Before I Wake (38 page)

 

ROBERT J. WIERSEMA
is a lifelong bookseller and noted critic and reviewer. His writing appears in the
Globe and Mail
, the
National Post
, the
Vancouver Sun
,
Quill & Quire
magazine and numerous other periodicals. He runs a highly successful author event series at Bolen Books in Victoria, B.C., where he lives with his wife, Cori Dusmann, and their son, Xander.

 

PRAISE FOR

BEFORE I WAKE

“Tragedies and supernatural miracles are expertly layered with ordinary domestic life….
Before I Wake
is a classic thriller: creepy in all the right places and deliciously suspenseful…. He is a gifted storyteller who has graced the Canadian literary landscape with a unique, spellbinding and ultimately uplifting gem.”

The Globe and Mail

“Robert Wiersema…has written an accomplished first novel, the sort of book veteran novelists might well envy.”

National Post

“I wept over this book as I read it, and I'm still haunted by it. Wiersema's compassion for us all shines through in writing that is vivid and very often disturbingly powerful. He is a beautiful writer, and this is a beautiful book.”

Gail Anderson-Dargatz, author of
The Cure for Death by Lightning, A Recipe for Bees
and
A Rhinestone Button

“This is a wonder to behold. A deft fusion of intimate family story, suspense and religious exploration,
Before I Wake
is one of those books you just don't put down until you've read the last page…. The climax is a strange and wondrous moment, not quite believable. But then very little of this story is, and somehow that's not just acceptable, it's magnificent.”

Edmonton Journal

“It's a daring book that falls into the can't-put-it-down category.”

Times Colonist
(Victoria)

“A page-turning debut…. It's Dan Brown's
The Da Vinci Code
meets Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy—an age-old battle between good and evil set against contemporary life.”

CBC.ca

“
Before I Wake
is a strong debut that showcases a writer with a creative mind and a willingness to let his story unravel to its fullest extent.”

The Vancouver Sun

“Inventively told using cinematic jump cuts and fantastical interventions,
Before I Wake
provocatively dances along the lines between faith and science, life and death. Robert Wiersema's first novel shows a writer possessed with the kind of storytelling instincts that make you care about the answer to the one question that really counts: What happens next?”

Andrew Pyper, author of
The Wildfire Season

“I read this book in less than three days, over the Christmas holidays with a house full of family and friends, and every time I had to put it down, I found myself compiling lists of people for whom I wanted to buy it. It captured me from the opening page and kept me going, wanting more, because it is a wonderful story, superbly told. The tight, tersely written chapters with their constantly changing points of view had me totally enthralled, because the characters are all utterly believable; every one of them rings true, with no miscues. A wonderful novel from a storyteller who knows what being a master of the craft entails.”

Jack Whyte, author of the Dream of Eagles series

 

VINTAGE CANADA EDITION, 2007

Copyright © 2006 Robert J. Wiersema

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Published in Canada by Vintage Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, in 2007. Originally published in hardcover in Canada by Random House Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, in 2006. Distributed by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Vintage Canada and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House of Canada Limited.

www.randomhouse.ca

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Wiersema, Robert J.
Before I wake / Robert J. Wiersema.

eISBN: 978-0-307-37113-3

I. Title.
PS8645.I33B43 2007     C813'.6     C2006-907034-2

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