The Insomniacs by Alison Winn Scotch was a surprise for me. I read the blurb, but nothing really struck me except I was struggling to sleep myself. Luckily my insomnia was nothing like the main characters in this novel.
Betty was one of the main characters. She was a waitress in a diner in New York City. There are definite signs of someone on the run, but from who or what is the question. She works the dead at night shift to stay safe and avoid her roommates.
Zeke is a baseball pitcher from the Mets. He was hit in the pitching arm and is working on rehabbing it. On top of that he is struggling with sleeping – like he isn’t sleeping. He has found a couple of other people who are not sleeping and has formed a bond with them.
Sybil is lonely. She is a mom whose children have left for college, whose husband is having an affair and who is used to being the smartest person in a group. She wants to fix everything and make everything better for everyone else, but she can’t sleep so is online playing games with strangers until they decide to meet in a diner in the middle of the night.
Julian is a retiree, only he isn’t really retired. He spends his night reviewing files and trying to figure out important information that he might have missed. He acts like he runs a candy shop, but that is obviously a front. He suggested the diner where they all meet.
The four characters form an alliance of sorts of insomniacs. Meeting, talking and intertwining their lives, but there are questions and some secrets. Support for each other, they have, but no answers.
I like how the story wraps around the characters. How the characters interact with each other is interesting in how the relationships form. It gets suspenseful when one of the characters goes missing and one is killed by a hit and run. The story had a surprise ending and a great wrap up to tie everything together. The Insomniacs by Alison Winn Scotch was a good read.
