All Anna wants is to be able to sleep. But crushing insomnia, terrifying night terrors and memories of that terrible night are making it impossible. If only she didn’t feel so guilty…

To escape her past, Anna takes a job at a hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum, but when seven guests join her, what started as a retreat from the world turns into a deadly nightmare.

Each of the guests have a secret but one of them is lying – about who they are and why they’re on the island. There’s a murderer staying in the Bay View hotel. And they’ve set their sights on Anna.

Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One deadly lie.

Someone’s going to sleep and never wake up…

Well. All I can say is how much I absolutely loved this book. I'm sort of sorry I started it on a Sunday evening as I had to make myself stop reading at midnight. But I set my alarm for 30 mins earlier the following morning, so I could finish it before work.

This book has everything you need in a psychological thriller. A likeable protagonist, several suspicious characters and a bleak landscape.

I actually think this is the author's best book so far.

I now cannot WAIT for her next book!

Sleep is my favourite book yet by C.L. Taylor. It’s a dark, claustrophobic read that will keep you gripped right from the first page.

C.L. Taylor always manages to hook me very early on in her novels, and she manages tension so well. The end of each chapter always leaves me wanting more. The novel opens as a horrific car accident takes place, taking the lives of two people and severely injuring another. Anna is the person who was at the wheel of the car involved in the accident. She is haunted by the deaths of her colleagues who were in the car with her and blames herself. Desperate for a fresh start, Anna relocates to a remote Scottish island. But someone is keen to make sure Anna hasn’t forgotten what she’s done, and they are eager to make sure that she pays for her role in her colleague’s deaths.

The claustrophobic setting of the hotel on the Scottish island, where Anna starts a new job made this book a real winner for me. There was a growing sense of alarm and danger, especially as they realised they were beginning to run out of food. The group of guests all have their own, well-crafted backstories and as Anna started to believe that she was being targeted, I didn’t know who I could trust. C.L. Taylor created a splendid locked room mystery, and she brought to life a truly isolated setting, especially when the storm struck leaving the guests and Anna stranded in the hotel.

This is an absolutely must-read for fans of psychological thrillers. I remember how chilling I found the ending of C.L. Taylor’s last book and she delivers another brilliant one here, after finishing it I’m still wondering about the characters and what they’re all getting up to. And I think I’m going to be thinking about them for a while.

A top read from C.L. Taylor. I was never sure how this book was going to pan out, and the tension kept me glued to the pages.

Thank you to Avon Books and Netgalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book - read it overnight and did not anticipate the ending. Gripping throughout with a very bitter ending.

Will be reading more by this author.

After being involved a car accident, Anna decides to take a job at a guest house on the remote Scottish island of Rum to get away from it all. However, once there, a storm sees her stuck with seven guests with one of them harbouring a deadly secret.

As with all C L Taylor’s books, this is a fast paced and intriguing read. The isolated setting really adds to the suspense. As this has a larger cast of central characters than her other novels I found it more difficult to relate to each as they weren’t as well developed. However, this did enable the author to keep me guessing the killer all the way to the end.

I found Taylor's latest book compelling: I particularly liked the setting, and I thought the characters were well drawn and the pace good. I would absolutely recommend this to the thriller lovers in my life, and it's made me keen to ready Taylor's back catalogue.

Well this book just ticked all the boxes for me it was just a brilliant read from start to finish. It felt very like a modern take on the classic style of Agatha Christie, a real “who done it” with a whole lot more besides and I absolutely loved it. Set mainly on the remote Scottish island of Rum amidst harsh weather and beautiful scenery Anna tries to escape her past but has it followed her there !! This book has suspense, menace and a damn good plot line I just couldn’t put it down and found myself grabbing every spare minute to just read a bit more..I just love books like this and it’s why I love reading so much to lose yourself in a book is a wonderful feeling and this book hits the mark big time. So please don’t miss it it’s a fabulous read and very highly recommended.
My thanks to the wonderful C L Taylor, NetGalley and Avon Books UK for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

What a little gem this is - totally gripping, full of atmosphere, tension and general creepiness all set in the stunning but isolated Scottish island of Rum which creates a sense of trepidation all on its own.

This book can be likened to a classic who-dunnit story - a group of people trapped together in an isolated location with a possible murderer amongst them - it's your job to try and work out who it is from the drips of clues amongst the red herrings provided by the author and I have to give Ms Taylor a round of applause because I didn't figure it out until it was right in my face! and, to be honest, that doesn't happen too often.

Excellent characters - some nice, some not so nice - absolutely perfect setting, great story line and ideal pace makes this a great read and one I have little hesitation in recommending to all psychological thriller lovers out there.

A very big thank you to Avon Books UK via NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.

A tense who-dunnit set in a remote hotel on the Scottish Isle of Rum.

The book reminded me a little of a recent title I read and reviewed, An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena, although I found Sleep just a touch more relatable as the lead character Anna felt like someone I could socialise with.
Both these books are tense thrillers set in remote hotels cut off during a storm, where the guests are a disparate bunch and you don’t know who you can trust.

Sleep is written with the usual panache of the author C L Taylor who excels at the twisty, the scary and the psychological punch of narrators you aren’t completely sure can be relied on.

