Wow! Cally Taylor has taken yet another step up the ladder of writing talent with this latest book, Sleep. Unsettling, paranoia-instilling, dark thoughts will settle in your mind very quickly once you start reading this novel.
The subject of the story, Anna, has gone through the worst experience of her life which has resulted in the deaths of two of her work colleagues and left another with life changing injuries. She has convinced herself that the accident was entirely her fault despite a court case saying otherwise so she takes the decision to get away from the life she has in order to sort out the mess which is residing in her head and preventing her from getting more than a couple of hours sleep at a time.
She moves to a remote island off Scotland, taking a job as hotel receptionist in the only hotel on the island. She's only been there about a week when the first batch of guests arrive, bringing with them a whole different set of problems for her to deal with.
Anna tries to analyse each of the guests in turn in order to work out which of them could be responsible for the events at the hotel or whether anyone could be connected to the troubles she left behind, but with a storm raging outside they soon become isolated on the one side of the island with no means of escape. The tension ramps up with every day that passes - by this time Anna is 100% sure she's no longer just being paranoid about the things which have been going on: someone is out to get her.

My pulse was racing for the vast majority of this book - I really didn't know any more than Anna who was making her life so miserable. It had to be someone within the hotel as there was no way anyone else could get to them due to the storm, which was so nerve wracking it actually made me feel quite sick. I'm not a fan of authors using weather to reflect a plotline, but in this case the severe storm was essential in setting the scene in order to cut them off so thoroughly from any other life. It really played perfectly into the protagonist's hands and made their task so much easier to carry out. There's a clever little scene which I hadn't bargained for in the conclusion to this novel which will give you one last chill before you put this book to bed - nicely done, Ms Taylor. I am suitably impressed and will be thinking about this book for a long time yet,

I was given a copy of Sleep by C.L Taylor by the publisher for an honest review. The book tells the story of Anna who whilst driving 3 colleagues home from a trip is involved in a car crash 2 of the colleagues die in the crash and the 3rd is left seriously injured. Anna finding it hard to cope with the crash feeling it is her fault starts to receive strange messages. Anna then decides to move to a remote Scottish island to work in a hotel. During a storm the messages continue and strange things start to happen. This is a classic who did it and leaves you guessing right to the end. C.L Taylor never disappoints with her story telling. A great psychological .

As someone who struggles to sleep every single night, and as someone who is a big C L Taylor fan, this was a book I couldn’t wait to read.

FIRST LINE OF SLEEP BY C L TAYLOR

“If you are reading this, then I am no longer alive.”

MY THOUGHTS ON SLEEP BY C L TAYLOR

A page turner featuring complex characters, delving deep in to how guilt can affect your life. I thought this a little difficult to get Into at the start, because there are so many characters to get to know.

But my persistence paid off, as the plot is tense, terrifying and terrific! If you have problems sleeping, this book will fill those restless hours for you. And if you can nod off easily, this book might change that, as you’ll want to keep reading till you unravel everything.

I loved the desolate setting too, it had vibes of Agatha Christie for me. But this is no cosy little mystery. It’s big, bad and nightmarish.

Highly recommended.

WHO SHOULD READ SLEEP BY C L TAYLOR?

Highly recommended to those who like tension, believability and lots of chills from their suspense novels. I think fans of C L Taylor’s previous books will enjoy this one. Also recommended to fans of Jo Spain, Lucy Dawson and Shalini Boland.

I loved this, a really tense, phycological suspense. Lots of twists and surprises and some really great characters.
With the main character trying to escape a traumatic experience, and with all her hotel guests having their own stories to tell.
I will most definitely be looking out for more books by this author.

Sleep is another good read from CL Taylor.
Set in an isolated location the story is reminiscent of a good Agatha Christie and is a proper who done it?
I enjoyed this book all the way through.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review early

C L Taylor has written a “proper whodunnit” in the style of Agatha Christie but without Poirot, who to be honest I am not keen on anyway!

At the heart of this book is Anna, who is work driven and aiming to get her foot on the next step of the career ladder, although her colleagues are not all happy about this. The story begins with Anne and her colleagues attending a conference, however on their way home a lorry drives into the path of the car that Anna is driving and not everyone survives.

To try and escape her nightmares over the crash and the guilt she feels over her colleagues, Anna runs away to a bleak Scottish Isle to work in a hotel. She leaves behind her boyfriend, who has his guilty secret.

It is not long before an assortment of guests takes up residence in the hotel and things start to get a bit dark, especially when the hotel owner has a heart attack and dies and then when a storm hits the Isle the hotel is cut off from civilisation. Anna is at breaking point, who is leaving messages for her mentioning the word “Sleep”? Who has taken the hotel’s master key? Why are items going missing?

C L Taylor weaves a wonderful tale of tragedy, heartbreak and love but above all suspicion. This story is enriched with wonderful characters who are all integral to the storyline. There are many little twists to lead the reader astray and rather like Agatha Christie novel, we have to look closely to work out who the culprit is.

