Perfect for fans of Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon series, about a mysterious pandemic that causes people to become insomniacs and a man caught in a conspiracy at his workplace.

THE SLEEPLESS
by Victor Manibo
Erewhon, August 2022
(via JABberwocky Literary Agency)

A mysterious pandemic causes a quarter of the world’s population to permanently lose the ability to sleep—without any apparent health implications. The outbreak creates a new class of people who are both feared and ostracized, and most of whom optimize their extra hours to earn more money.
Journalist Jamie Vega is one of the Sleepless. When his boss Simon dies in an apparent suicidal overdose, Jamie is suspicious, given that their company is in the middle of a corporate takeover—and begins to investigate.
When Jamie discovers that he was the last person who saw Simon alive, Jamie realizes he can’t remember that night. Now a suspect to the police, Jamie worries his memory loss is related to the illegal procedure he underwent to become a Sleepless. As Jamie delves deeper into Simon’s final days, he is forced to confront past traumas, and the consequences of his decision to biohack himself. Along the way he uncovers a terrifying truth about what it means to be Sleepless.

• Featured on Polygon’s Summer 2022 “Most Anticipated” list

“Victor Manibo’s The Sleepless is a thrilling debut with a fresh edgy voice.”
—Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Manibo neatly dissects the drawbacks of capitalist demands on society in this taut near-future procedural. It’s smart, high-tech noir.” —Publishers Weekly

Victor Manibo is a speculative fiction writer living in New York City, and his writing is influenced by his experiences as an immigration and civil rights lawyer. As a queer immigrant and a person of color, he also writes about the lives of people with these identities.