
Member Reviews

Another great read from this very talented author. I just love the writing style and clear my diary when I get my hands on a Cally Taylor book. The story is tightly plotted with interesting characters and hidden depths. Well done Ms Taylor - another blickbuster

Sleep is the fifth novel that I have read and enjoyed by C.L.Taylor and there is something that always grips me and makes them hard to put down.
Once again this book is a real page turner, the plot is engrossing, with tension and pace and twists and turns. With believable characters, plausible and claustrophobic situations and an ever increasing sense of tension lead to an unputdownable read.
A dark intruiging and clever piece of story telling that kept me guessing to the end. Highly recommended.

After a rather unpromising start with a sketchily drawn accident which begins the chain of events, the book suddenly takes off with a change of scenery to a remote Scottish island, which helps create a more atmospheric and gripping forum for the slowly building suspense of this thriller. We see Anna, the main character develop a resilience and the strength to tackle the mysterious stalker that threatens to harm herself and those she is supposed to be looking after. An absorbing and exciting tale in the remote Scottish setting, the perfect read for a wintry weekend.

I should never have started this book in the evening as I couldn't put it down. Such a page turner, robbing me of my sleep to 3am! It kind of reminded me of a modern Noel Coward play and would love to see it adapted for television. Really enjoyed this psychological thriller and C.L. Taylor is becoming one of my favourite authors.

Another brilliant novel from CL Taylor that despite the title, will have you struggling to sleep until you turn the last page!
In her latest, 'Sleep'. a team building exercise goes horribly wrong when, on the way home, Anna crashes the car she is driving, into a lorry. An accident, pure and simple, but one in which 2 of her workmates die.
She is taken to court after she recovers from her injuries, but is hounded by the media and the families of the victims-but even more worryingly, when she tries to attend the funeral of one of her workmates, she returns to her boyfriend's car to find 'Sleep' written in the dirt above one wheel.
When she is acquitted of blame, a card is slipped into her pocket quoting the famous speech from Macbeth about 'murdered sleep' implying that guilt is the reason she cannot sleep or rest.
Becoming increasingly frantic, unable to work or sustain a relationship with her boyfriend, she moves to Scotland to become a housekeeper for a remote hotel.
However hard she runs and tries to make herself invisible, someone , out there is waiting for the moment to take their revenge-which of the 7 people staying at the hotel is planning a murder and who is going to die?
This is absolutely my favourite CL Taylor novel, it has buckets full of suspense and drama, and plays with your emotions for a tattered, fragile main character. It kept me guessing to the very end.
Many thanks to Avon Books and Netgalley for letting me read this in return for an honest review!

Wow! This has to be the best book I have read this year by a mile. With Agatha Christie style talent the tension was apparent in every page of this thriller.
Scary, tension filled and totally gripping, this is a must read.

An enjoyable read reminds me a bit of a Agatha Christie type mystery. A litte too far from reality for me but it did keep me going till the end

This was definitely a page turner, with a very atmospheric, claustrophobic feel to the story. It has a flavour of Agatha Christie to it, with the hotel guests, any of whom are suspects in what's going on, and with the storm causing them all to be trapped & cut-off from the rest of the island and the country. I did feel rather remote from the characters - there was only one I particularly liked, and he wasn't part of the story for very long. But the fact that I didn't like them seemed to add to the feeling of the book, making me feel less personally involved, and more like a distant detective, trying to figure out what on earth was going on.
It's definitely a book you'll need to allow time for, as you won't want to put it down at bedtime unless you've finished!

A deeply riveting page turner. Cally Taylor at her best. Anna is in an accident killing two of her colleagues. She runs away to a remote Scottish island to find her stalker has followed her there. The reader is kept on tenterhooks throughout the book. Brilliant!

I have been doing to read this book. And yes it didn't disappoint!!! Loved every word of it CL Taylor is becoming a firm favourite.
Will be recommending this for the local bookclub. don't miss this one!

Another fantastic dark twisted section of CL.Taylors mind down on paper. I got totally immersed in this book from the start. Every opportunity to read I took it even two minutes. It really was so difficult to put down, but it didn’t go far just in my handbag!
This will be a gift I will give to everyone, some because they’ll love it and some just to play with their minds.
She is an author who just keep on providing us with awesome literature , bravo!

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. How I related to Anna in this book, I absolutely thought the storyline and the characters were brilliant. A worthy 5 stars

Brilliant book. I was completely hooked from the beginning so many twists and turns and kept me guessing right to the end. Easy 5 stars from me. Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the chance to read this book

Excellent book! Loved the characters and it was a great storyline. I would highly recommend this book.

