Sleep Walk
by Charles Johnston

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Jamie Brock is trying to put his life back together. After being horrifically burned in a welding accident and enduring months of rehab, nightmares, and sleepwalking, he returns to Ron’s Auto, his longtime employer, and the site of his disfigurement. A skilled mechanic and the garage’s resident “good guy,” Jamie is welcomed back by its owners, Ron and Rosemary, their daughter Lena—who has long nursed a crush on Jamie—and wise-cracking mechanic, Mike. The garage resumes its old rhythms and Jamie’s connection with Lena blossoms. But all is not as it seems. Before long, people begin to disappear in the small town of Pincher Creek, Alberta. People connected to Ron’s Auto. Suspicion falls on Jamie, whose sleepwalking becomes increasingly disorienting. Disturbed by his inability to account for what he does during the night, Jamie, with the help of Lena, starts to investigate himself. What he discovers is darker—and more tragic—than he could have imagined. In Sleep Walk, Charles Johnston gives us a story reminiscent of early Stephen King: an ordinary man in a working-class milieu confronted by the unimaginable. Blending elements of mystery, Gothic horror, and psychological realism, and written with urgency and suspense, Johnston asks how well we can ever know each other—and ourselves.

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Charles Johnston is a screenwriter with twenty-five years of experience, mostly in children’s television. He has won two awards for screenwriting: Best Screenplay Short at the 2004 Shriekfest Film Festival and Outstanding Writing in a Children’s or Pre-School Children’s Series at the 2015–2016 Daytime Emmy Awards. Besides writing, he enjoys yoga, cooking, playing guitar, and recently obtained a private investigator license. Charles lives in downtown Toronto with his wife, Alex, and his son, Max. Find out more about his work at charlesjohnston.ca.

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Charles Johnston

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FriesenPress Editions

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