The Somnambulist

Kirk A. Ryan
iUniverse (2006)
ISBN 0595381367
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (7/06)


This is an excellent novel that offers an alternative history to WWII.  In this story, the Third Reich has won the war.  The main part of the story takes place in a small Russian village that is being occupied by a German army.  Martin Schumann, a German army captain, still being affected by the death of his 8 year old daughter, ten years ago, is dealing with wondering if he is insane or the visions and apparitions that he is seeing are real.  As time passes, he realizes that he is not crazy and that his men also are seeing visions of horrible things happening.  There are men in the German army that are evil.  Martin begins learning about what really has happened to this village in his visions.  He also helps hide the presence of a Jewish girl, Annabelle, whose family was brutally murdered.  He discovers that she has special powers that can help defeat the evil presence in the village.  The battle is on.  Martin discovers that he has to fight some of his own men.  He also begins seeing the depth of Annabelle’s powers.

A somnambulist is a sleepwalker.  In this story, they are also people without faith who have spent their whole lives “asleep” not realizing that “the world that they see is the dream, and the Truth lies somewhere underneath.”  Martin feels that he was one of these people, until he encountered Annabelle. She woke him up to the reality of the world and helped him to see the ongoing fight between good and evil.

This is a great fiction novel, that makes you take your personal thoughts about how life appears to be, and compare them to how life might really be.  Ryan is able to write in such a way that you are able to really see what is going on in the story.  If it is cold, you feel cold.  If there is an evil presence, you feel goose bumps.  This makes it a really fun read.  I would love to see it turned into a movie.

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