Ten Sleep

Ten Sleep has everything I want in a weird west novel and some things I didn’t even know I wanted - part folklore, part body horror, part personal and interpersonal demons, and part Watership Down.

There is a mechanic in some tabletop games I play called a clock, which is more like a pie chart, but as the game is played, a segment will be filled in, and the players know they are approaching a decision point or climax of some kind, and the structure and premise of Ten Sleep serves to create that same kind of tension.

As each night of what we know is meant to be a 10-day drive passes, the suspense escalates, and, as I listened to the audiobook, it was all I could do not to increase the play speed so I could release that tension that much faster.

The only thing stopping me from speeding to the end was Belardes’ storytelling, which served to create a deliciously visceral sense of dread so that the plot almost seemed secondary.

Contributing to that sense of dread and thanks to the prologue, we knew that the three young cattle drivers have no understanding of the supernatural threat they will be walking (or, rather, riding their ATVs) into, and we get more peeks into what awaits them through the eyes of the wildlife that inhabits the canyon.

Thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Support your favorite indie bookstore (and me) by using my link to order the audiobook from https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm60355 OR if you prefer using your eyes to read, support your favorite indie (and give us both 20% off if it’s your first purchase) by using my link at https://refer.bookshop.org/candidanorwood.