Editorial Content for Stay Awake
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Reviewer (text)
The title of Megan Goldin's latest thriller, STAY AWAKE, is important. In fact, it’s been vital to the survival of Liv Reese. Why must she stay awake? Why has she written those words on her arms? On the doors? Why are exhortations like this posted and written everywhere: stay awake, don't trust anyone, don't sleep?
What we know from the first page is that Liv has problems remembering things. For example, she doesn't know why she has a bloody butcher knife in the pocket of her cardigan. She doesn't know why someone else is living in her apartment or why it's been totally redecorated. She doesn't know why her roommate, Amy, isn’t answering the phone, nor does her boyfriend, Marco.
"The dialogue is realistic and the action nonstop. The scenes where things are happening to Liv and she doesn't know why are surreal and, in a sense, frightening..."
The novel is cleverly told from Liv’s perspective in the present, with the day of the week and time specified at the beginning of each chapter, as well as in the past (two years ago, to be exact). At the start, we see that Liv has memory issues and doesn't know how she came to be in a cab at night. She last remembered being in her office and answering the phone. Two detectives are assigned to solve the murder in which she is implicated. While both of Liv's points of view are in first person, we hear from the detectives in an equally significant third person narrative, our interactions with them also clearly denoted with the day and time.
Goldin's ability to weave the plot and keep us guessing, wondering exactly what happened and who did it, is masterful. We come to like Liv and want to believe that she wouldn't seriously harm anyone, but the evidence is stacked against her. Either she's psychotic, killing people and not remembering it, or she's the victim of a carefully laid plot to ensnare her so that she looks like the guilty party to all the world. We keep reading to find out who the puppeteer is and what happens to Liv.
The dialogue is realistic and the action nonstop. The scenes where things are happening to Liv and she doesn't know why are surreal and, in a sense, frightening; we can only imagine how we would react if we were going through something like this. My only frustration with an ending that was truly fabulous is that I wanted to know what happened to Liv's one-eyed cat, Shawna. I would like to imagine that Liv went to the shelter and rescued her. But that's a minor point in a book that delivers big for fans of gripping thrillers with a unique twist.
Teaser
Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers --- a stranger who claims to live in her apartment. Her hands are covered in scribbled messages, like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE. Two years ago, Liv was thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. She’s horrified to see news reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, similar to the message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years?
Promo
Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers --- a stranger who claims to live in her apartment. Her hands are covered in scribbled messages, like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE. Two years ago, Liv was thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. She’s horrified to see news reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, similar to the message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years?
About the Book
A murder she doesn’t remember committing. A killer she doesn’t remember meeting. Megan Goldin’s STAY AWAKE is an electrifying novel that proves memory can be deadly.
Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers --- a stranger who claims to live in her apartment. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing. In its place is a bloodstained knife. Her hands are covered in scribbled messages, like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.
Two years ago, Liv was thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. Catching a glimpse of the local news, she’s horrified to see reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, similar to the message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years? Liv finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing. But there’s someone who does know exactly what she did, and they’ll do anything to make her forget --- permanently.
A complex thriller that unfolds at a breakneck speed, STAY AWAKE will keep you up all night.
Audiobook available, read by Imogen Church and January LaVoy
