It was starting to feel like everyone was talking about Chuck Wendig’s latest novel on the Twittersphere. I read reviews by people who were scared witless, had nightmares, were shocked and awed! This book was getting hyped up to be one of the best books ever to have been written.

Reader friends, this book is so damn good.

It’s a chonk of a book. My borrowed Library copy has a page count of 782 pages and I nearly sent it back. Who has time for 782 pages? I could read 2-3 books in that same time!

Well, when a book is this well written, this fast paced, this fascinating, it doesn’t take long to devour every frightening and thrilling page. It’s hard to summarize without spoiling anything so I’ll let the pros take care of that:

From the Publisher:

Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and her sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey. And like Shana, there are other “shepherds” who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead.

For as the sleepwalking phenomenon awakens terror and violence in America, the real danger may not be the epidemic but the fear of it. With society collapsing all around them—and an ultraviolent militia threatening to exterminate them—the fate of the sleepwalkers depends on unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic. The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart—or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world.

Reader Friends, this book is amazing. There’s a compelling cast of characters that immediately drew me in. I had to know if anyone was going to survive this crazy illness and if they did, what then? What happened to them? Would they be changed?

How was survival possible going to be possible? Not just for individuals but the entire country? The world? Would it take over the world? How did it start?

So many questions.

This feels like an incredibly timely novel. With climate change breathing down our necks and warnings of the overuse of common antibiotics and medications, it seems any type of global illness or phenomenon could only end in disaster. Individuals are intelligent and compassionate-people are desperate and irrational. This book triggered some interesting conversations in my home about how we would handle being cut off from society, if we could really be helpers and not turn towards isolationist thoughts. What would our neighbors do? How would they handle a disaster on this scale?

So many questions.

I heard this book described as Stephen King’s The Stand crossed with The Matrix and I really can’t think of a better comparison. As soon as you think you have it all figured out, a new twist pops up and changes everything. The urgency of finding a cure combined with the crumbling of an already fractured society makes for an incredibly thrilling and compelling read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I can’t wait to see what you all think of it. If you’d like to get your own copy, after checking your local Library first, you can grab one here:

More from Chuck Wendig: