Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

Publisher's Synopsis

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.

My Review of Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

A very interesting premise lies behind the mystery and intrigue of Stay Awake that sets it apart from the majority of thrillers from recent times. Liv Reece is suffering from a condition where, when she falls asleep she forgets everything that has happened over the past 2 years. She’s living in a constant state of confusion as she tries to reconcile why her apartment is occupied by strangers, her boyfriend is no longer around and she is no longer employed at the job she’s sure she only just left to get some lunch.

But there’s a more sinister twist to this mystery. On the night we join the story she wakes up to find she’s in possession of a knife covered in what looks like blood. Not only that, her hands and arms are covered in scrawled writing, messages saying things like “don’t trust the police” and “wake up” and “stay awake”.

On the news comes the story of a murdered man who had been stabbed overnight. Written in blood at the crime scene in massive letters on one window are the words “Wake Up”. This is horrifying to Liv when she matches the words to the ones scrawled on her arm. The shock registered in one chilling question, “Did I murder someone last night?”

This is a wonderfully contrived thriller that moves along at breakneck speed. The focus switches between the present and Liv’s recurring nightmare of waking with no recent memory and over 2 years ago in the lead up to the events that caused her traumatic memory loss. We slowly have the pieces slotted into place to give us an idea of what she’s been through and the precarious situation she now finds herself in.

Meanwhile, there is a police procedural aspect to the story in the form of a pair of NYPD detectives who are working the murder case. And, given the present day part of the story takes place within one day, kudos to these hard-working detectives who make remarkable progress in their investigation! There is a nice dynamic between the investigating officers, one of whom comes to the conclusion that Liv’s a killer while the other is not so sure. Either way, the noose is slowly tightening.

I really enjoyed this book and appreciated the way crucial information was slowly given to us, almost as if we were going through the same memory problem as Liv. The fast pace and almost forced confusion creates just the right tone for a thriller that will keep you completely engaged from the first page to the last.