Description: "This superb debut from British author Barnes raises the bar for historical thrillers." -- Publishers Weekly "Strange, outrageous, and wonderful ... There is much that is strange, magical, and darkly hilarious about this book ... An original and monumentally inventive piece of work by a writer still in his 20s. Barnes seems to leave himself room for a sequel--a consummation devoutly to be wished." -- Washington Post "Old school entertainment in the penny-dreadful tradition that almost succeeds in being as sublime as it is ridiculous." -- Entertainment Weekly "Magical, dark, beautifully odd-and utterly compelling-this is an astonishing debut." -- Michael Marshall, author of The Intruders "Sneaky, cheeky, and dark in the best possible way, Jonathan Barnes' massively entertaining THE SOMNAMBULIST manages to make the familiar daringly unfamiliar. I enjoyed the heck out of this novel." -- Jeff Vandermeer "Macabre wit and stylistic panache. Parliament should immediately pass a law requiring Barnes to write a sequel." -- James Morrow, author of The Last Witchfinder and The Philosopher's Apprentice "A comic extravaganza, deftly plotted, fiendishly clever, and wonderfully funny. . . . One of the classiest entertainments I've read." -- Christopher Bram, author of Exiles in America "[B]rilliant...Barnes crafts one of the finest first novels of the young century...Truly surprising plot twists and red herrings abound." -- Austin Chronicle "A cheeky tale...salvaged from the sensationalist novels of the past three centuries....it doesn't take an English-lit wonk to appreciate the antic mind that would name two of the grotesquely deformed prostitutes in Mrs. Puggsley's brothel after virginal victims of Count Dracula." -- New York Times "A first novel that shows all the polish and poise of a master storyteller....By turns disquieting, funny, and taunting." -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Anyone who loves a good, kind of creepy thriller most likely will find something to love in [these] pages.... Thoroughly enjoyable." -- Kansas City Star "The Somnambulist is not your great-grandfather's mystery yarn." -- Richmond Times-Dispatch

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