The Edge of Sleep: A Calm Apocalypse 

By Jacob Guynup
Staff Writer

The apocalypse is often used in the media as a setting for characters. There are books about the zombie apocalypse, like the original graphic novel The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, or the chaos and destruction brought by war, as in the world of The Hunger Games. It is common to see an apocalyptic event leave the world in ruins. I only know of one exception to this trend. The Edge of Sleep was published in 2023, offering a new take on post-apocalyptic storytelling. 

The story follows Dave Torres, a security guard working the night shift at Daxalab. He and his best friend Matteo, who works the same shift, leave Daxalab the morning after the fourth of July to go to a party. They arrive only to discover that everyone who had gone to sleep the previous night mysteriously died. Billions of people who went to bed never woke up.  

The rest of the story follows Dave and Matteo, Katy, Dave’s ex-girlfriend, who recently broke up with him, and Linda, a nurse at a local hospital, as they work together to figure out what caused this devastating event.  

Overall, I would say this was a very solid read. The writing itself isn’t super special and,  at times, can be very straightforward, but the unique story and fresh take on the apocalypse is what really sells this book. It was a fun book, but I definitely think the writing could have been improved in some major areas. Personally, I would rate this a 3/5.