_Sleep Tight_ by J.H. Markert is an engrossing thriller with elements of horror, multiple points of views, and plot twists that keep the reader engaged in the story. It mainly follows detective Tess Clairbourne after the execution of serial killer Father Silence, which sparks murders and the kidnapping of Tess’s daughter. Tess, her husband Justin, and partner Danny must follow clues that lead them to Tess’s childhood home in order to find her daughter and stop the terror.

Brilliant. First time I’ve read this author and won’t be the last. A great autumn read……readers will love this one.

I did go into this fresh off of reading Mister Lullaby and I had hoped that Sleep Tight would continue it, or at least allude to the happenings of Mister Lullaby. Despite that not being the case, as Sleep Tight seems to be a standalone novel, it still did a great job of drawing me into the story where horror is strong. While this book starts out with the death of one Father Silence, that only marks the beginning and there are many others that are willing to follow the legacy this fake priest/killer leaves behind, the Children of the Lost, the victims of his twisted rites, those who brought him down, and the one that got away, The Outcast. Between the Children of the Lost with their dark plans, and the Outcast stealing the unwanted children to bring them to his Playhouse, horror abounds. Plus several dead bodies. and frantic parents (Tess and Justin) working to find out Tess's hidden memories in time to save their daughter, it was hard to put down. And yes, there is a bit of the supernatural element with Nick and the hidden mastermind. Not too much, just right . It also ends well and I had fun reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book to read and review.

The amount of twists and turns in this book will keep you guessing until the very end. I absolutely loved how both the supernatural and psychology are intertwined within the plot. Each integral character is well developed and the reader also is able to find out more about their past that has led them to where they are now.

Highly recommend this suspenseful, fast-paced thriller with shocking twists. Just mind blowing! This is the second book I’ve read by this author and cannot wait to dive into another.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to J.H. Markert, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.
Publishes September 10, 2024


This was my first by this author and I can't wait to read more. Sleep Tight publishes September 10, 2024 and is the perfect read to set off the spooky season.

"Words hurt, especially where there are bruises"

First, there are a LOT of characters to keep up with in this book. They are all necessary for the overall storyline, but it takes a bit to keep them all straight. At one point I started jotting down a few notes just to stay up to speed. With that being said, this book hooked me from chapter one!

The day after a well known serial killer, Father Silence is put to death, one of the police officers who arrested him all those years ago is found dead. Now a new killer calling himself the Outcast is prowling, scooping up children as he goes. Tess, the daughter, of the now murdered arresting officer, has spent her life trying to get away from Father Silence. Between her addiction problem and a past filled with repressed memories of her childhood, it's no surprise that when the Outcast kidnaps her daughter, she is pulled back into the trauma that plagued her childhood, further encouraging her addictive behavior. As any mother would do, Tess will stop at nothing to get her daughter back, but at what cost and what will she learn about the Outcast and Father Silence in the process?

The backstory and current events are seamlessly woven together and it helps you sort everything out in your mind, once piece at a time. This is not a slow burn by any means. It hooked me from the beginning, but then picked up the pace even more, so that I was unable to put it down, reading late into the night, needing to know how it ends. I was definitely not "sleeping tight" through the tension and development of this story. The "before" chapters help to set the scene and build tension, but also made me question everything I thought I knew. I don't know that I consider it true horror, but with elements of abduction, nightmares, boogeymen, mental health, addiction, grief, cults, serial kills, and murders, I would say it is a mix of mystery, horror, and psychological thriller. I think the author does an outstanding job capitalizing on our fears, even in adulthood. And the twists....oh my....so many I never saw coming. At one point, I felt like my heart was racing and it kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Highly recommend!!!! I just may be sleeping tonight with one eye open!

Never a dull moment! Sleep Tight fast paced and full of twists to keep you guessing.
From reading the synopsis I thought Father Silence was a bit of a cringey name and had reservations the book would be as well, but it does make sense and is less strange with the context of the book, so don't let that stop you! I appreciated the the main character was flawed and actually felt human. I was also a big fan of the creepy house vibes and the cult definitely upped the horror factor. I would say it's more thriller than horror, so if you're looking to try a horror story but don't want something too crazy this one would be perfect for you! Some things happened a little too quickly for me, but the story was engrossing enough that I didn't mind it too much.

