you read it at night, you should probably leave the lights on. I am a crazy horror film fanatic, but for some reason scary novels get to me a lot more than scary movies do. And, realistically, it takes some serious skill to actually make that happen.

The characters were awesome, espeically Caleb and Bean. Their friendship is easy to relate to; anyone who's ever had a really close friend before can admire that. The writing was fabulous, not a surprise after having read Dark Territory. The plot was outright astounding, as creative as you can get.

I absolutely loved this novel. As much as it freaked me out, I adore the fact that it was able to. As much as it made me crave my night light, I enjoyed every moment of it. Literally everything that could ever possibly be in a novel, is in this one. There's action, there's suspense, there's mystery, there's a surprisingly high amount of blood and gore, and there's romance.

Basically, it rocks.

Grade: A+

The Sleepwalkers is scheduled for release on October 1st from HCI Teens.

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