A proper murder mystery that keeps you guessing till the end. You can’t help but fall in love with Anna and I was disappointed that she has such a tragic experience and doesn’t stay on the isle of Rum. A real page turner that I couldn’t put down.

A great read - couldn’t wait to pick it up after having to put it down! Anna moves to a removte island in Scotland to work in a hotel to escape her feelings and involvement in a car crash. However once there it becomes apparent that one of the guests in the hotel is stalking her and wants to kill her. But who?

Well written and keeps you guessing till the end

Wow, CL Taylor has done it again, the plot line of this reads a bit like an Agatha Christie story - seven people cut off in a remote hotel on a Scottish island all with secrets and one of them is a killer. That, however ,is where the similarity ends , this is a dark twisty rollercoaster of a story that will keep you guessing until the end. Anna can’t sleep having experienced a life changing event at the start of the story , her way of coping is to flee to a job in a small remote hotel on the island of Rum . She is convinced she is being watched by someone ,a feeling that is intensified when the guests for the week arrive. The weather worsens, a storm comes in ,the river floods,cutting them off completely . As the phone line fails and no mobile signal is available the tension ratchets up . A great read

# Sleep #Netgalley
I am extremely surprised by this book, normally I am riveted to books by C L Taylor. However instead half way through I was bored stupid, when David was found dead. The small island of Rum was cut off without, any communication to the outside world at all. Anna lost the plot, guest where doing more than she was. This is when I became bored. Now if you can get through the middle section of borgem. The book picks up and literally you don’t want to put it down, it’s just ashame really because of the middle section I almost didn’t finish the book although I am glad I did

Clever psychological thriller which I very much enjoyed. I have read C L Taylor before and this didn't was as good as I had hoped. Kept you guessing until the end and had a great twist... Thank you.

This was a mind blowing psychological thriller. Lots of possibilities but the final result was totally unexpected. Great storyline and well described characters that walked off the page. Another great C L Taylor thriller.

Yet another great read from CL Taylor.
“To escape her past, Anna takes a job at a hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum, but when seven guests join her, what started as a retreat from the world turns into a deadly nightmare.”
Anna is enjoying her new life in Scotland but still can’t sleep due to her mind racing, going over everything that happened.
The hotel is very small and the seven guests soon start to get to know each other.
A storm blows in and the hotel is cut off from the mainland and events start to spiral out of control.
There is another narrative running through the book from a person who wants to help people ‘sleep.’ This is quite chilling at times and adds to the tension in the book the nearer you get to the end.
Anna is soon living in fear for her life and suspicious of all those around her.
This is a gripping read that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the whole it was entertaining and I looked forward to picking it up each time, however I felt that it was a little too predictable at times and the red herrings that were sporadically placed too obvious and stereotypical - Trevor being suspected as Anna’s stalker due to his withdrawn behaviour is a prime example.

The story also reminded me of The Woman in Cabin 10 so it was hard for me to separate the two and see Sleep as an original plot.

For me this wasn’t my favourite C.L Taylor book, but still an interesting read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC.

'If you're reading this then I'm no longer alive'

Anna Willis has recently moved to the Isle of Rum, a remote island off Scotland. She went there to try to forget the horrors that have haunted her ever since that day 3 months previously but someone is determined to make sure she doesn't forget what happened, in fact they want her to sleep, forever...

The first set of guests have arrived at the hotel where she now works, each with a secret of their own but one of them is lying, one of them is there because of Anna and they are determined to make her pay, then the storm hits, things start to happen and when tragedy strikes again she knows there is no escape, so she writes a letter to be read in the event of her death.

The opening line above had me hooked from the start and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, it's a fast paced easy read with fairly short chapters told from Anna's perspective, I kept thinking I knew who the perpetrator was, but each time I was wrong, when it was finally revealed and all the pieces fell into place as to who, and more importantly why, wanted revenge it was very unexpected. There was so much suspense weaved into the pages of this book that I did not want to put it down and read it in a couple of days. Although I have all of this author's earlier books on my kindle this is the first one I have read and I can't believe I haven't read them sooner, I'm now looking forward to bumping the rest of them up my tbr list.

I'd like to thank Avon Books and Netgalley for the approval and will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

Wow ,what a fabulous read ,I just couldn't put it down.Set on the Scottish Island of Rum ,Anna recovering from an horrific car crash goes to work in the tiny hotel hoping for peace .The weather turns bad and all seven guests the owner and Anna are cut off from the rest of the world .Creepy things start happening and there is no peace for Anna .This is one of the best psychological thrillers I have read this year ,it is so atmospheric I could almost hear the storms and feel the driving rain ! The story has a few red herrings thrown in one made me gasp !The characters feel so real I just love the work of this Author .The ending was brilliant 10 stars !!.Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review .

An excellent thriller with plenty of twists and turns. Loved it, it had me hooked from the first page.

Many thanks to Netgalley and C.L. Taylor for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

After a serious car crash Anna is struggling to sleep; she feels guilty and paranoid that someone is after her for what she has done. She moves to the remote island of Rum to make a fresh start and forget all of her troubles – but have they followed her there?

