Source: Review copy
Publication: 4th April 2019 from Avon Books
PP: 368
ISBN-13: 978-0008301316
All Anna wants is to be able to sleep. But crushing insomnia, terrifying night terrors and memories of that terrible night are making it impossible. If only she didn’t feel so guilty…
To escape her past, Anna takes a job at a hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum, but when seven guests join her, what started as a retreat from the world turns into a deadly nightmare.
Each of the guests have a secret, but one of them is lying – about who they are and why they’re on the island. There’s a murderer staying in the Bay View hotel. And they’ve set their sights on Anna.
Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One deadly lie.
Someone’s going to sleep and never wake up…
The million-copy bestseller is back in her darkest, twistiest book to date. Read it if you dare!
Sleep is the ultimate locked room mystery. From the moment the prologue begins you know you are in for a thrilling time. Our protagonist, Anna, is carrying a ton of guilt following a deadly car accident in which she was one of the drivers. The combination of her own guilt and the end of her already rocky relationship has caused her to feel vulnerable and alone. Constantly looking over her shoulder, she is jumpy and keeps thinking she is being followed.
In a desperate attempt to put everything behind her, she accepts a job on one of Scotland’s more remote islands. Anna’s new job is at the island’s only hotel, working with the owner. It’s hard work and there’s a constant toll on her time, but that’s how she likes it, as she is still having problems relaxing and sleep is intermittent, at best.
Things are going reasonably well until a new batch of 7 guests arrive, filling the small hotel. They are bound for hill walking and exploring until a dark and forbidding storm rolls in, creating a dark, intensely claustrophobic atmosphere and Anna begins to think that one of the guests may be more sinister than she had thought.
As the storm swirls around them, Anna will become more and more fearful as the mainland remains inaccessible and slowly their rations diminish and the power fluctuates. We learn more about the individual guests and as we do so our own fears for Anna increase exponentially.
Anna begins to receive messages that she knows are threatening, but with no idea who is sending them, she can trust no-one. Then as death inevitable raises its cruel and unflinching head on this storm ridden island, Anna knows she is trapped with a killer who wants revenge,
With some pacy and unsettling writing, C.L. Taylor brilliantly deflects and misleads until we are looking at every guest and, just like Anna, wondering where the next blow will come from.
Verdict: A brilliant and twisty thriller, Sleep stands out as a tense, dark and claustrophobic chilling psychological thriller.
C.L. Taylor lives in Bristol with her partner and young son. She is a four times Sunday Times bestseller and her books have hit the number one spots on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks and Google Play. Cally has a degree in Psychology, with particular interest in abnormal and criminal Psychology. She also loves knitting, Dr Who, Sherlock, Great British Bake Off and Margaret Atwood and blames Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected for her love of a dark tale.
Live and Deadly 