The payoff showed up fashionably late.
I just finished The Guilty Sleep by Jeremy D. Baker, and this one lands squarely in my 3-star category.
Not bad. Not amazing. Just… okay.
The premise had potential. Military trauma, buried guilt, secrets unraveling in the present day, all things I usually enjoy. And to be fair, by the final stretch, everything did come together in a way that made sense.
The issue was it felt like most of the book was setting the table.
We spent a long time circling the backstory, hinting at the Big Event, layering in tension. And I kept thinking, “Alright, here we go… here we go…” But the real momentum didn’t kick in until the last quarter of the book.
By then, I understood what the author was doing. I just wish we’d gotten there sooner.
It’s the kind of read where you close the book and think, “Okay. That worked.”
But you’re not immediately texting a friend, “Drop everything. You need this.”
So yes — 3 stars. A decent concept. A slow burn. A late payoff.
And while I won’t be recommending it anytime soon, I’m also not mad I read it.
Sometimes a book doesn’t have to be life-changing. Sometimes it just has to be fine. I am interested in seeing more by Mr. Baker.
