Sleep by C.L. Taylor
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Read: 4th April 2019
Purchase: Amazon
★★ 2 stars
This is the first book by C.L. Taylor that I have read and I have to say that I wasn't overly thrilled with it. Despite everyone's raves reviews I found it a little monotonous and not overly exciting. I will say that I had some difficulty sleeping after reading it though, waking in the night thinking I heard something. But that would be the most effect it had on me.
SLEEP begins with promise - a chilling promise of things to come - and yet it failed to reach those hair-raising heights. I don't know why but it just never got there.
All Anna wants to do is sleep but she is plagued with crushing insomnia, terrifying nightmares and memories of the horrific crash that killed two of her colleagues and left one crippled with life-changing injuries. Anna walked away. As she was driving she feels responsible and since then has blamed herself.
But she is not the only one who feels she is to blame. Someone has been leaving her messages with the word SLEEP. A note on her car, a postcard in her pocket. Someone is watching her, stalking her. Someone wants her to suffer. Her boyfriend Alex believes she is just so sleep-deprived she is imagining things. But Anna knows better. She believes she knows who is behind the messages and thinks it's time for a clean break. A new start, a new place, a change in direction.
Anna decides to take a position with a small hotel on the Scottish island of Rum - an island so small its population is just 35. Perfect, Anna thinks. Far away from people and her old life in London. And hopefully, far away from the person stalking her. What better way than to escape the aftermath in the hope she can finally find some peace...and sleep.
Soon after her arrival a walking group book into the Bay View Hotel just as a storm is approaching. However, they don't let that deter them as they spend their first day exploring the island. But soon, the storm builds and becomes worse with torrential rain and cyclonic winds keeping the group indoors to amuse themselves. And before long, the rain cuts them off from the rest of the island, leaving them alone with just each other as the storm continues to rage.
But then strange things begin to happen and Anna again has that awful sense she is being watched. Then her new colleague and friend dies suddenly in front of them and when she sees the words pertaining once again to "SLEEP" drawn into the condensation of the window, terror begins to flood through her. Anna knows that whoever was stalking her in London has followed her here. And it can only be one of seven people. One of her guests wants her dead. But which one?
I must admit I didn't guess the culprit in this one, and many of the characters weren't completely likable. They did, however, all have their own secrets as the reader tries to unravel which of them has it in for Anna.
There is an obvious nod to Agatha Christie (and her "Ten Little Indians") with the setting of the scene but there the similarity ends. There was the makings of a truly chilling tale here but it fails to live up to them spectacularly. It certainly lacked the creepiness I'd expected to feel and instead I found myself increasingly frustrated with Anna.
A dark psychological thriller, SLEEP should leave you breathless and unable to sleep yourself but for me, it didn't quite live up to its hype. However, I won't let this deter me from exploring the author's other books as I have heard nothing but rave reviews about them and look forward to immersing myself in another, hopefully more thrilling tale.
I would like to thank #CLTaylor, #NetGalley and #AvonBooksUK for this ARC of #Sleep in exchange for an honest review.
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