Title: Deprivation

Author: Roy Freirich

Release date: Originally released March 3rd, 2020, re-releasing February 13th, 2024

Huge thanks to Meerkat Press for sending me a digital copy of this one!

I was very intrigued by the synopsis straight away.

Anything to do with sleep/insomnia/sleep deprivation always gets me excited – think Russian Sleep Study – so, with this one being suggested as a psychological thriller and dealing with an isolated island of people who suddenly can’t sleep after a boy who won’t speak is found abandoned on the beach, I knew things were gonna be crazy.

What I liked: As mentioned, the story takes place on Carratuck Island – a tourist spot where the locals live an easy, carefree life. The new doc, Sam, is doing his best to fit in, but also struggling to sleep, dealing with the guilt over a former client’s suicide.

Things take a turn, when a young boy is brought to the medical clinic. The boy won’t speak and is solely focused on his handheld video game. Not long after his appearance, people begin to arrive at the clinic, looking for help to sleep. Freirich does a masterful job of creating a slow-burn atmosphere here. At first, it’s a couple people. Then a dozen. Then two dozen. Tempers begin to flare. Sleeping pill stock depletes and soon, the Chief of Police is dealing with people angry the ferry isn’t arriving.

As the sleep deprivation continues, people begin to take things to the extreme and those who are managing to stay level-headed are left to deal with the aftermath.

Freirich does a really solid job of showing how each of the secondary characters succumbs to the effects of less sleep, questioning things, seeing things and struggling to find any hope. And as the effects roll across the island, things get more and more heated. Enter a supposed new doc who thinks things are being kept from the people by those in charge and tensions escalate even further. If you consider this was originally released in 2020, it would’ve felt like a very timely discussion piece on the Covid mandates.

The ending ties up most of the pieces of the story. We see what happens as things slowly return to normal and where some of those who made it off the island end up.

What I didn’t like: It was odd. Even though I knew going in this was more of a slow-burn, tension-based thriller, I constantly felt like I was waiting for something to actually happen. People showed up tired. Then it repeated the next day. And the next. And the next. It just never seemed to actually arrive at a true tipping point. And while the ending tied things up, I’m personally not sold on the ‘why’ of things happening. It felt a little light for a reason.

Why you should buy this: I’ve seen a few reviews suggest this is similar to Tremblay’s ‘The Cabin at the End of the World,’ and I think that’s a fair comparison. Saying that, in Tremblay’s we get to an ‘action-moment’ really early on, while this one is a bit more repetitive in building things until about 75% in. This one also comes with a bonus novella, following a different character and her husband during the events, which was a fun bonus.

Overall, if you’re looking for a solid, unnervingly realistic look at an isolated group of people dealing with a lack of sleep, look no further. I would’ve liked a bit more oomph overall, but did enjoy this one.

3/5