You know you're in for something a little bit different when you get a note from the author at the start of the book asking you to open your memory and imagination. In the same note, Greg Iles claims that if nothing else, you won't be bored, and I think he got it exactly right.

John Waters is living a comfortable life in Natchez, Mississippi with his wife and 8-year-old daughter when he meets Eve Sumner. The chance meeting takes on greater significance when she mentions facts and little code words from his past that only he and his former girlfriend, Mallory Candler, knew. The disturbing aspect of this is that Mallory has been dead for over 10 years. The explanation provided by Eve steps us into the realms of the supernatural as she explains that she is actually the spirit of Mallory Candler living in the body of Eve Sumner.

Such is the skill of Greg Iles that he takes this implausible scenario and makes it sound believable. He does this simply through the rational reasoning of John Waters and his friend Penn Cage. It's actually thanks to their disbelief that the concept of soul transference becomes more real.

I enjoyed Sleep No More for a couple of reasons. The pace is frantic as Waters is kept off balance throughout. Facts and events keep coming at him quicker than he is prepared for. The second reason is the fact that it's quite reminiscent of some of Stephen King's books. Life starts off very normally, but soon the protagonist's world is thrown into total disarray by the seemingly impossible. You soon find yourself wistfully remembering when things weren't quite so exciting. But then, the way forward is always more interesting, and Iles wraps things up nicely, still leaving a few of the more curly questions open for possible further exploration.

After the success of DEAD SLEEP the author decides to try something new with SLEEP NO MORE. This book is not a sequel but a new standalone novel that includes a pair of characters from THE QUIET GAME. Before the story begins the author warns the reader to prepare for a wild ride and he is not kidding. Iles does this by creating a noir novel and placing it in The Twilight Zone.

Geologist John Waters is living a somewhat comfortable life. He lives in Natchez, Mississippi, has a successful business and a loving family. The only thing that is troubling him is that his wife is reeling from two previous miscarriages and the Environmental Protection Agency is looking hard at some of the work Waters has done. They are all regular problems that eventually will be solved. His life as he knows it will change one afternoon during his daughter's soccer game.

While watching the game he is entranced by Eve Sumner, a young real estate agent working and living at Natchez, who leaves Waters with a sense of deja vu. She sends him a signal only known to him and a former lover named Mallory Candler. What make this even stranger is that Mallory died from a brutal assault and rape that happened in New Orleans ten years ago. What is Eve Sumner's relationship with Mallory? When he finally meets up with Eve he is going to be flabbergasted with what she tells him. She reveals things that only Mallory and Waters could know and once she explains how she knows it will blow his mind.

Everything John took for granted is questioned and he becomes so obsessed with Eve that he is willing to give up his family to be with her. It is not until his family is threatened that he starts to put his life together. Things get worse when Eve's body is found strangled in a motel room and all the evidence points out to Waters. He is going to have to prove his innocence while trying to save his family from a clever trap.

Iles takes a complete departure from his previous writing style in writing this novel. There is a lot that can be said about this book that will spoil the reader's enjoyment. Suffice it to say, there are some clever twists in this novel that will keep readers guessing. You will want to read this book quickly in order to appreciate its thrills.

After reading many of the professional critic's reviews, it seems apparent that many of these 'professionals' look for logic, veracity and reality in fiction. True, most thrillers and mysteries must possess some quality of believability but beyond that, the author has unabated license to create. For many, the thought of transmigration, or soul transfer, is beyond the boundaries of possibility. Quite frankly, I don't find it plausible or tangibly logical but then, I'm not reading the latest Greg Iles thriller with an eye toward logic. I'm reading Iles because he is quickly mastering the art of 'transmigrating' this reader into the storyline with each and every offering, paranormal conundrum or not.

SLEEP NO MORE is Greg Iles latest thriller and it was just that, a thrill. John Waters is a successful geologist living in Natchez, Mississippi with his wife Lily and daughter Annelise. Waters' business partner is long-time friend, Cole Smith, an obsessive personality and extremely self-destructive. The intimacy in Waters' marriage has waned over the years specifically centered around two miscarriages endured by Lily. Waters is a faithful and loving husband and something of a model father. However, as fate would have it, Iles puts these qualities to task.

During his collegiate years, Waters had a stormy love affair with a beautiful albeit bewitching woman, Mallory Candler. This affair tested the boundaries of human frailty, physically and emotionally. In the end, Waters ended the relationship and Mallory disappeared only later to be killed in New Orleans. Waters felt Mallory's untimely death brought an end to a particularly dark chapter in his life.

One day, after coaching his daughter's soccer team to victory, Waters is leaving the field when he casually passes a beautiful woman, a woman that immediately reminds him of Mallory Candler. As he turns to look over his shoulder, she is looking directly at him and mouths the word, "Soon." This sends earthshaking chills through Waters, as this was the exact word he and Mallory would use to express their physical desires in public during those college years. He later finds out that this woman is Eve Sumner, a local real estate broker. As the storyline develops, Eve tempts Waters' honor and the plot immediately becomes whirlwind and tantalizing.

As an aside, if one is an Iles fan from way back, familiar characters reappear from Iles bestseller, THE QUIET GAME, another incredible read. Penn Cage, the lovable attorney-cum-author returns for an encore in SLEEP NO MORE. From a practical point-of-view, this could be a marketing stroke of genius. If a reader is enjoying Iles for the first time in SLEEP NO MORE, the reader might just take a flyer on THE QUIET GAME given its 'presence' in SLEEP. It will be interesting to see if there is resurging demand for THE QUIET GAME.

The theory of transmigration, while not new, is one of fiction or, at the very least, an unexplained, unproven phenomenon. Could one person's soul find its way into another and actually 'take over' the physical body? Readers will have to solve that puzzle on their own. However, remember that what you are reading is a work of fiction, not a biography or professional text. SLEEP NO MORE is designed to entertain and titillate albeit intellectually; Iles has always written in a somewhat cerebral fashion.

Bottom line....if you're looking for a breathtaking, 'edge of your seat' read, SLEEP NO MORE is it. An incredible work that will leave the reader on the edge of "Huh?" and "Is it possible?" throughout. If a great thriller, by definition, is chilling and heart pounding, then SLEEP NO MORE is a great thriller.