I found this a brilliant read,yet it was a scary scenario and could happen to any of us,that's what made it so chilling.
The narrator is Alex,badly injured after a rock climbing incident,that has left him with locked in syndrome. Alex appears lifeless,yet can hear every word spoken,despite being unable to communicate with friends and family members. Both nursing and medical staff are starting to prepare the family for the possibility of withdrawing care and letting Alex die. One day,Alex finds out that the police are investigating the possibility that the accident was attempted murder and someone is stalking his girlfriend . Later,on the ward,there is an attempt to dislodge his tracheostomy breathing tube and also his air mattress is tampered with,which could lead to pressure sores and infection. Alex, for his own peace of mind wants to find out is trying to kill him and why,before he dies.
A murder story with a difference in that the victim is still alive for the time being. The reader knows what the eventual outcome will be,but you are rooting for a happy ending. This book is tragic but thoughtful in all areas, not a story of failure but a heroic struggle against fate.
I found there was a great deal of informed medical research,a great understanding of the dilemma of withdrawing care to such patients,is it ever kind to refuse food and fluids to dying patients,even though it is medically sound in its application. As a nurse, I used to treat such patients by using the guidelines of the Liverpool Care Pathway, sadly, now it has been discredited although its intentions were concerned solely with the well being of the patient.
I can't imagine how I would feel in the situation that Alex finds himself in,being able to understand that people are planning for your death and you are awake,silently screaming for someone to notice you before it is too late,truly the stuff of nightmares. I found this book to be composed,heartfelt and non sensational. I will be recommending this book to my nursing students and to the hospital library. I am posting this review on Goodreads today.

Alex is in a coma, unlikely to ever wake up, but his active mind is trapped in a lifeless body and unable to communicate. As his family debate withdrawing life support, and his friends talk about how his girlfriend Bea needs to move on, he can only listen.

But Alex soon begins to suspect that the accident that put him here wasn’t really an accident. Even worse, the perpetrator is still out there, and Alex is not the only one in danger. As he goes over a series of clues from his past, Alex must use his remaining senses to solve the mystery of who tried to kill him, and try to protect those he loves, before they decide to let him go.

This Book is told entirely from the point of view of Alex, in a coma with everyone believing he is gone, but he is still in there and can hear what’s going on around him and feel what is happening to him. He has had an accident – or was it? As we get information from those around him we come to realise that all is not as seems.
Alex is torn between wanting to die and wanting to live, all the while trying to work out what has happened, you really feel for him, lying in that bed, unable to communicate.

If I Die Before I Wake was a very original mystery written from the Point of view from Alex a man trapped inside his lifeless body, surely one of the most terrible situations a person could find themselves in. This book is so different to others that I have read.

I was expecting a different ending, but I guess that’s just the good twist that Emily Koch intended. A brilliant and thought provoking read.

The ending, Emotional. Deeply sad yet beautiful, all at the same time.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Random House UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

The premise of Emily Koch’s If I Die Before I Wake — a man trapped in a coma and unable to move or communicate tries to solve his own attempted murder — might have been more unique had I not read two other novels published in 2017 featuring comatose protagonists. Nonetheless, the mystery soon drew me in and had me rooting for our hero, Alex, to get to the bottom of it before his nearest and dearest decide, regretfully, to switch off his life-support machine.

Alex is assumed to have been involved in a climbing accident that put him in a coma. He can’t remember what happened and at first depressed by his situation, he decides not to make a effort in any of the assessments of his brain activity and his doctors believe he is in a persistent vegetative state. His father, sister and girlfriend Bea still visit regularly, however, and it seems that he is also receiving other visitors — including from someone who makes Alex believe that his ‘accident’ may not have been quite so accidental after all. Someone whose plans for Alex, and indeed others, may not yet be complete.

As Alex trawls his memory for clues and focuses his few available senses on gathering as much information as he can from his surroundings, he starts to piece together a theory. But the real truth may be more shocking than he could ever have imagined and as his family and even Bea lose hope that he will ever wake up, Alex must race against the clock for his own survival.

If I Die Before I Wake is a fast-paced, clever and original psychological thriller. Alex is a sympathetic hero and Koch’s prose, which conveys Alex’s small triumphs as well as his frustrations realistically, is compelling and warm. I was a little unsatisfied by the resolution of the mystery, but the ending itself was fitting. Do expect to stay up late finishing this novel: it’s a real page-turner.

I enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing - was sad when it ended :-(

Wow! I loved this book, it kept me up at night dying to find out what happened to Alex. This is a very unusual storyline of a guy who is ‘ locked in ‘ after suffering brain damage during a fall. The book is set around his hospital bed, I won’t give too much away but I can say it’s a real page turner and the reader is constantly willing on Alex to move. I would recommend this book 100%

*thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Vintage Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars.
Wow. This was SO good! Id read the last 80% in one sitting. I kept wondering the whole way through if the main character, Alex, was ever going to 'wake up'. The whole story was a real page turner. I could picture myself in his position and felt so completely frustrated at his situation. Most of us at some point have probably experienced Sleep Paralysis and know how terrifying that felts. So i tried to imagine how it must be to be in that state month after month after month, trying desperately to make even the slightest movement so the doctors or loved ones can see and say, 'Yes he/she is still there!'.

This book keeps your attention really well and I like the way it flowed throughout the story. Its interesting all the way through and I wont ruin the ending so there isnt anything im going to say about that. Definitely recommend this and especially for fans of 'If I Stay' by Gayle Forman, as I thought of it when I first started reading this.

This is an original crime mystery with a narrative delivered entirely from the perspective of 27 year old Alex Jackson, a passionate rock climber and journalist on the Bristol Post. He is living with girlfriend Bea, whom he met when working in a Canadian camp on his gap year. He loves Bea completely although their relationship has its ups and downs. The novel begins with Alex having a climbing accident that leaves him in a coma, suffering from locked in syndrome. He is aware of what is going on around him, hears conversations, and experiences the daily medical care he receives from nurses Pauline and Connie. For a while his focus is on trying to get others to notice he is not in a vegetative state, his failure is demoralising and he cannot bear to see the suffering of others, and how his condition affects them. He gives up and thinks it best if he is left to die.

The author has done a terrific job in giving us such in depth insights and details of Alex's world. We see how the trauma plays out with his dad, his sister, Philippa, and more importantly with Bea, whose life comes to a standstill in the wake of the wreckage of Alex's accident. We become aware of a letter sent to Alex some time ago which claims that he is the father of the child in an enclosed photograph. Bea discovers the letter and thinks Alex has cheated on her. However, what changes everything for Alex is the slow drip feed of the knowledge that someone tried to kill him. Who hates him so much that it motivates them to murder him? Alex goes through all the suspects, the women he has slept with in the past, Eleanor, who loves him, and what seems to him to be the most likely candidate, someone who was angry that he was writing articles on the miscarriage of justice perpetrated on William Ormond, a man convicted of murder. The killer it seems is now fixating on Bea, this galvanises Alex to try and save her. As danger edges ever closer to Alex and Bea, will Alex emerge from the coma?

The author gives us such an interesting and compelling premise, the boyfriend in a coma so in love with his girlfriend that he would rather die than see her life wrecked by him. Eighteen months in a coma, and he gives up, until he becomes determinedly engaged in the mystery of who tried to murder him and the fear they will try again. The importance of solving this is paramount to Alex when it becomes clear that Bea is in grave danger. I was so impressed with Emily Koch's ability to enter the world of a coma patient and see the world from their perspective. Within this scenario she gives us the gripping introduction of a murder mystery. The character of Alex is beautifully fleshed out and developed, his struggle to connect with others, his oscillating emotions, and his stake in the well being of Bea, his family and his friends. If you are looking for something offbeat in the field of crime fiction, this fits the bill perfectly. A brilliant and thought provoking read. Many thanks to Random House Vintage for an ARC.

Words fail me when I try to describe how fantastic this story was. The story is basically told by Alex who is in coma having fallen when rock climbing. The twists and turns keep the reader guessing all the way through as it turns out that it was not an accident but murder. Although I guessed who the murderer probably was very early on, I still was looking for accomplices or someone else to be guilty. A compulsive beautifully told story with a very unexpected ending. Highly recommend this book.

The whole story is told by Alex. After a climbing accident Alex is left in a vegetative state and everyone thinks that he is not going to wake up. But although the tests show there is no brain activity, he can hear and smell and feel pain. But, he cannot move. He can hear all that’s going on around him. But he cannot do anything about it, even when her hears that his family is thinking of ending his life and his girlfriend is being stalked. He cannot protect her.
While he lies there, he finds out that his case has been re-opened and his ‘accident’ maybe not one at all but, someone attempted to murder him. Who would want to murder him? He always tried to help people. While he lays there and try’s and figures it out the killer and also whether she should live or end his life.
Wow if this is Emily’s debut novel I can’t wait for what else she has instore. I loved the idea of it written in Alex perspective. It is so different to others that I have read. This is also such emotional read and I really was hoping that Alex was going to wake up. I didn’t want to put the book down. I wanted to read it in one sitting just to see what happened at the end. It gripped me through out.
Thank you Net galley and Random House UK Vintage Publishing for a chance to read this book.

