Sarah Pinborough’s latest thriller, INSOMNIA, is being compared to her 2017 masterpiece, BEHIND HER EYES, which Netflix turned into a binge-worthy miniseries. Does it live up to the hype? You bet it does!

The monsters were never
under my bed.
Because the monsters
were inside my head.

These words from Nikita Gill’s “Monsters” appear in the book’s epigraph and nicely sets the reader up for what’s to come.

"INSOMNIA is the type of book that very fittingly will cause many sleepless nights and continues to prove that Sarah Pinborough is a multilayered, complex writer capable of excelling at many different genres."

Emma Averell will be turning the big 4-0 in just 12 days and has been dealing with near-crippling insomnia. It’s so bad that she has begun to hallucinate that someone is in her house, and her number one priority as a mother is to protect her two children. It bleeds into every part of her waking life, and is impacting her marriage to her deadbeat husband, Robert, and her job as a top solicitor.

The next day while at work, Emma receives a call out of the blue from her older sister, Phoebe, with whom she is not close. Phoebe is only calling to let her know that their mother has been hospitalized and is not doing well. Emma reluctantly meets Phoebe at the hospital; as expected, Phoebe lays a huge guilt trip on her. All Emma can recall is that Mum is crazy, and everyone said she was just like her. This is the main reason she fears her 40th birthday; this was right around the time that Mum lost her mind.

Emma and Phoebe eventually get word that their mother has passed away. It happened right after Emma left her room, causing a lot of finger-pointing from Phoebe since there was obviously no love lost between Emma and Mum. But did enough resentment exist for Emma to kill her? Robert is now barely talking to Emma, and the sleep deprivation and crazy nightmares she’s experiencing are getting worse. It’s like she knows something bad is going to happen, specifically to her son, Will.

The police get involved to rule out a possible homicide. During this time, Phoebe is staying with Emma and Robert. Emma also starts getting the feeling that Phoebe and Robert are plotting against her in some way (think Gaslight but far creepier). As Emma gets her friend and fellow solicitor, Darcy, to represent her, she begins to dig into the past where all the answers must lie. She brings up the sad memories of a mother too unfit to raise her own daughters, who are forced into foster care.

Everything will come to a head on Emma’s birthday, leading to explosive revelations. INSOMNIA is the type of book that very fittingly will cause many sleepless nights and continues to prove that Sarah Pinborough is a multilayered, complex writer capable of excelling at many different genres.