Sleeper(s) (ePub)

An entire city falls asleep…

…and when Doctor Andrew Strauss and the army move in to investigate, the sleepers stand up to defend a single woman as a cohesive group, and mind. As Strauss' covert past and foretold future clash, the twisted fairytale truth behind this event will leave you breathless.

From the imagination of the award-winning and bestselling author of Who's Been…? and RED (optioned for film and turned into an award-winning feature script), this chilling reworking of another well-loved fairy tale reads like a heady mix of The Andromeda Strain, Inception, Outbreak, and Quartermass, and is a tale that's bound to delight genre fans the world over.

The sleepy English locality of Middletown is about to get even sleepier, as a strange malady starts to affect the population. It spreads quickly, causing the authorities to quarantine this small city, and seek out the only person who might be able to help: Doctor Andrew Strauss. However, Strauss has a secret, one that has linked him to this place all his life, one that has linked him to a particular person there, though he doesn't yet know who. But he's not the only one hiding things - and as he ventures into Middletown to collect samples with an army escort, a mixture of UK and US troops, cracks soon begin to appear in the operation. Especially when his team comes up against the most terrifying threat humankind has ever known.

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Interview with the author:

So what makes this Sci-fi Adventure so special?

Paul Kane: One Hollywood producer also called this one 'The Andromeda Strain meets Inception', which I think is a fairly accurate description.

Tell us more about your lead character, Dr Andrew Strauss.

Paul Kane: Strauss is an arrogant, womanizing know-it-all… But he's the only one with the knowledge to save the people of Middletown - who have all fallen asleep, the victims of some unknown virus. The military have called on him to venture in and find out what's going on, accompanied by a joint US/UK squad of soldiers. Of course, Strauss has his own reasons for going on this mission, which you'll discover if you read the book. Andrew Straus is single-minded, plus he's also self-aware and a genre fan…so much so that he recognises he's a kind of Quatermass figure in this story.

Why should readers give twisted fairy tale novella a try?

Paul Kane: If you like a heady blend of horror, science fiction, dark fantasy and fairy-tales - as this book is also a modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty - we've got you covered. It moves at quite a pace, hitting the ground running and never pausing until you get to the end, just what you might expect of a thriller of this kind. It's got some great characters, from the obnoxious British soldier Timms to Suzanne - my version of Sleeping Beauty herself - the lynchpin of the entire book. There should be enough in here to satisfy most readers of genre fiction.