In childhood, Leon Nader suffered a series of strange sleep disturbances, far beyond sleepwalking. Following the death of his parents, one such instance was so violent that his foster family kicked him out. After years of therapy, he finally got his sleep habits under control, though as an adult he still suffers from occasional haunting dreams and sleep paralysis. Or at least he thinks so, until he wakes one day to find his wife sobbing on the floor, packing a suitcase. Bewildered by her battered appearance, he tries to understand what's happened, but she doesn't explain before she runs away. Despite his doctor's assurances that he'd been cured, Leon realizes that his parasomnia has returned and, with it, his violent behaviors. Determined to figure out what's going on, he contacts his childhood therapist who assures him he never actually hurt anyone in his sleep. But Leon doesn't trust this. He buys a motion-activated camera to wear at night. What it reveals is terrifying.
Sebastian Fitzek begins The Nightwalker with a suggestion that it takes place close to readers, possibly in their own neighborhood, establishing an intimacy that carries onward. Leon becomes a familiar person, a man anyone might encounter, which makes his descent all the more horrifying. Every time he wakes, he discovers more amiss in his life; his memories and reality do not align. The narrator leads readers through these unexpected discoveries, each one contributing an increasing sense of wrongness. And just as readers realize the broadening scope of the story, the author delivers one final chilling twist. --Justus Joseph, bookseller at Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, Wash.