I loved this book!
The story begins on the night that changed Anna’s life. Something terrible happened and now Anna has to live with the guilt. Worse still, someone is determined to ensure that Anna never forgets her nightmares.
Rum is the Scottish island where the story is set. It is a small island with only 32 residents. The island is known for its seclusion, storms and dangerous cliffs. True to its reputation, the hotel where Anna is working ends up being completely cut off by the storm. This meant that Anna was stuck at the hotel with seven strangers and one of them was a murderer.
Apart from the setting, I also loved the narrative style. The main narrator was Anna. However, through the chapters, we also got to hear from other characters. This helped in adding different dimensions to the story and certainly heightened the tension. It also added more suspense to the story. A couple of times, I thought I had guessed the identity of the murderer. At some point, I suspected everyone at the hotel including the cat that just turned up on one stormy day.
The book is titled Sleep but most of the characters are struggling with insomnia. In addition, sleeping isn’t really an option as danger looms. Interestingly, once I started reading this book. I couldn’t sleep until I turned the last page. If you enjoy dark, twisty page-turners with claustrophobic settings, get this book.
What an excellent psychological thriller!

Firstly, I have to say how ironic the title is, due to the amount of sleep missed because I found myself engrossed in this cleverly crafted tale.
The protagonist, Anna, is driving back from a team building malarkey with three of her colleagues when they are involved in a dreadful accident which leaves two people dead and another with life changing injuries. She herself is injured but although the accident wasn’t her fault she can’t help blame herself for the crash.
When her relationship breaks down Anna decides a change of scenery is needed and applies for a job in a hotel on a remote isle of Scotland. This becomes even more important after getting the feeling someone is stalking her and leaving strange messages.
There are plenty of characters with their own histories and secrets, certainly enough to get you guessing and questioning yourself.
All said and done, this will keep you entertained right to the surprising end
Events unfold very cleverly and with enough intrigue to keep you interested and keen

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Sleep by CL Taylor
When picking up this book I did something I never did which was read a review prior to finishing this book. As most who know me also understands I refuse to do this but i just wasn’t sure about the first few pages so wanted to get an idea if this was going to be for me.
I was so happy to continue on with this book as to be honest it had me creeped out and I just loved how that feeling pushes me to read more.
Anna was an interesting character who just seems like a normal person who is going through a very rough patch. You really feel for her because she had so much but gave everything up because of her grief and guilt.
This was such a wonderful story but Sleep seems like such a casual name when instead I keep thinking of something a bit more sinister. Sleep is just so innocent and this book is anything but dealing with innocence.
I am a huge fan of this book as it deals so much with the psychology of grief and death. What a great read and one I soon won’t be forgetting.
The setting of the Scottish Isles was interesting and I am so tempted myself to go to this place as I want to really see the majestic beauty that was part of this story.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc on this book.

Wow! Another excellent psychological thriller from this prolific author.
Anna is the lead character who can't sleep following an accident that has left her guilt ridden and paranoid. There are many more fascinating characters in this really good read and red herrings aplenty. As others have said, don't plan anything once you start this, as, it's a page turner.
I thoroughly enjoyed the unusual setting, the edge of the seat stalker / killer thread and the 'In Memoriam' detail peppered throughout the book.
Thanks so much to net galley and Avon publishers for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review.
Sleep by CL Taylor is a totalling engrossing, fascinating , psychological thriller that just keeps the reader enthralled from the beginning of the book until right up to the very last page.
Highly recommended.

Anna Willis is drowning in guilt during the aftermath of a tragic road accident involving her work colleagues. The fatal incident leaves her plagued with insomnia, flashbacks keeping her up at night. If she does fall asleep, she soon wakes up screaming. What’s more, she has an unnerving feeling that she is being stalked and targeted. As a means of escape, she leaves her already broken relationship with Alex and starts fresh in the remote Scottish Island of Rum working in its only hotel. However, she may not be as safe as she thinks.
Seven guests book into the hotel, each with their own secrets. One guest, however, is hiding behind a mask of lies with their sights set on Anna. This retreat quickly snowballs into a real-life nightmare.
This psychological thriller is what you call a page-turner. Taylor’s writing was so engrossing that I felt as if I was in the thick of it all. I, too, was trapped on this remote island, feeling claustrophobic as the raging storm cuts us from all civilisation. I was completely invested as the plot thickened. There was an abundance of revelations and little threads which gradually wove together as the tension continued to rise.
The characters all had their own quirks which meant for a diverse group dynamic. Any of them might have had their sights set on Anna. Like our protagonist, I didn’t know who to trust and what their true motivations were. I spent the entirety of the novel playing detective as I puzzled possible clues together. However, I didn’t once guess ‘whodunnit’.
Sleep was full of suspense and the ending did not disappoint. While I was surprised by who Anna’s stalker was, what shocked me most were their twisted motivations. Finally, the darkness of the last chapter left me with chills.
Overall, this is a story about guilt and its immense power to consume us. This was thrilling, gripping, a book worth losing sleep over.
4.5 stars
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!