Sleep is another amazing edge of your seat thriller from C. L. Taylor. I couldn't work out right until the end who the person that wanted Anna dead was. I 've read.most of Ms. Taylors books and they never disappoint.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy.

Set on a remote Scottish Island, aspects of this book remind me of 'And then there were none' by Agatha Christie. Anna takes a job at a hotel on the island of Rum in the hope of escaping her past. She doesn't get what she hoped for and has to deal with people dying in the hotel. This book is such an easy read. I enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it.

C L Taylor does it again. Sleep was terrifying. This has MOVIE written all over it. The remote location and the constant confused fuge that Anna is in pours off the pages. Scary and thrilling at the same time.

A very good book set in the atmospheric island of Rum in a hotel isolated by a severe storm. The story feels very Agatha Christie and has the classic whodunnit running through. However, there is also the underlying story of why Anna is living in Rum. A gripping book with highly developed characters.

I really enjoyed this.

Anna is the driver in a fatal road accident, and loses some colleagues. The guilt overcomes her, and she decides to move away. But someone is out to get her.....

Brilliant psychological thriller. I didn’t have a clue who was behind Anna’s stalking until the end. Would recommend this to everyone.

I have read a few C.L. Taylor books and always enjoyed them and so I was delighted to have been gifted an e-arc of Sleep, her latest novel. Anna and 3 work colleagues are driving back to London. Anna is driving when a truck veers into her lane causing their car to crash. Anna has a ruptured spleen but is operated on and makes a full, physical recovery. Her colleagues are not so lucky. 2 of them have died and one is paralysed. The case goes to court and the truck driver is found culpable of causing the accident having admitted to momentarily falling asleep at the wheel, and is subsequently jailed. Anna, suffering from guilt, night terrors and insomnia starts to receive slightly threatening and strange messages, each of which references the word "sleep". She also feels as though she is being followed and watched. She makes the decision to move away from London to a remote Scottish island, taking a job in a small hotel, and get away from it all.

The hotel has seven guests when a storm rages on the island, cutting off the power. The owner of the hotel drops dead of a heart attack and Anna is left to cater to the guests on her own. When the strange messages reappear and she once again has the feeling she is being watched, she becomes paranoid and overcome with fear that someone is out to get her.

I really, really wanted to like this book. However, there are a few things I didn't like. Firstly, Anna was not responsible for the accident. The Court proved this and jailed the driver who fell asleep at the wheel. I can understand why she suffered from guilt when two of her colleagues died and one was confined to a wheelchair, but why was everyone so intent on revenge against her as if it was her that fell asleep at the wheel or was drunk driving? I really didn't get that. I found the multiple narratives perplexing and didn't feel that they added to the story. It is a very slow read, which in itself is fine, but there was no racheting up of tension or suspense. The threat against Anna didn't feel menacing enough to scare and I didn't feel there was anything in the book that gripped me enough to warrant my being anything other than happy to finish it.

My thanks to the publisher and Ms Taylor for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is my third C L Taylor book and did not fail to disappoint. She is a great author who keep you riveted. Having said that all my reviews to date for her books have been 5 stars but I am giving this one 4 stars, verging to 4.5. It was a good plot and interesting setting but some of the goings-on towards the end got a bit too frantic and almost slapstick for my liking.

At the start Anna is driving three work colleagues in ice and sleet conditions when one passenger in the back distracts her by opening his window just as a lorry veers into her path head on. Two die and one is paralysed in the head-on collision with only Anna walking out of the crash and recovering completely after a spell in hospital. Anna feels a tremendous sense of guilt and is haunted by the crash in many ways, not least in feeling she is being stalked with someone leaving her sinister messages. In an attempt to get away from it all she splits up with her live-in boyfriend and takes a job in a small hotel on Rùm, a small island in Inner Hebrides, Scotland.

A couple of weeks into the job there is a tremendous storm which cuts off the hotel completely with no Internet or phone signal either. Seven guests have just arrived and more and more unnerving things happen. Anna thinks that one of the guests must be her stalker and fears for her life. After a day or so it descends into complete chaos and nonsense. It felt more like Fawlty Towers meets Agatha Christie.

Having said all that I am still thrilled to find that there are more C L Taylor books which I haven’t read yet and look forward to devouring them.


With thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK REVIEW

WOW ! What a book, what a read, what a corker that was. With a hook that gets you from the first and does not set you free even after you finish the book. Yes even after you close the book the hook has buried itself so deep In your mind it will remain embedded there forever. What a cunning mind to come up with this plot line and bring it so brilliantly to life within pages of the book. The author has gifted us the reader with a finely crafted, twisted, compulsive story. An absolutely stunning ' whodun'it ' that keeps the uncertainty going right to the end. Just when I thought i had it sussed out there it is the twist to a new suspect. After years of reading crime novels its refreshing to find there are still those books that keep you guessing. So if you want a devilishly, dark, disturbing read go buy this but don't read it just before bed as you wont SLEEP !!!