I was genuinely invested and couldn't put it down!

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC!

First of all thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this arc!!

I really loved this book. I will say it is listed under horror and thriller but it’s definitely more thriller. I wouldn’t consider it horror. I was hooked from the very start of this book! I seriously couldn’t stop reading it. It was so intense with a lot of good twists. It was so suspenseful and kept me up late because I just needed to read one more chapter!! I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

“The mind, I believe has untapped potential when it comes to trauma, and what it can do to avoid it, to escape it.

There's simply one word for this one - mind-blowing.

Tess and Justin are estranged coz of an affair he had. Tess is a detective like her father is. There was a quite famous serial killer who her father had caught and the horrors of that particular case has haunted him since then. And he is going to receive his punishment now. He has said nothing at all since his arrest but says something cryptic at his execution. And then people start ending up murdered and Tess' daughter is kidnapped. What did the serial killer say? What this has anything to do with Tess???


There are so many questions and so many twists that the book kept me on the edge for most of the time. It is quite fast and there are just so many things that keep on happening in this book. You will be hooked to the book for sure. And the reveals are good too.

Only issue I had with the book was there were just too many characters, whenever a character popped up I had to think hard who that is. If course all characters were needed to build up the story and yet lot of times I was confused as who was who.

Apart from this one thing, I definitely enjoyed the book a lot. It is brilliantly written like there are not many likeable quotes but I would not expect underlining anything in mystery thriller and yet here I did like this one— And words hurt, especially where there are already bruises.

Thank you Netgalley and crooked lane books for the wonderful ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Star rating : 4.5 stars

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book ahead of release. I enjoyed the story and will recommend it.

I was kept on the edge of my seat for this entire book. I read it in one sitting. Completely unable to put this down!! The plot was so well thought out, the DID so delicately and intricately handled, the aspects of thriller and horror absolutely fascinating. I can’t recommend this enough!

Wow! What a gripping thrill of a read! I was sucked in immediately and just kept turning pages!

A serial killer is put to the chair for his long awaited execution. However, that only starts a whole new phase of insanity!

A must read!!!

What a great book! I loved it, literally had me sitting on the edge of my seat, it always had me questioning what was going to happen next. All the characters were amazing. I loved the development that they had.

This is a very good book that held my interest from the beginning. A tale of cheating, murder, kidnapping, multiple personalities, and family that keeps you invested in the characters and what happens to them all.

A police detective, in the midst of problems because of her husbands infidelity, is suddenly thrown into a case that her father was involve in a a detective years ago. As the man that he caught in a high profile case is finally put to death, her parents are murdered and her daughter is kidnapped.

Now the detective, her partner, her partners wife, and her estranged husband must put together the pieces of what happened so many years ago and why her family is again thrown into the horrors of the past that still may be happening today.

I thoroughly white this book but the number of characters does make this book one that keeps you asking, "Who is this person again"? And the back story for most of the main characters, especially the person behind the events are revealed so slowly that you can guess a lot of what is going on before the author exposes them to you. Except for this I would have given this an even higher rating although to me, 3 stars is a good book. This is well written and you do care for the characters and what they are going through. All in all this is a very satisfying novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

What a fun and fast-paced book! This story is equal parts, serial killer thriller and mystery with elements of horror to up the creep factor. Secrets of the past are coming back to haunt the main character, making this a psychological thriller that will keep your heart rate up.

Is what’s happening real? Is it supernatural? I let you discover the answer for yourself.
And you can’t beat the character development combined with plenty of twists to satisfy the hardcore thriller reader.

I reserve 5 stars for books that excel in several ways, and Sleep Tight wins big in plenty of ways. Enjoy this “chiller” book, keep the lights on, and sleep tight!

The cover gives off creepy haunted house vibes so I knew I just had to snatch this one up!

“Sleep tight” follows detective Tess and psychologist Justin, a married couple who are searching for their daughter who was kidnapped from school. Every parents worse nightmare come to life only made worse by the fact this missing persons case could in fact be linked to a serial killer.

