Self-published book of the month: Café Insomniac by Mark Capell

In this dreamily compulsive novel, the winner of our monthly competition, a man who can't sleep opens an establishment for nighthawks. But when a customer is murdered, his nocturnal life starts to unravel

Justin, a 25-year-old teacher, is struck down by a "mythical beast a dragon that even St George would have trouble slaying": insomnia. He begins to lose the ability to sleep, little by little, until he's surviving on snatches here and there. He loses his much-loved job. He decides to open a cafe, catering to the other wakeful observers of the night: "Shift workers, taxi drivers, DJs and clubbers, doctors and nurses, burlesque performers and insomniacs, of course. All grateful for a relaxed place to go that fills the night-time hours."

I've heard this type of sound before. It can be footsteps, it can be a clock ticking, it can be a word heard over and over again. One thing these noises have in common is that they sound menacing. But they're not the noises they pretend to be. It's the sound of my insomnia, that's what it is What it is for certain, indisputably, is a desperate sign that I really need to sleep.

9:33 am. I'm in bed, staring at the ceiling. I find this a strange time of day. It's after the rush hour. The sounds beyond my window, of people scurrying to work and children off on the school run, have died away, to be replaced by nothing. To me, this is an eerier time of day than, say, 2am. But I know I'm in the minority I'm facing a fourth day of complete sleeplessness. I think it's a fourth day. The concept of days, of beginnings and endings, is losing its meaning.

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