As always these are just my opinions and I thank NetGalley for the chance to read the book.

I was intrigued by the description for this book but I knew after reading the first three chapters that it just wasn't going to be for me. I kept waiting for something to grip me, pull me in, make me become the character, but it didn't happen. I found it slow and ended up giving up after about 20%. I just wasn't invested in the character of Anna or the storyline. I'm disappointed because I hate to give up on a book.

Anna is driving home from a work event when a truck slams into her car. Two of her co-workers are killed and a third is paralysed. Only Anna is spared serious injury and this contributes to her feelings of guilt; haunted by memories of the accident, she has punishing insomnia and, on the rare occasions she can sleep--night terrors. She can't imagine returning to her old job and when her long term relationship ends, she decides to escape completely taking a position in a hotel on a remote Scottish island hoping that she will find some peace there.

When a storm cuts the hotel from the rest of the world Anna is trapped with 7 strangers who all have secrets. Who are they and why are they really on the island? Which one of them is leaving strange, threatening messages for Anna?

I love closed circle mysteries, especially those where people are trapped by a storm (1222 by Anne Holt, The Unwanted Guest by Shari Lepena), so this is really my type of book. Occasionally I get frustrated when the characters in domestic thrillers behave in unpredictable ways to move the plot along but in Sleep, Anna's behaviour makes sense based on her recent trauma. (There is one scene involving hot chocolate that had me shaking my head, but that's a minor criticism.) The setting was great--very atmospheric--and fit the plot perfectly.

I would recommend Sleep to readers who enjoy domestic thrillers and I'll definitely read more of C.L. Taylor's books.

Hmm. I enjoyed some of this and some of it was a little tedious and bordering on silly. A mixed bag.

Anna is involved in a serious car accident. She survives but there are fatalities, and as the driver she is overcome with guilt.

When she is released from hospital and back home recouperating she has an unnervering feeling that she is being watched.
She can’t adjust back to normal life and wants to get away from it all. She takes a job in a small hotel on the island it Rum in Scotland to try and leave her past behind.

When a group of walkers book into the hotel strange things start to happen and again she feels like she is being watched and someone is out to get her.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I did enjoy large chunks of this but there were also large sections of the story that seemed a bit ridiculous and also dragged a bit.

The author is obviously giving a huge nod to Agatha Christie here with the set up and storyline. It also reminded me a little of John Carpenters The Thing also, a film I absolutely love, this book not so much.

The goings on in the hotel that see all our protagonists kept together seemed rather silly as did many aspects of the middle of the book. The ending was also incredibly cringe worthy and to be honest ludicrous.

There was the making of a great story here and in parts it hits the mark but when it doesn’t it misses them spectacularly.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Avon Books UK and C.L. Taylor for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy CL Taylors books, so I was delighted when I was sent this to be reviewed. I think this is actually the best book to date by this author.
What I particularly liked about it, was the real sense of atmosphere that was created on the remote island of Rum where this book is set, it was written in such a way that it felt like you were actually there. There are a multitude of characters in this book, all unique in their own way and you got a real sense of knowing about each one.
I don’t want to give to much away about the book, but it is one of those that keeps you gripped from the very beginning. After suffering a devastating car crash, Anna escapes it all by taking a job on a remote island in Scotland, then seven guests come to stay at the hotel as part of a walking tour, which fails to happen due to a dangerous storm. Each guest has a secret that they are hiding and one of the seven guests is out to get Anna, but which one? This is what makes the book so thrilling as you genuinely don’t know who or why one of them is targeting Anna.
This was a fabulous read tha again had me reading into the early hours.

Suffering from stress in the wake of a serious car accident, marketing manager Anna turns her back on her London job and her boyfriend and takes on a role of Girl Friday in a hotel on the remote island of Rum in The Hebrides.
But relief is short-lived. Anna and a handful of guests are cut-off in the hotel by a storm, and it soon becomes clear that someone is out to get vengeance for the injuries they believe Anna caused.
There are times when it seems you have had a run of books which you haven’t enjoyed much and I knew from the start SLEEP had ended such a run for me. I had also forgotten (sorry C.L.Taylor) that I had read and rated The FEAR highly.
So, it is no surprise that this is fast moving, well- constructed thriller but it is all its other attributes which make SLEEP an enjoyable read. The style is clear and the attention to detail is always in evidence, but even when the characters feel annoying or when they make dubious decisions, they still feel solid and real.
Great stuff, I really enjoyed this one.
With thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books U.K.

Absolutely loved this book. The sense of place was very strong. The characters were well described and the story romped along. I have to say that some parts were a little bit difficult to believe, i.e. the length of the storm, sounded a bit unfeasible. Also the plot did have an awful lot of cliches in it. Everything that could go wrong went wrong and again that seem to be just too convenient for the story. However it was good and I will look forward to more books by this author. Thank you for letting me read it.