The thought of insomnia petrifies me. A great book, but not to be started late at night or you won't sleep. Great plot, good characters and an intriguing and enjoyable read.

Anna blames herself for the accident that claims the life's of two of her colleagues and leaves one totally changed for life, to escape the guilt and start fresh she finds herself moving away to work in a bed & breakfast Inna remote part of Scotland. However someone is stalking Anna and she starts to mistrust all of the b&b's guests.
A gripping read that has you second guessing all the way through to the show down ending!

This book has to be read only during the day! It is superbly written book which keeps you wondering who is out to kill Anna. Is it her imagination or is there some one really dangerous on the isolated island. Fantastic read!

A boom that once you pick up you won’t be able to stop turning the pages. Twists and turns, unpredicted events. Loved this one.

I have to admit that I would love to escape to a remote Scottish Island, well I think that I would but of course the reality of the escape could be very different to what I imagine it would be like. But I could totally understand why Anna decided to head to the Island of Rum when she becomes convinced that someone is stalking.

She finds a job as receptionist/general dogs body, in the only hotel on Rum, working alongside owner David who she gets on with from the start.

A group of guests arrive, each of them seeking their own escape from various things, and looking forward to hiking and exploring the island. But they all find out how remote they really are when a huge storm descends on Rum and the hotel becomes totally cut off from the outside world.

I love this premise, in many ways it could be a wonderful experience, but given that this is a book by C.L. Taylor we know that all is not going to end well for the residents of the hotel.

When Anna becomes convinced that her stalker is one of the guests in the hotel her paranoia grows and she, along with the readers, begin to question everyone. Are one of them really out to kill Anna?

I loved reading Sleep, it kept me guessing and wondering and thinking. Each of the guests had an interesting back story that added to the book and I could see why Anna was questioning who each of them really were.

I did however, feel that Anna was never really going to die and that meant that the tension wasn’t as strong as it could have been.

I didn’t guess the ending, I kind of had a fleeting guess at one point but dismissed it. It was a clever ending but I would have liked to have know a bit more about what happened after.

Overall, Sleep by C.L. Taylor is a great book. It’s fun to read and keeps you guessing and wondering and not sure who to trust which are all ingredients to make a great read. I am sure that this book would be enjoyed by many fans of psychological thrillers.

This is a great contemporary whodunit mystery thriller where we start out reading a letter from the main character which indicates that if you are reading this, Anna has already died. As she talks to us she alludes to the fact that there are 7 potential individuals we need to concern ourselves; she is sure one of them is the killer.
The story then takes us back to 3 months before Anna’s death where she is involved in an RTC. It results in a couple of her colleagues dying. Whilst she recovers from her injuries, she is unable to sleep, haunted by what has happened. Despite a lorry driver being charged for dangerous driving not all think Anna is without blame and she receives strange notes left on such as her car that insidiously threatening and unsettle her.
Shortly afterwards she splits up from her boyfriend and moves to a remote Scottish Island to give herself the chance to recover and re-discover herself. Working in a hotel it seems she has made the right decision. Learning about Anna, she comes across as a bright, intelligent and an insightful individual. I found myself wanting her to rebuild a happy and fulfilled life and began to dread knowing that she would shortly not survive.
The book moves quickly. The bunch of people staying at the hotel are all strong characters with very flawed lives. It deals with the fact that you cannot judge people on appearances and is steeped in a mire of distrust and suspicion. The back stories of the characters makes for a colourful backdrop and entertaining read. There are lots of events, twists and turns that keep the story running with good pace. There is reasonable tension, some good dry wit, lots of dialogue and the story remains engaging and entertaining throughout. You can see where the story is going, but the ending still has a great few twists at the end.

A great page turner with pace and tension that kept me turning the pages and guessing until the end. Thanks to NG and the publisher for the advance copy,

A brilliant thriller by CL Taylor.
Anna wants to be able to sleep. But haunted by what has happened to her and what she has done, she is unable to do so. She moves to the island of Rum, in the north of Scotland, hoping to escape from her past, working as a receptionist at the islands only hotel. When the seven guests arrive she hopes things will settle down and she will be able to sleep. But all of the guests seem to have something to hide. Is one of them trying to kill Anna? Is one of them trying to make Anna permanently go to sleep?
Highly recommend this thriller full of twists and turns.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Logan returns to work one year after a near fatal stabbing. He should have been given an easy case to ease him in...not a chance.

Logan and his perpetually annoying boss have somersaulted positions; he is now a DI to her dramatic drop to DS. Not that she seems to have noticed. The banter is just as good, if not better.

As always one simple case turns into a medusa's head. Just as Logan thinks he has the answers to one abduction/murder the mad hairdresser weaves in another and plaits three more together.

