Title: Stay Awake
Author: Megan Goldin
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: August 9, 2022
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 now lives in her apartment and forces her out in the cold. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing, and in its place is a bloodstained knife. That’s when she sees that her hands are covered in black pen, scribbled messages like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.
Two years ago, Liv was living with her best friend, dating a new man, and 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, the same 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 as she tries to piece together the fragments of her life. 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.
Stay Awake was unputabledown!
I can already imagine the movie or a limited Netflix series.
Liv Reese was living a normal life. She had a good job as a writer for a magazine, a good roommate/best friend, Amy and she was falling in love with the man she was dating, Marco.
Then everything changes when she wakes up in a taxi and arrives at her apartment early morning. The people who answered her apartment door are strangers. Her best friend Amy is not there, her things are gone and her cat is missing. Nothing makes sense. Worse, she finds writings all over her hands and arms, and on her knuckles, the words STAY AWAKE are spelled.
Of course, she starts to freak out and while looking for her cellphone, she finds a knife with blood in her pocket.
What is going on? What did she do?
And this is all I'm going to say about the plot. I believe it's best to go in blind.
I will mention that besides Liv's POV, we also get the POV of the detectives following a crime. Darcy Halliday and Jack Lavelle. Their timeline is in the present while Liv's is both past and present.
I'm not sure why this book reminded me so much of Memento since they are not at all alike. Maybe it was because of the sense of urgency I felt while I was listening to it. I knew time was running out for Liv. The audiobook narrated by Imogen Church and January LaVoy did a great job at wanting me to keep on going and finding out the truth.
Did I guess the ending? Nope. Looking back it was so easy to know. One more reason to make me like this one a lot.
As for the characters, I liked Liv and felt horrible for her. I also like Darcy a lot. I do hope we can get to see her character in another book. She was smart, resilient, and resourceful.
This is the second book I read by Megan Goldin (Night Swim was my first) and I'm now a confirmed fan.
Sign me up for her next novel!
Cliffhanger: No
4.5/5 Fangs
A complimentary copy was provided by St. Martin's Press/Macmillan Audio via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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