Tess is having a bad week. First she finds out that her husband is cheating on her. Then she gets a phone call that will change her life forever. Her parents have been attacked and her daughter Julie has been kidnapped. Tess is the daughter of the detective that helped capture the serial killer Father Silence. Now they might have a copy cat on their hands.

I picked this book up after hearing a lot about it. It’s a police procedural that follows Tess investigating the case and trying to find her daughter. The book kept me interested in the beginning but I wish there was more character development. I listened to the audiobook which I thought was well done but at times confusing. There were a lot of characters to kept straight and not much back story. I wasn’t too impressed with this one because the twists weren’t shocking and it felt sort of predictable to me. I know a lot of people loved this one though so pick it up and prove me wrong.


Thank you to netgalley for a copy of this book.

Sleep Tight was the perfect October spooky listen! The vibes were immaculate for the season. The character development was great in this police procedural/horror/thriller!

Audio and ebook

If want a creepy thriller to read for spooky season, Sleep Tight by J.H. Markert is good. It’s set in the town of Twisted Tree, where a serial killer known as Father Silence was executed. A new killer, the Outcast, is targeting people connected to the Father Silence case, and Detective Tess Claibourne’s nightmare is reignited when her daughter is kidnapped.

What I liked about Sleep Tight is the way it blends horror, crime, and mystery. The short, fast-paced chapters had me racing through the book. If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers with a some horror, this is a good start.

3.5 stars rounded up

Tess is a detective in the town of Twisted Tree, and the daughter of a renowned police officer who caught a serial killer named Father Silence many years ago. When Father Silence is finally executed, her father is found dead and Tess’ daughter is kidnapped by a copycat calling himself the Outsider. Together with the help of her recently separated husband, the race is on against the clock to find their child before it’s too late.

This book gave big movie vibes!! Full of twists and turns, fallible characters and creepy imagery, it could definitely be a blockbuster. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I particularly enjoyed the audiobook. The narrator was great! I thought the plot was a bit convoluted at times and could be hard to follow. However, the ending was sooo suspenseful and it hooked me back in. I liked the cast of characters, and Tess was easy to root for. Thanks to @crookedlanebooks, @dreamscape_media and @netgalley for my review copies!

This was honestly a perfect spooky season read! The combo of a procedural, serial 💀 and cult made for quite the page turner - I definitely didn't want to put this one down! Markert is great at bringing that classic horror vibe into his books as well. The characters in this one are super interesting, one character in particular made the entire story harrowing and tense! The plot is fast paced, engaging and twisty. I listened to this one via audiobook and the narrator was excellent. Definitely excited to add this one to my collection!

CW: Kidnapping, murder, animal death, child abuse, infidelity, sexual assault, suicide.

Rating: 4.25/5

A huge thanks to Crooked Lane Books, Dreamscape media and NetGalley for the ARC/ALC and for the free copy! All opinions are my own.

This book is a fantastic representation of thriller verging on procedural. More for plot readers, it presents great scenarios and follow throughs.

Sleep Tight might leave readers with mixed feelings. The pacing is off, hooking the reader for several chapters at a time before slowly petering off though dubbed as a horror, this novel leans more crime fiction, despite the occasional eerie atmosphere. Overall, though the plot itself is intriguing, the reader may find their desire to learn the conclusion jumping back and forth between “I must keep reading to learn the ending” and “eh, I’ll pick it back up in a few days.”

📚 Review: Sleep Tight
I want to start by saying that I did enjoy this one, but I was expecting it to be something different. So, I was left a little disappointed in this one. But, this is a me problem, not the book problem. The story was really good. I enjoyed it and was engaged the whole time. I ended up doing the audio book for this one and I thought the narrators did a great job. But, with a cover and title like this, I was expecting more of a haunted type of thriller (like We Used To Live Here) where this was more of a detective story. But again, this was a me problem. The storyline was good. I just wanted scary or spooky.
So, perhaps this is an unpopular opinion on this one, but this was ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5 stars for me!
I liked it, but was expecting something different. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Have you read this one this spooky season?? What were your thoughts?

A family drama with some police procedural and a supernatural element.

I love J. H. Markert's writing. He writes some of the craziest stories with a mix of so many different characters and story lines. And instead of being confusing it creates an interesting story you just can't wait to see how it turns out. This book was no different. A mysterious serial killer that hasn't said a word in decades being executed is already intriguing enough. Then a kid is kidnapped and it's all connected had me hooked. Tess is an interesting and flawed character and learning how she's connected in so many different ways made the story more mysterious. Seeing things from her perspective and having her have to juggle so many different things; being a detective, mourning a death, being a mom trying to find her kidnapped daughter, and being a wife and friend gave so many different angles to connect me to the story and the characters. See different narrators and perspectives pop up throughout the book made it that more mysterious but also answered some questions along the way. All of these aspects leading to a satisfying end in my opinion.

This is a book that will keep you completely intrigued and flipping through the pages. I highly recommend the audiobook. The narrators are very talented giving life to the many different characters.

When this book starts, your instantly drawn in and I feel like for the most part my attention was kept throughout the book. I will have to say my biggest annoyance was all the characters but sometimes that's a me problem, hahaha. Tess had some major issues so adding her daughter being kidnapped was the cherry on top to this mess of a character. She's an unreliable narrator but honestly, it's not even her fault. That girl has been through so much. I wish there was more on Father Silence, like who he was as a person and a serial killer but once again, that's me wanting a deeper story on this insane killer. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who has interests in serial killers and maybe some cults...because WOW. I would totally read a whole book based on the BEFORE of this book even if J.H. Markert put a little in this one.