I think a lot of female readers will be pleased at the radical reduction of Steel gouging around in her bra for lost crumbs and straying small animals. They are the bits you don't want to be reading in public.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book till the last few sentences where Tufty gets his moment in the sun starring as...The Biggest Spoiler Ever.

One of my favourite set-ups is a small group of people, cut off from civilisation with a killer lurking! This is the first of CL Taylor's books I have read - and I was drawn by that blurb - but I doubt it'll be the last.

The backstory and plot to get Anna to the Isle of Rum are well written and heart-breakingly sad. The characters both on and off Rum are well defined and the raw brutality of the Island's landscape is clearly described. The plot is pacy, there is a great twist about halfway through the book and it has a very satisfying ending.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC of Sleep.

This was good fun and I raced through it. To be honest I ended up skim-reading it because I wanted to know what happened at the end but it was simple enough that it didn't need to be read closely. Sometimes it's nice to read something that only needs like 60% of your attention, though – not everything has to be life-changing. If you ever get home from work knackered and just want to watch something that's comfortingly formulaic but still has a couple of surprises so you're not bored (eg. CSI, SVU, anything produced by Dick Wolf) then this suits that feeling exactly.

C.L. Taylor never fails to grip you from the very first pages.

The opening chapter is a killer! Then, Anna is driving three work colleagues back to London in atrocious weather, just following the rear lights of the car in front because conditions are so poor. One of them feels ill and wants to open one of the back windows. This knocks Anna's concentration and before she realises what's happening, the car spins out of control and rolls. On waking in hospital, Anna comes to realise that two of her passengers are dead and one has serious life changing injuries. As Anna recovers, she has the feeling that she's being watched and followed. Scared, having just broken up with her boyfriend and needing a new start in life where nobody knows who she is, Anna takes a job as a hotel receptionist on the remote Scottish island of Rum. The holidaymakers are flaky and flawed and as a storm comes in, Anna realises that whoever was following her in London is still following her now.

Sleep started off like her novels usually do – normal, believable characters but in unusually tense situations – but once it got going, Anna is put in an isolated situation with a new group of characters. It reminded me very much of an Agatha Christie style whodunnit with red herrings throughout and only a limited number of people out to get Anna.

C.L. Taylor is brilliant at creating suspense, that nail-biting, seat-of-your-pants thriller that keeps you turning pages. I'd recommend any of her books.

This was a spooky keep the light on and keep guessing read I really enjoyed it I love who done it books and it's always the least obvious what a fantastic read

Sleep is the new novel by the queen of the psychological thriller C.L Taylor; although it should be called ‘Forget Sleep’ because once you start this book you won’t be able to put it down. Anna Willis is a marketing manager and after a team building exercise is involved in a serious incident that changes her life. To escape the guilt she embarks on a new life on the Isle of Rum, but it’s never that easy to leave you past behind you. The book is narrated by Anna in the first person, a couple of the other characters in the third person and there are a few chapters titled ‘In Memoriam’ from an unknown source; this makes you feel more connected with Anna and what she is going through and keep her the centre of attention.

I am a huge fa of C.L Taylor’s books; she is one of only a few authors whose books I have to read in one day as I literally can’t put them down. This book had a slightly different feel to it than her previous books, the setting in the hotel on the Isle of Rum gave this a claustrophobic feel and reminded me of the great Agatha Christie in books like And Then There Were None. The setting plays such an important part in this book, it’s almost like an extra character, a malevolent one whose job is to cause trouble. As well as Anna and owner David, there are seven guests at the hotel, all keeping secrets all not what they seem. Their confinement due to bad weather causes a kind of cabin fever, where sparks start flying between the guests and secrets start to be revealed. Just one spark is all it needs to light the fuse and blow them, and the whole plot open. The storm that causes the confinement is a great literary device, it signals the portent of doom and disaster.

C.L Taylor always writes such ordinary characters, I mean that in a good way, they are personable, recognisable and could be somebody you know, which makes her books even more chilling. Anna is the main character, a young professional women whose life is turned upside down in a second. She decides to take stock of her life, follow her dreams and go to the Isle of Rum; a place to heal, a less stressful life. Unfortunately for her she can’t out run her past, she has to deal with the prospect that someone is out to harm her. Throughout the book I started to like then hate certain characters, the tension builds around them and it is not until the end that all secrets are revealed and the true culprit is unmasked. With so many twists and turns, the claustrophobia of Anna and the guests, Anna’s paranoia and guilt all build the tension and suspense until the pressure is released in a big shocking conclusion.

Sleep is a fast paced, super charged thriller that will take you on a rollercoaster of a ride you will not forget. The building of tension throughout, the dread of Anna and the claustrophobic setting make for the perfect psychological thriller. I highly recommend this book, but be warned, don’t start it at night or you will definitely not get any sleep; another stunning read from C.L Taylor.

