- Format: Kindle Edition
- File Size: 1116 KB
- Print Length: 400 pages
- Publisher: Avon (4 April 2019)
- Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B07DQ3VZ38
Synopsis
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.
Review
Sleep is the new novel by the queen of the psychological thriller C.L Taylor; although it should be called ‘Forget Sleep’ because once you start this book you won’t be able to put it down. Anna Willis is a marketing manager and after a team building exercise is involved in a serious incident that changes her life. To escape the guilt she embarks on a new life on the Isle of Rum, but it’s never that easy to leave you past behind you. The book is narrated by Anna in the first person, a couple of the other characters in the third person and there are a few chapters titled ‘In Memoriam’ from an unknown source; this makes you feel more connected with Anna and what she is going through and keep her the centre of attention.
I am a huge fa of C.L Taylor’s books; she is one of only a few authors whose books I have to read in one day as I literally can’t put them down. This book had a slightly different feel to it than her previous books, the setting in the hotel on the Isle of Rum gave this a claustrophobic feel and reminded me of the great Agatha Christie in books like And Then There Were None. The setting plays such an important part in this book, it’s almost like an extra character, a malevolent one whose job is to cause trouble. As well as Anna and owner David, there are seven guests at the hotel, all keeping secrets all not what they seem. Their confinement due to bad weather causes a kind of cabin fever, where sparks start flying between the guests and secrets start to be revealed. Just one spark is all it needs to light the fuse and blow them, and the whole plot open. The storm that causes the confinement is a great literary device, it signals the portent of doom and disaster.
C.L Taylor always writes such ordinary characters, I mean that in a good way, they are personable, recognisable and could be somebody you know, which makes her books even more chilling. Anna is the main character, a young professional women whose life is turned upside down in a second. She decides to take stock of her life, follow her dreams and go to the Isle of Rum; a place to heal, a less stressful life. Unfortunately for her she can’t out run her past, she has to deal with the prospect that someone is out to harm her. Throughout the book I started to like then hate certain characters, the tension builds around them and it is not until the end that all secrets are revealed and the true culprit is unmasked. With so many twists and turns, the claustrophobia of Anna and the guests, Anna’s paranoia and guilt all build the tension and suspense until the pressure is released in a big shocking conclusion.
Sleep is a fast paced, super charged thriller that will take you on a rollercoaster of a ride you will not forget. The building of tension throughout, the dread of Anna and the claustrophobic setting make for the perfect psychological thriller. I highly recommend this book, but be warned, don’t start it at night or you will definitely not get any sleep; another stunning read from C.L Taylor.
Thank you to Avon book for asking me to be part of this blog tour, and for my copy of the book in return for an honest review.
As always huge thanks to you my readers, I really appreciate all your follows, likes and shares x
