When All the World Sleeps

By: J.A. Rock, Lisa Henry

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

Daniel Whitlock is terrified of going to sleep. And rightly so: he sleepwalks, with no awareness or memory of his actions. Including burning down Kenny Cooper’s house — with Kenny inside it — after Kenny brutally beat him for being gay. Back in the tiny town of Logan after serving his prison sentence, Daniel isolates himself in a cabin in the woods and chains himself to his bed at night.

Like the rest of Logan, local cop Joe Belman doesn’t believe Daniel’s absurd defense. But when Bel saves Daniel from a retaliatory fire, he discovers that Daniel might not be what everyone thinks: killer, liar, tweaker, freak. Bel agrees to control Daniel at night — for the sake of the other townsfolk. Daniel’s fascinating, but Bel’s not going there.

Yet as he’s drawn further into Daniel’s dark world, Bel finds that he likes being in charge. And submitting to Bel gives Daniel the only peace he’s ever known. But Daniel’s demons won’t leave him alone, and he’ll need Bel’s help to slay them once and for all — assuming Bel is willing to risk everything to stand by him.

©2013 J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry (P)2016 J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry

beautiful book, beautifully voiced

I loved this story. Best hurt/comfort ever. The narrator did absolutely amazing. I was literally on the edge of my seat.

Amazing read!

I loved this book. The story was great and I couldn’t put it down. Such an interesting premise as well. The narrator was amazing too. Overall a great experience!

A for effort. B for bondage. C for execution.

Overly long, repetitive and the sleepwalking drag down what could have been a fairly enjoyable book. I am fine with longer listens, when warranted. This same story, if it had been written by someone like Garrett Leigh, would be half the length, and had a lot more depth. What was the point of this story for these authors? They have made it overly complicated, and really need the reader to know nothing about sleepwalking. While complex tasks like driving can occur, the level of animation that Daniel possesses when sleepwalking, crosses over to pure fantasy. I found it so ridiculous that I had to stop and check how realistic this condition, as presented, could be. Turns out, not so much.

But let's focus on what works. Greg Tremblay works very well. He is a talented narrator who does everything he can so give this story a fighting chance. A lesser talent would have been lost in this material. Tremblay has to navigate a massive cast of characters, most who are simply filler. Kudos for a true 5 star performance.

In order to create a situation that would have the entire town turn against Daniel, Rock & Henry have Daniel commit arson while he was sleepwalking, and it resulted in someone dying. The victim was a guy who nearly beat Daniel to death a few months before. Daniel doesn't divulge who did the beating, but everyone in this terrible, tiny town knows. And nothing is done about it. Somehow we have to believe that Daniel was able to convince a jury in the south that he was sleepwalking when this happened, saving him from first degree murder, and instead getting a very light sentence for manslaughter. The town is furious with the lack of justice for the guy they know nearly killed Daniel. You learn all of this in the synopsis and the first two chapters, no spoilers here.

You also learn about the youngest cop in town, Joe Belman, part of the group who is angry that Daniel got off that easy. Everyone thinks Daniel is a meth addict who got away with murder. Joe, who goes by Bel, also harbored a childhood crush on Daniel, so things get complicated fast. From the start, we learn that to control himself, Daniel basically forces himself to stay awake as long as possible using painful means, then handcuffs himself to his bed to keep him at home. Also Daniel likes pain. I didn't read between the lines of the synopsis to realize there is a Dom/Sub aspect to this story. Had I known, I would have passed as this is typically a poorly crafted trope. That remains true here.

Daniel has dreams, Daniel sleepwalks, Daniel has a terrible relationship with his family - you get the idea, it's all bad. And it happens over and over. Bel wants to help, tries to help, but does not always do a good job of it. However, studying up on being a Dom is something he seems to do well.

This book tries really hard, but that is the problem. Rather that paring down the extras and focusing on the challenges of the relationship with Daniels health issues and a small, closed minded town, Rock & Henry take a very kitchen sink approach, throwing in everything they could. I would not encourage anyone to use a credit for this book.