I really enjoyed this book. The story is narrated in the first person by Alex Jackson, who is in a coma after a climbing accident. The doctors don't believe he will ever come round, and that he is unlikely to be able to hear or feel anything. He is actually 'locked in' - he can hear and think and feel. Through his visitors talking to him and each other, and his memories of his life before the fall, the story unfolds. When it appears that the police are looking at attempted murder rather than an accident, Alex has to try his utmost to communicate. This is very cleverly written. It's always good to read something as refreshingly original. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.

Before starting this book, I thought it was a great concept for a thriller however, I was sorely disappointed and found it slow and quite boring rather than the gripping thriller that was promised. I couldn't empathise with any of the characters and often struggled to remember who was who and what role they played in the victim's life.. Unfortunately, I gave up about a third of the way through.

A great read, keeping you on tenterhooks all the way through and very empathetically written.

Absorbing, intimate, painful and persuasive. This novel is told from the view point of someone who is suffering locked in syndrome and who appears to others as if he is in a coma. The reader is taken along his thought process as he muddles through what he knows of the accident that caused him to be in this apparent coma and the information he learns as the novel progresses. The pace is slow but absorbing, and the plot twists are executed well. The reader is led to believe there are a few possible endings right up until the last few pages. I can't say I am happy with the one the author chose, but it was certainly a plausible one.

I think I might be the minority here, but I certainly did not find this book 'gripping' or an 'edge of your seat thriller'. I can't comment as to the writing because I was so bored with the story but 'If I die before I wake' had all the makings of a great book, but greatly fell short for me.

After a climbing accident Alex wakes up from a coma in hospital. The trouble is, he's the only one who knows he's awake. All the tests show he's brain dead, yet he can hear, smell and feel things. He starts trying to remember the events taken from snippets of conversations from those that visited him, trying to work out if it was an accident or did someone try to kill him?
Not only is this a really good story but it makes you wonder if this has ever actually happened to anyone, something we will never know.
A brilliant read from start to finish and one I highly recommend. The only gripe I have with it was all through the book they used a lower case i instead of a capital I
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review

This is a very different book told from Alex's viewpoint.Alex is in a coma after a climbing accident but he can still hear and think and feel ,he is trapped in his own body ,I was trying to imagine how frustrating and scary that would be and found it unbearably sad .Slowly Alex pieces together why he had his accident which the Police now call attempted murder .This is a psychological thriller but so much more as well .I found this a very thought provoking book and one I will remember .

Firstly thanks to the publishers Random House and netgalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

The book sounded intriguing and an interesting twist on the genre; a man in a coma has to solve the mystery of his "murder" before it's too late. This suggested a fast paced book filed with intrigue and tension, but I found it to be a very different read.
It took quite a while before the book really got going, before Alex even realises he has been the victim of a crime. Honestly, by the time he realised someone had tried to kill him I had lost a lot of interest.
The descriptions of Alex's condition and the frustrations and pain that he feels are very well written, but this felt at the expense of the pace of the story. The narrative felt almost dreamlike at a lot of points and there was very little tension. The characters are all seen from Alex's viewpoint and only in snippets either as they visit him or from his sketchy memories. It would have been interesting to perhaps see things from his girlfriends point of view to add extra tension and speed up the pace.

Just couldn't get into this at all – I didn't enjoy the style, didn't find the story compelling, and found the characters basic and dull. The idea of a murder being solved by someone in a coma sounds intriguing at first, but of course it makes for an extremely passive protagonist. Soon the problems of him not being able to go anywhere or do anything become clear – there's a reason that characters in novels usually, you know, do stuff.

If I Die Before I Wake is ex-journalist Emily Koch's first published book. It's a crime thriller with the premise that the author has to solve their own murder before they die. The protagonist is male and he is locked-in to his body and unable to communicate with anyone.

The book has had some good reviews on Goodreads already as many advance copies were made available.

It is set in Bristol.

Published in 2018 by Harvill Secker, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

This is a novel idea for a story and really works well. The characters mostly work although a few are a little lacking in depth, but on the whole the story moves well, and from a totally different angle. The ending is unexpected and not what I would have wished! Would highly recommend - a crime novel on a different level, you can identify with the author. I'm not going to divulge any of the story as that would spoil it for new readers!