In Sleep we see Anna, recovering from an accident, wanting to escape her life and taking a job in as remote a getaway location as she can find, a small independent hotel on a Scottish Island which caters mostly for outdoorsy types and hardy hikers.

She hasn’t been there very long when a storm hits and the seven guests staying are thrown together as the hotel becomes cut off from the mainland and the rest of the Island. As the wind howls and the guests shiver, things are about to take a turn for the worse, leaving Anna in charge of a situation you never want to be thrown into. Paranoia and fear creep in as a crisis turns rapidly into a drama and it soon becomes obvious someone has their eye on Anna and they don’t mean well, meanwhile all she wants is as simple as a really good nights sleep.

The story is convoluted, with flashbacks and different people who may or may not have a grudge against Anna. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I thoroughly enjoyed the roller coaster ride.

Sleep has eluded Anna since a tragic event began to cause her sleepless nights and as her life began to crumble she has felt things couldn’t be much worse than the deaths of close colleagues, breaking up with her boyfriend, leaving her job and moving away from everything she’s ever known. You’d THINK that would be the worst things that could happen but not in this terrifying thriller they aren’t.

Coincidences or sabotage? Threats or the imagination of a tired mind?

It’s a jolly good page turner, you never really know quite who is a threat and who can be relied on, there are lots of twists and plenty of red herrings floundering around trying to trap you into misbelieving the truth. If you like to read something that seems complex yet is really easy to get to grips with you won’t go far wrong with Sleep.

An excellent thriller, full of suspense and very chilling at times. I stayed up way too late to finish it, so it might be a mistake to read this at night!

My only criticism is that maybe it was a little too long.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

I have read all of the authors books and always read them quickly as it’s hard to stop! At first I thought it was going to be an Agatha. Christie type of novel and I guess I would put it in the same league, a whodunnit with plenty of spookiness.
Anna heads off to work in a hotel in a remote part of Scotland after a tragic accident that leaves her shaken and scared, is someone out to get her?
At first it would appear that the location and the job are just what the Dr ordered until the new intake of guests arrive and with them more disaster for Anna. The story is made even more interesting with what is going on at home. At first you cannot see any link, but as the story builds to its thrilling climax you realise the connection and there is even an unexpected twist at the end.
I enjoyed this as it’s a good thriller with interesting characters and it moves along at a pace whilst you try to work out who the perpetrator. Is. I was concerned it was going to be a bit like some other books I’ve read, remote place with a killer amidst and whilst there is an element of this it’s definitlej not samey.

There's never a question of whether I will enjoy one of C.L.Taylors books it's a given so of course this didn't disappoint. Exhilarating, breathtaking, exciting and intriguing. A true reminder to never take things on fave value!

C.L. Taylor does it again!
I raced through this book.

Anna suffers from crushing insomnia following an accident that she feels responsible for. Unable to forgive herself she moves to Rum to try and escape.

The story is well paced and could be described as a locked-room mystery.

The story itself was good with interesting characters, but I felt it just dragged on too long leaving me rushing to finish.

YOU HAVE TO READ THIS! Suspense at its best! Well done C L Taylor for this fantastic novel!

After a traumatic accident, Anna finds herself taking a job on a remote Scottish Island in an isolated hotel. Once the guest arrive, things start to unravel and secrets come out. No one is safe, and no one can escape. This will keep you awake! A page turner and twists galore. It’s a must read! 5⭐️

This book grabs you in from the first few pages and keeps you gripped until the end. Although I guessed the 'who dunnit' quite early on (It did not matter). I did not see the twist at the end.

This is a typical example of its genre - thriller/murder mystery. These are usually plot driven and written to a formula. The characters are secondary and forgettable. I did read it to the end to find out what happens but I was only mildly curious and not at all thrilled.

Compelling, downright creepy and complex. A wealth of characters have hidden depths, secrets, and backstories to make your toes curl. As usual, I guessed wrong and the book's twists had me turning the pages whenever and wherever I could. Brilliant.

What a cracking book, I have stayed up way too late reading it but can't recommend it enough.I thought the plot was clever, I wasn't sure if the main character was totally reliable, but I was still on her side, and liked her.I thought the way the story unfolded was really good and it kept me page turning,and being suspicious of almost all of the characters.I did actually manage to work it out very much towards the end, and still couldn't be totally sure.Desperately trying not to put in any spoilers, it is far too good to spoil it for other readers, and is a book that will stay with me ,I loved it.It was atmospheric, creepy in places and very entertaining.Thanks to the publishers and netgalley for an ARC.

This is the first book I've read by CL Taylor. I''d heard so much praise about her novels so I was very keen to get my hands on SLEEP. It centres around Anna, a woman who is tormented by guilt after some of her colleagues are injured/killed in a car she was driving. She goes to work on a remote Scottish island after sensing someone is out to get her and this is where it gets really interesting. This is a twisty, atmospheric, claustrophobic story. Every few chapters I was convinced I knew who was stalking Anna (I was completely wrong) and the final few twists, I did not see coming at all. It's one of those books where you think you know where something is going, then the author sends you in a completely different direction. Absolutely loved the twist on the very last page. Brilliant novel and I'll read more by this author.

Quite liked this story - liked the idea of the the stranded hotel guests...not sure the introduction of a potential love interest was necessary.