You may never sleep again
Wakemares

By Graham Gillam. Equilibrium Books
$18.95

Reviewer :: Cpl Damian Shovell

Graham Gillam wrote most of this collection of 13 short stories while on operations in East Timor in 2001.

They aren't, however, in a military vein and range in diversity from the carnage caused by a marauding horde of escaped circus animals to a matricidal five-year-old.

The author thanks, among others, Steven King for inspiration in his acknowledgements and the similarity in style is evident in his choice of macabre, bizarre and sometimes amusing stories.

The author also attributes one of his stories to a dream he was awoken from to respond to a ready-reaction incident.

Anyone familiar with Doxy-induced dreams may relate well with this one.

Perhaps aimed at a slightly younger market than your average military reader, the book didn't cause me any sleeping problems as its title suggests, but it did hold my attention enough to have me read it in one sitting.

Armed with a prolific imagination and the ability to create plots that twist-and-turn, Gillam's stories maintain the suspense and keep you turning the pages.