Thursday, 07/09/2043, 12:04 AM
The parcel drone beckons me onto the balcony, its red light blinking against the backdrop of the glittering cityscape. I rush out to meet it, assaulted by the whir of its propellers straining against the weight of its package. When I give it the “all clear,” the drone sets down its delivery: a sturdy black box encased in a net of packing rope. A combination lock holds its lid shut.
Read the rest of the excerpt here.
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In a near-future New York City where a minority of the population has lost the need for sleep, a journalist fights to uncover the truth behind his boss’s murder on the eve of a sinister corporate takeover—while his own Sleeplessness spirals out of control.
Available Now / $27.95 / 336 pages
A mysterious pandemic causes a quarter of the world 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, most of whom optimize their extra hours to earn more money.
Jamie Vega, a journalist at C+P Media, is one of the Sleepless. When his boss dies in a suicidal overdose, Jamie doesn’t buy this too-convenient explanation—especially given its suspicious timing during a controversial merger—and investigates.
But everything goes awry when Jamie discovers that he was the last person who saw Simon alive, and realizes that he has no memory of that night. Not only do the police suspect him, Jamie can’t account for the lost time, and the memory loss may have to do with how he became Sleepless: not naturally, but by biohacking his body through a risky and illegal process.
As Jamie delves deeper into Simon’s final days, he tangles with extremist organizations and powerful corporate interests, and must confront past traumas and the unforeseen consequences of biohacking himself. But he soon faces the most dangerous decision of all, as he uncovers a terrifying truth about Sleeplessness that imperils him—and all of humanity.
Victor Manibo is a Filipino speculative fiction writer living in New York. As a queer immigrant and a person of color, he writes about people who live these identities as they navigate imaginary worlds. A 2022 Lambda Literary Emerging Voices Fellow, he is the author of the science fiction noir novel The Sleepless. His next novel, Escape Velocity, is forthcoming from Erewhon Books in Spring 2024. Aside from fiction, he also spins fantastical tales in his career as a lawyer. He lives in Queens with his husband, their dog, and their two cats. Find him online at victormanibo.com or on Twitter @victormanibo.
Advance praise for The Sleepless
“Fittingly titled, as the compulsive plot will keep you turning pages, way past your bedtime. The Sleepless does what only the best science fiction can do: create a world so boldly changed—but so hauntingly true—that it teaches us much about our own.” —Sam J. Miller, Nebula Award winning author of Blackfish City
“Move over Minority Report. Victor Manibo’s The Sleepless has everything I want in a near-future whodunit: an irresistible ‘what if’ premise, a twisty and desperate murder investigation, and a razor-sharp examination of the chillingly recognizable dark side of a seemingly bright future. The Sleepless delivers on its promise; I could not close my eyes.” —Fonda Lee, author of the Green Bone Saga
“Manibo has crafted a sharp, immersive dose of speculative fiction, a potent blend of science fiction and noir. The Sleepless will prove its name: you won’t be able to put it down, even as bedtime beckons.” —Alex Segura, bestselling author of Secret Identity
“A meditative near-future thriller that explores grief, meaning, and time in a world that’s terrifyingly plausible.” —Lincoln Michel, author of The Body Scout
“The Sleepless is an expertly crafted tale of exploitation and deceit set within the eldritch horror of a neverending capitalist grind.” —K. M. Szpara, author of First, Become Ashes
"The Sleepless is just the beginning; Victor Manibo is an author to keep your eye on." —Lara Elena Donnelly, author of The Amberlough Dossier and Base Notes
“A fascinating murder mystery set in a world plagued by an epidemic of insomnia, The Sleepless is the corporate thriller our dystopias deserve. Manibo asks not merely how such a pandemic would change our society, but how the corrupt systems would exploit and perpetuate it.” —John Wiswell, Nebula-winning author of, “Open House on Haunted Hill”
“The Sleepless is the best kind of science fiction; it holds a mirror up to society and digs deep into what makes us human. A knockout of a debut that makes me excited for whatever Manibo does next.” —Rob Hart, author of The Warehouse and The Paradox Hotel
"A tale of insidious, corporate-capitalist implications . . . and the human consequences of a life without dreams." —Booklist
“[A] thoughtful debut . . . Manibo neatly dissects the drawbacks of capitalist demands on society in this taut near-future procedural.” —Publishers Weekly