No sleeping with this book (Sleepers - Lorenzo Carcaterra)

Member Name: sympatic

Product:	Sleepers - Lorenzo Carcaterra
Date:	11/02/08 (128 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good thriller

Disadvantages: Some distrubing sections

I'm not a big book reader, I tend not to have the time to sit down and read fr any length of time however this one was recommended to me by the boyfriend after he had finished it. There is some debate over whether this is in fact a true story or the impression created that it is was just part of the marketing hype but either way it is a cracking read.

The story is set in the present but is also told through a series of flash backs following the violent shooting of an off duty security gaurd in a Hells Kitchen diner one night by two members of a violent Irish gang. It seems an unprovoked random killing however there is a very direct link to the past and in particular four young boys who grew up in the notorious Hells Kitchen area of New York. Michael, Tommy, John and Shakes were four normal boys who one day play a prank that ends the life of an innocent man and they are sent away to a youth offenders institute where they suffer terribl abuse from the guards.

This is story fundamentally about revenge, it is also very brutal and there are some disturbing events described which include rape and death. It is also a totally obsorbing read and one that I would highly recommend.

It certainly became a bit of a page turner for me and I found it hard to put the book down as I grew to really care about the four characters and to feel very sorry for them. The author Carcaterra has a nice writing style which is easy to read and uses an economy of language and while some of it may have glorified and exaggerated the community of Hells Kitchen the book works really well.

Definately one I would recommend. It has also been made into a film which I plan to watch soon on DVD to see how it compares.

Summary: Great book.