Booklist Reviews
At a remote cottage, Anna sends a WhatsApp message: I'm sorry. I think I've killed them. But when authorities arrive to question Anna and attempt to save two stabbing victims, the woman is fast asleep, a state in which she will remain for years. Did she commit the murders while sleepwalking? Is she actually asleep or is this a years-long ruse? When she begins to stir four years later, Ben Prince, a psychologist specializing in sleep-related crime, rushes to her bedside, hoping to uncover Anna's secrets. Flashing back to Anna's journal before the murders, delving into the lives of Anna's nurse, and giving glimpses of the media fervor attendant to this interesting case, first-time novelist Blake offers many elements that will appeal to readers who prefer their psychological thrillers extra twisty with an innovative premise. Unfortunately, even though Blake alternates perspectives, the voices for his varied characters lack differentiation and he leans on explanations after the fact rather than creating on-page action. A heavy marketing push and comparisons to favorites like Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins will nonetheless draw many readers. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.
Library Journal Reviews
Forensic psychologist Benedict Prince is tending to an unusual patient: Anna Ogilvy stabbed two people to death, evidently while sleepwalking, and hasn't awakened since. Neurologists would say she has resignation syndrome, and Benedict's job is to rouse her so that she can stand trial. Blake, who's been writing horror, gets a buzzy 200,00-copy first printing. Prepub Alert. Copyright 2023 Library Journal
Copyright 2023 Library Journal.PW Annex Reviews
Former political speech writer Blake debuts with a devilishly twisty psychological thriller about a woman accused of killing her best friends and then falling into a deep sleep. Forensic psychologist Benedict Prince specializes in sleep-related crimes, studying instances of reckless driving, murder, and robbery committed while the perpetrators were asleep. His article on a possible cure for "resignation syndrome," or involuntary extended sleep, has brought him to the attention of officials at England's Ministry of Justice, who want Prince to revive 25-year-old editor Anna Ogilvy, so she can be tried for murder: Anna's been asleep for several years, ever since she was found beside a bloody knife in a cabin next door to the corpses of two of her friends. As Prince attempts to stir Anna, he looks into the factors that might have driven her to violence. Interwoven throughout Prince's investigation are chapters focused on a pseudonymous character who's researching the case for their own obscured purposes, as well as entries from Anna's missing diary, which cover the days leading up to the murders. Blake never lets the reader, or his hero, get comfortable, delivering one game-changing twist after another all the way through to the final sucker punch. The exhilarating results are likely to shock even seasoned thriller fans.