Sleep Tight by J H Markert

When a serial killer is put to death finally, things should have been over… But the trouble is just beginning. Murders are happening and missing children…. Detective Tess Clairborne has a vested interest in this case. Her father put the serial killer away and it seems to be her family being targeted by the horrors that have just begun.

Have you ever listened to a book and it just hits you? I love horror but it's been years since a really good horror hit my TBR and this one ticked all my creeper boxes.

The Outcast has committed murder and taken Tess’ daughter. He is even leaving clues but why? I loved the characters. This book was a spider web of intrigue and bone chilling aftershocks! I didn’t expect the ending and I held my own kids a little tighter when I was done.

4.5 stars

I had such high hopes for this one, I mean just look at that cover, but it was just ok for me. It had a great start, but I was expecting more horror. I also felt like the second half just had so many moving parts and felt a bit convoluted, so I didn’t always feel motivated to keep reading/listening. I know I’ve seen great reviews for this book (it’s one of the reasons I started it), so what didn’t work for me, might work for you! The audiobook performance was really well done; Andi Arndt did a great job of distinguishing characters!

Sleep Tight was a great read! It grabbed my attention right away and kept me entertained throughout the whole book. I loved the complexity of some of the characters. I will definitely be checking out the authors next books.

I was seeing this book all over and decided to grab the audio ALC and give it a try. I was worried it would be too scary… but it was soooo good!! I was so invested and enjoyed it a lot. A great seasonal (or anytime really) read. It falls into the thriller, suspense, psychological thriller and horror categories. I did not get the horror vibes though, it was much more of a thriller to me. So that suited me very well. It is dark and creepy, but very well-written and so suspenseful. The story line was so twisty and kept me guessing what was happening. There were multiple points of views, flashbacks and interviews that helped to piece it all together. My least favorite part was the cult vibes, so I wouldn’t recommend it if that isn’t your thing, but the rest was good enough it outweighed that for me.

The narrator is Andi Arndt and I really enjoyed the narration. It enhanced the story so well and I would definitely recommend this on audio.

𝓓𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷:
The sole survivor of a serial killer might hold the key to stopping a new spree of murders in this propulsive thriller…

𝓠𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼:
"In hindsight, a lot of people should have known a lot of things. But unfortunately, the world doesn't ever run in reverse. And one thing l've learned to be a hard truth is that hindsight never proves useful."

Thank you to the author J.H. Markert, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the audiobook.

This had a really strong start. I was invested. I was invested in the friend group, the betrayal, the dark history of father silence and tracking down the outsider. But as the story went on, it got more and more twisted and new characters were kept popping up.
I am not a fan of multiple POVs and multiple characters but I held on til the end.
I understood the story but it was just wayyy too much going on.
Think about 5 of the craziest law and order episodes you’ve ever seen and then through them all in one book. Then you’ll have the novel, Sleep tight. My honest feedback would be less is more.

Thank you #netgalley for this rec ❤️

Sleep Tight by J. H. Markert was a creepy read. I have loved all of this author's books. Looking forward to the next installment by this author.

Thank you so much to the publisher for the #gifted book and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook narrated by Andi Arndt who made the reading experience even spookier!
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Sleep Tight is the perfect book if you’re looking to start your spooky season with a bang. The story wastes no time in getting downright creepy with a long-time serial killer called Father Silence put on death row that’s supposed to finally bring peace to a small town in Kentucky. However right after his death, the killings begin happening again, particularly on those who helped solve the case. In the process, the husband-wife detective duo’s only child is kidnapped by a mystery figure who calls himself the Outcast and is related mysteriously to Father Silence. The couple must race against time to solve the mystery of the copycat and save their daughter.

If you’re looking for an edge-of-your-seat, pretzel-twisty thriller, this book is it. It has all the perfect ingredients of mystery, cult vibes and spooky small town with sordid history that makes for the perfect concoction so you DON’T sleep tight. I paired the book with the audiobook because Andi Arndt is one of my favorite narrators, and she absolutely elevated the tension and anxiety that permeated throughout the book. *Small warning that there are mentions of farm animals killed after it has happened* This was my first James Markert book and now I can’t wait to read his other books! I read this book as part of the #thrillerobsessedbuddyread hosted by Brooke and I can’t wait for the discussion with the author!

Absolutely incredible read, the book was so creepy right from the start perfect for spooky season, it was so atmospheric which the narrator really took to a top
Notch level

This is totally not my usual genre. I love a good mystery/thriller, but the horror genre is more out of my realm. Any horror involving children is going to be tough to stomach at times, but I'm surprised at how gripped I was by this audiobook. I found myself drawn in right away. Tessa is certainly a flawed main character, but also had a lot of depth that made me just feel for her. This was a great read for this spooky season!

Thank you to J. H. Markert, Netgalley and Dreamscape media for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

What a ride this was! From the very beginning of SLEEP TIGHT, readers are taken on a mysterious and tense ride that involves past murders, current murders, an execution, and a kidnapping, all of which are directly linked to police detective Tess. Something happened in Tess’s past that ties in with the current events, and we slowly but surely learn about her and her family’s involvement with a serial killer named Father Silent. Now it seems that a new and deadly killer is out to finish what Father Silent started and it’s a race against the clock to not only get Tess’s daughter back, but to stop the new killer, The Outcast, from taking any more lives.⁣
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This was my first book by Markert and I can solidly say that I’m now a fan. Brimming with mystery and tension, I loved the story from the beginning. The narrator did a fantastic job bringing the story to life and making me feel what Tess and the other characters were feeling. The audiobook was a fairly long one, but I was so invested in the story that I pretty much ignored all of my responsibilities, sped it up to 2x, and finished in a matter of hours. Definitely pick this one up if you’re a fan of serial killers, murder mysteries, and plenty of suspense and tension.