Sleep No More-Susan Crandall

Sleep No More
Susan Crandall
Forever, Jan 1 2010, $6.99
ISBN: 9780446556842

When her Great Gran Girault caught Abby Whitman sleepwalking, she warned the family that the child was cursed before returning to her Louisiana Bayou home. Soon afterward Abby wakes up after sleepwalking to smell smoke. Everyone assumes she set the fire accidentally that permanently scars her sister Courtney and destroyed their home. Filled with guilt and fear that her Great Gran is right that she is a danger to her loved ones, Abby moves away from those she cherishes but remains nearby while Courtney moves to New Mexico living like a hermit.

In South Carolina psychiatrist Jason Coble kicks himself for missing the signs of alcoholism that his ex-wife Lucy has shown. He warns her he will seek sole custody of their seven year old daughter Brenna if she fails to get her act together; he wishes he could do likewise for his teenage stepson Bryce but has no legal connection though he raised the lad as his own son.

Abby awakes from sleepwalking to find herself in the driver’s eat of her car half sunk in a marsh; nearby is a dead motorcyclist who she fears she killed. When she meets Jason at the funeral of the grandmother of his former wife, they hit it off and she asks for his help. He agrees feeling a compulsion to help her learn the truth about the boy’s death and the cause of her sleepwalking.

This is an action packed romantic suspense thriller with one intriguing final twist. The support cast is too stereotyped and the romance enjoyable but unneeded as the focus is Abby who is terrific especially when she makes dumb decisions out of fear that she is a cursed monster. Fans will enjoy this tense tale as Abby learns it’s all in the family.

Harriet Klausner