I was delighted when Elke Desanghere from Avon Books UK pre-approved me to read this book. I have loved C. L. Taylor’s books, and her stories generally twist my head in.
The story started when the main character Anna loses sleep due to her guilt after a road traffic accident which kills two of her colleagues and paralyses the third. The same guilt forces her to take a job in a hotel in the isolated island of Rum, Scotland. 7 guests arrive, and one of them wants to kill her.
As promised by the blurb, the book did make me lose sleep over the weekend. Every moment that I had free was spent with my nose stuck to kindle. This story had my complete attention as the main arc was the murder mystery, or I would say, an attempt to murder. The prose and Taylor’s writing had me reading every sentence, suspecting everyone, and trying to piece down the clues. And believe me, Taylor being a master storyteller, there were hidden red herrings, I just had to keep looking for it.
The book had me playing detective in the best way possible. I liked how the main character, Anna, was developed in the entire book. Her guilt could have led to giving up, but when push came to shove, Anna did find her courage and allowed her survival instincts to guide her to the killer’s identity. A raging storm and a flooded river forced all the characters to remain in the hotel, till the killer got the opportunity to strike again. And Anna being clever, left a final note for the cops with all her investigative findings…
The story did come with its niggles, I guessed the killer’s identity earlier on in the book, reasons for the kill took my breath away, they were twisted!! As compared to her previous book, Fear, this did not have the same pitch and the tension. The story arc was quite similar to Agatha Christie’s And There Were None or more recently to Shari Lapena’s The Unwanted Guest.
In spite of my niggles, this book kept me rooted to it. All in all, an enjoyable read during the weekend. And it was worth losing my sleep over!!
I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Avon Books UK, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!!
All my reviews can be found here
C.L. Taylor is a Sunday Times bestselling author. Her psychological thrillers have sold over a million copies in the UK alone, been translated into over twenty languages, and optioned for television. C.L. Taylor lives in Bristol with her partner and son.
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…
Publication date : 19th March 2019
Publisher : Avon Books UK
38 Responses
Glad you enjoyed this, Shalini!
Thank you Jonetta ❤️❤️ read the book last year 🙈
A chilling book.
Some parts of it. Most were similar to Agatha Christie ❤️
I love the premise of this book! Even the blurb is tension-filled. It sounds pretty good. I don’t need a book to be perfect to enjoy it, so the niggles are disappointing but not off-putting. Thanks for reviewing Sleep!
Hahaha I was having a nap… 😂 It had a tinge of Agatha Christie ❤️
Interestingly, I couldn’t sleep either until I finished reading this one. You are a better detective than me, I didn’t guess the culprit until 3/4ish. Glad you enjoyed this one, Shalini. Great review.
Oooh… I went by the process of elimination.. 😂 😂 No idea how I guessed ❤️
This sounds like a nice read, Shalini! Love a good mystery/suspense read. So glad you enjoyed it. Awesome review as always! 🙂
Aww Erica you are sweet as always ❤️😍😘
Despite knowing the killer early, it seems to beckon to me, I ran to netgallery and wished for it, but I fear my ratio is too low, I’ve been too greedy!
Awww…. I read this book last year.. But I hope you get to read it… It is a fun read… Like Agatha Christie
Ooooo chilling book and great review! You know, Shalini, if I ever read any of your chillers, I think I shall start at the end and then read the rest of the book without fear 😂😂
Hahaha darling Jaya, I will take that as a compliment 😘❤️
Great review, Shalini. I really enjoyed this one, I think it’s definitely my favourite of C.L. Taylor’s books.
I think I liked her previous one Fear more. I really enjoyed that
Nice review Shalini. The niggles don’t sound too bad. I have not read any books by this author, so perhaps I will check out her previous book to read. It does sound like it would be a gripping read.
I liked her last book better this was too similar in concept to Agatha Christie. But it was good fun too 😍
I will have to looks for her others then. I have not read any by this author.
Both An Unwanted Guest and Then There Were None are two of my favorite books. There is something thrilling about trapped guests in a remote location slowly being picked off one by one. Perhaps it’s the innkeeper in me that finds it so fascinating. 😉 Your review is terrific as always and this is definitely going on my To Read list!
Thank you so much ❤️.. The TBR list and my hips keep growing… Gahhhh!!! 😂 That was for my hips
I am sure that you will love this book it is good fun
I love the premise of this…hmm, might have to read it! ❤
Hahaha or maybe your great grandchild would read it 😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂 so true!
Glad you didn’t mind losing sleep over this one. Now go sleep! 😂
I am sleeping… One eye is closed 😂😂
😜
I like that it’s Agatha Christie like! I really want to pick this one up!! Fab review! ❤️
Thank you so much ❤️… I hope you like it
Still need to try this author. Great review Shalini!
Hey Holly thank you so much. ❤️ Her previous book Fear was great..
I’ll try it first!
Reading this one at the moment… it’s a goodie! She’s got such an easy writing style, totally readable.
So happy you are loving it 😍💖