Sleepless by Romy Hausmann is another superb book from this author! After reading her debut novel - Dear Child - and loving it, I was extremely excited to read her second novel. It was as intriguing as I expected it to be!

The story is told in both the past and the present, and slowly the two timelines merge. The use of the letters was initially confusing, until you realise who is writing them, and then it all makes sense. It is more of a crime novel than a thriller, and following the threads is not always easy, but it was well worth it in the end! The plot is complex and takes some focus, but the writing style is punchy and dramatic, making it easy to read and keeping the pages turning!

The character development was slow in parts, with a lot of back and forth in the timelines but ultimately, they were well developed.

The themes of poverty, revenge, retribution, and guilt are well interpreted and realistically crafted throughout the pages.

I am a definite fan of Ms. Hausmann and look forward to her next novel!

#netgalley #sleepless #romyhausmann #quercusbooks

A very interesting and well executed thriller!

Nadia is a great character to dive into, I really love how she was written.

This is another great read by Romy Hausmann. This is definitely a dark and twisted tale that jumps around in time until the story all comes together for the perfect climax. Running alongside the brilliant thriller story though is a rather more sober tale too about power, jealousy, love and guilt and the impact these can have on people’s actions and life’s for better or worse...

Nadia is a really well written character and I don’t want to write any spoilers other than to say I ended up feeling very protective of her and although she is a convicted killer I couldn’t help feeling cross with the other characters that should have been looking out for her.

Wonderfully disjointed
The second offering by Haussmann had a big shoes to follow as I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Dear Child’ and it did not disappoint.

Told in two separate timelines, we are shown the narrative of Nadja, an anxious woman who is an unreliable narrator due to the fact that she suffers from severe panic attacks, is in therapy and is medicated as a result of a difficult childhood with a prostitute mother, miserable home life and clearly something has happened which has had a huge impact on her life in the present day.

Working in a law firm, Nadja is called upon by the boss’ wife (a previous colleague and friend) to help deal with the minor issue of having murdered her secret lover. Eager to please and desperate for acceptance, she goes. Desperate to protect her ‘friend’, a plan is made to hide the body in a remote cabin.

What unravels is a wonderful mind bending tale of deceit, intertwined with revelations about the past and an understanding of how seemingly unrelated character’s lives have crossed previously. This was a tricky follow in the first few chapters as very little was explained to allow the reader to understand who we were following and how the storylines were related - however this only made me want to read on to comprehend the connections.

Clever, hard hitting, occasionally a little far fetched (Nadja is a very vulnerable and gullible character) but I don’t mind that and the reasons are explained. I found this to be a complete page turner - I read in a day as was totally engrossed - both in terms of the present day action-packed plot and the unravelling of the reasons why Nadja is the way she is - her childhood flashbacks are raw and heartbreaking. Her love for her younger brother is so pure and her letters to him offer a real clarity to the character’s motivations throughout.

Thank you to Quercus books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

#Sleepless #NetGalley
Feels like a taut and compelling murder mystery film. Highly recommended.
Nadja Kulka was convicted of a cruel crime. After being released from prison, she's wanted nothing more than to live a normal life: nice flat, steady job, even a few friends. But when one of those friends, Laura von Hoven - free-spirited beauty and wife of Nadja's boss - kills her lover and begs Nadja for her help, Nadja can't seem to be able to refuse.The two women make for a remote house in the woods, the perfect place to bury a body. But their plan quickly falls apart and Nadja finds herself outplayed, a pawn in a bizarre game in which she is both the perfect victim and the perfect murderer.
I was sleepless while reading it.
Writing was so fluent that I didn't want to put my Kindle down.
Awesome characters and narration. Satisfying ending.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for giving me an advanced copy of this psychological thriller.