This is a gripping physiological thriller with plenty of twists to keep the read interested. The fact it is set on a Scottish island made it even more personal to me as I am Scottish myself.

I received a copy via Netgalley.

The book starts off in London, but we are soon whisked away to Rum- in the Scottish Isles. The reader is faced with anger, guilt, grief, loss, manipulation, revenge, (mis) judgement, mercy, pain, death, mistrust and the search for the truth.

Jaysus, Mary and Joseph! I was hooked from the start with a kickass opening that had me asking ALL THE QUESTIONS! The story is told from various POV’s which gives the reader the chance to have a good overview of the storyline as a whole. I loved the concept behind this novel and was with Anna all the way as she tried to figure out the WHO but I also wondered how reliable she was and whether everything was just borne out of paranoia. WELL PLAYED, Cally!

There was a wonderfully eclectic array of characters in this novel – different ages, different backgrounds and the author brilliantly captured each one within the pages. I won’t go through them all, but will definitely share my thoughts on Anna and perhaps one other that made me think twice about how important setting can be to a story.

Anna came across as absolutely PARANOID about everything after an accident she was involved in, she leaves London full of guilt and starts a new life in the Scottish Isles – Rum. First off, the way the author described Rum made me want to pack up and go there myself – beautifully descriptive and atmospheric. I never knew what to feel or believe with Anna and I loved that. What was her story? Why was she so paranoid? Was she paranoid or were things really happening? Oh I could go on and on. That is what C.L. Taylor does to you – you become so immersed in the novel itself, separating the fact that I am not part of the story was often hilarious – who did I think I was as I shouted at the pages!? HA! I’m not going to lie, Anna annoyed me some of the time – but I think it all played a part in who she is and what she was experiencing.

The other ‘character’ I want to mention is the STORM itself. The storm added a whole new level of tension and claustrophobia to the story. These 7 people were CUT OFF from every thing and every one – the atmosphere created from this alone sent shivers down my spine. Just BRILLIANT!

A final note on the characters – each one brought their own level of suspense to the novel. I didn’t know who to trust, who to point the finger at or who to cheer on – until just before the revelation and I smacked my forehead for not seeing it all sooner. Like any great author, C.L. Taylor left all the clues in plain sight – but twists and turns threw me off track and I just thought that was AWESOME!

Would I recommend this read? Do you seriously need to ask me that? Ab-so-friggin-lutely I would – time and time again! This was a gripping, compelling, claustrophobic and twisty read with all the #OMFG moments to chill you to the core! A firm favourite for 2019, I highly recommend you grab a copy of SLEEP today!

If you're familiar with earlier novels by CL Taylor you will be pleased with this latest psychological thriller. There is the usual - in a good way - mix of looming threat; potential killers; and interesting settings. But what is especially pleasing is the way in which the author weaves a narrative that is both fluent and engaging. Some readers may see shades of Agatha Christie in the sense that much of the action in the latter half of the book takes place with a fixed and limited set of characters who are cut off in a remote hotel on a Scottish Island. Credible suspects and a reasonably plausible dramatic denouement made for an enjoyable book that demanded some sustained reading to see what happened next with each turn of the page. Highly recommended!

Very well written, dark psychological thriller with an ending that made me a little uneasy. And I learned one thing, I don’t want to be in a hotel in Scotland when a storm is raging and there is no chance of getting help. Oh, yeah, and also: Don’t read the book late at night when it’s dark and you’re alone in the house.

Sleep is packed with eeriness, atmosphere and plenty of characters who aren’t quite who they say they are.

Anna is a great main character; she’s likable but not compeletely trustworthy. I couldn’t always work out whether I felt sorry for her or a little wary of her. As we follow her descent into anxiety and despair, following a road accident that she, as the driver, survives but two of her colleagues are killed and another is paralysed, we see her start to unravel, mainly through lack of sleep. As she ‘escapes’ to a remote Scottish Island, her past seems to have followed her.

I loved the way that the reader knows more than Anna, so we spot warning signs she does not. However, not everything follows the path I thought it would, and there are plenty of surprises along the way – some more believable than others, but all really entertaining and gripping. It has a definite Agatha Christie ‘And then there were none’ feel to it – the ‘whodunnit’ element, the enclosed and isolated space, and the feeling that someone among the main group of characters are not who they say they are.

I don’t want to say anything more because this story is best read with minimum forewarning – the synopsis said enough to get me intrigued and, from the very first page to the last, I was hooked. Another excellent release from one of my favourite suspense/ thriller writers.

Another knockout read from C.L Taylor. When the plot reaches the small hotel in Mull, it becomes intensely claustrophic, with only the characters for miles around. I was constantly guessing who Anna's stalker was and I admit I was wrong every time. The actual stalker was not someone I guessed at all. Very well done! And the twist behind that person's backstory was great too. Tense, gripping and plenty of atmospheric tension. Highly recommended!