Early Riser

Jasper Fforde's first standalone novel - full of the imagination, wit and intelligence that has made Fforde a Number One bestseller.
Imagine a world where all humans must hibernate through a brutally cold winter, their bodies dangerously close to death as they enter an ultra-low metabolic state of utterly dreamless sleep. All humans, that is, apart from the Sleep Marshalls, a group of officers who diligently watch over the vulnerable sleeping citizens.

When John Fugue, a junior Sleep Marshall, finds himself in the forgotten rural outpost of Sector Twelve, he hears of a conspiracy - a viral dream is somehow spreading amongst those in the hibernational state, causing paranoia, hallucination and a psychotic episode that can end in murder.

When Fugue enters the Sleepstate himself and wakes two months later, all those who knew about the dream have disappeared and, more disturbingly, Fugue himself can recall parts of the viral dream - a dream that shouldn't be possible.