This book blurs into the horror genre with mentions of cults, serial killers and murders. As well as dabbling in the psychological thriller genre by touching on mental health, grief, loss and addiction.

I found this book exciting, captivating and fast paced. I kept turning the pages to find out what would happen in the big finale!

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, J. H. Market and Netgalley for the EARC!

Publish date: September 10th

For starters, just WOW. This is my first ever J.H. Market book and certainly will not be my last!

In Sleep Tight you follow the FMC Tess, who is a detective following in her fathers footsteps and her husband Justin, a psychologist, as they take you on a twisty ride to finding their daughter, Julia, who was kidnapped from her school. Tess holds a crucial memory that could help aide them in finding Julia. Could it be linked to the notorious serial killer, Father Silence, who Tess’s father took down many years ago?

This book touches heavily on cults, mental health issues including addiction, as well as many murders. It is everything I would want in reading a horror/psychological thriller. I was hooked from the very first chapter and had to finish it within two sittings because I needed to know what happened to Julia and all the connections.

This is easily a 5 star read for me, although I do have questions involving a sort of side character, Noah. But I feel like it could easily set it up for the author to do another story on Noah if he ever wanted to venture that way.

All in all it was an awesome read! Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane for the ARC of this book!

Did you read that book?

Sleep Tight
By J.H. Markert

Plot: Father Silence once terrorized the rural town of Twisted Tree, disguising himself as a priest to prey on the most vulnerable members of society. When the police finally found his “House of Horrors,” they uncovered nineteen bodies and one survivor–a boy now locked away in a hospital for the criminally insane.

Nearly two decades later, Father Silence is finally put to death, but by the next morning, the detective who made the original arrest is found dead. A new serial killer is taking credit for the murder and calling himself the Outcast. When lead detective Tess Claibourne’s daughter is kidnapped by the Outcast, it is race against time to solve the mind of a killer and stop events that have been in motion for years!

Review: I went into this book completely blind and read it solely because of the cover (I judged right!). From page one I could not put this book down (or sleep afterwards!). If you are a fan of the show “True Detective”, “The Killing” and movies like “The Black Phone”, this book is for you! You are left on the edge of your seat, holding onto every single word. I could not have predicted any of the twists. Adding on that the writing is spectacular, the characters are so well developed, and the actions never stops, this is THE book to read on a cold October evening!

Calling it now, this is the BEST book of 2024!

Sleep Tight is out September 10th, 2024! Thank you to J.H. Markert, NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC copy of Sleep Tight in exchange for my honest review!


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In this fast-paced, read-in-one-sitting novel, Markert weaves a tale with intricate moving parts. The narrative is dark, gloomy, reminiscent of the movie Identity, and infused with elements akin to HBO’s True Detective. As the action unfolds, the story introduces compelling complexities that leave readers pondering the true identity of the antagonist.

Our main character (MFC) may hold a crucial childhood memory that could connect to her daughter’s kidnapper. Could it be linked to the notorious serial killer her father, a respected detective in their hometown of Twisted Trees, brought down decades ago? With flawed yet hopeful characters, we follow Tess—a detective like her father—and her estranged husband, Justin, a psychologist, as their daughter is abducted from school. Is this incident related to the recent murder of Tess’s parents, which occurred just before the serial killer’s long-awaited execution? And why do the clues lead to a man recently laid to rest?

Tropes:
Cults
Serial killers
MFC returning home after decades to solve a mystery
Second-chance love
Missing child

Triggers:
Abundant instances of child abuse and death
Sexual assault
Animal fatalities
Some gore

This marks my first encounter with this author, and I found their storytelling both vibrant and dark. I eagerly anticipate diving into more of their work. Brace yourself—this book will keep you guessing, reluctant to set it aside.

You will not be able to Sleep tight after reading this book. It was so good and keeps you awake at night thinking about all the creepy things in it. People wearing animal masks, storms, and even an amusement park. This book is a dual timeline but not confusing at all. It really drew me in from the very beginning and I couldn't put it down. If you are looking for a new creepy book, this is the one for you. Thanks, NetGalley for the ARC.