I really enjoyed The Fear by CL Taylor last year and was very excited about her latest offering – Sleep. I certainly was not disappointed! Sleep is a great Thriller which, ironically enough keeps you up all night trying to figure out what is going on! It’s a great standalone read and one that will keep you hooked throughout.

I really loved the claustrophobic air of the remote island of Rum – it made for a great setting and really heightened the tension throughout. I liked the fact we started with the backstory of the crash and that the chapters also occasionally alternated between other characters, including the perpetrator. I also particularly loved the red herring (no spoilers) that this produced. The theme of not getting any sleep, the quotes used and the notes that turn up were also a nice way to keep the title of the book in your thoughts and establish the through-line of the book.

The only thing I think made it slightly less impactful than the previous books I have read was that the twist didn’t quite have as much of a punch as I was expecting. As the suspect list on the island is relatively small, you end up just whittling down suspects until you are left with just one possible person and then it was revealed who it was. It still surprised me but had it arrived a little earlier in the narrative I think it might have had more of an impact.

Overall I’m sure, like me, that you will lose Sleep enjoying Sleep and working out its twists and turns. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anna cannot Sleep.

After being in a horrific car accident which caused fatal and life changing injuries to her travelling colleagues, she feels nothing but guilt and suffers recurring nightmares. Even though she knows deep down, that the crash wasn’t her fault.

Anna believes that she needs to get away, so she applies for and is offered a job on the remote Scottish island of Rum. The “hotel” she joins is really a glorified guests house, and the only accommodation for visitors or indeed anyone who wants to stay overnight on the Island.

Anna believes that the first intake of guests after she arrives are okay, some a little strange, but a good set of strangers nonetheless. But one of them knows exactly who Anna is and is determined that she should not be enjoying her life, when she was involved in the crash that ended the life of another.

Each of the guests are secretive and cause suspicion in their own unique individual way, and by the time Anna realises that one of the group may have an ulterior motive for their visit to Rum it may be too late for her to do anything about it...

Sleep (or lack of) is the perfect title for this novel, because I guarantee that once you’ve picked it up you won’t be able to sleep until you’ve finished it.

An absolute must read.

My favourite C.L. Taylor novel so far, and one of my favourites of 2019!

For me, there's something special about this author's books. All that I've read have drawn me in and kept me gripped.
This one isn't my favourite but I did enjoy it.
I think it's difficult to grab the reader's attention with so many characters to learn and so it took me a while to settle in to the book.
Anna is the driver of a car in an accident in which there are fatalities. She's struggling with her conscience , having flashbacks and when she does manage to sleep she has nightmares. She takes herself off to the Scottish Highlands to work in a remote hotel in Rum. .
7 guests arrive at the hotel for a walking break and it seems each of them are carrying secrets. Anna feels that she's being watched and someone's out to get her., Perhaps as revenge for the accident. The reader is led down several paths and suspects each guest in turn..
Through the whole of the book the weather was stormy and the author created a dark atmosphere with this. I enjoyed the twist midway through the book and I was kept guessing until very near the end.

Following a tragedy, Anna is struggling to get past the trauma. She can't sleep, and feels constantly guilty about her past. She feels as though someone is following and tormenting her. Her boyfriends says it's all in her head; he doesn't understand what she's going through.

Anna decides that she needs a new start, so she goes to work in a hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum. The first couple of weeks go well, and she feels like she could start to be happy again. Then, a new set of guests arrive and everything starts going wrong. She is convinced that one of the guests knows about her past and has come to kill her, but she has no idea who it is.

This was an enjoyable read, and well written. The tension and feelings of guilt and sadness and rife throughout, especially from the protagonist, Anna. She is constantly on edge and the writing reflects that feeling. The book also gives a good insight into the fall-out of a tragedy, and the feelings of all those involved - the victims, and even those who may be to blame, or who are accused of such.

The story is very much character driven, and there are a lot of different characters involved. All of the guests have their own complex backstories, and they all have their own real life problems. Even those from Anna's past life before she moved to Rum - you get to know everyone involved and it makes the story so much better. The character development is great in this novel and that's what makes this an interesting and involving story.

I also enjoyed the ending - it wasn't too predictable and not too crazy either. It brought the book to a good close. I would probably recommend this to anyone who likes a decent thriller or mystery, but it's probably more suitable for those who like women's and contemporary fiction.

Sleep is the second book by C.L. Taylor I have read, and my opinion of her as a first class thriller writer has been solidified. This one was very different to The Fear, but just as good.

We start off with Anna driving home after a team-building weekend in Wales. Everyone else is asleep, and the weather is bad. Through no fault of her own, there is an accident. Two are killed, one is left unable to walk, and Anna walks away from hospital. Not uninjured, not at all, but still walks away. She suffers from survivor's guilt, and it isn't helped by the fact she is convinced she is being stalked. Taking matters into her own hand, she splits with her boyfriend, and takes a job on the remote isle of Rum. Seven guests arrive the same time as a storm. Everyone is hiding something, and Anna doesn't know if she will survive.

This was an intriguing story, full of twists, turns, and red herrings. I'm never one to try and figure out 'whodunnit' as I prefer to let the story take me where it will. I will say in this instance, it became clear who it was, and I was lucky enough to guess correctly as to the reasons why. However, this didn't detract from the story itself in any way.

With no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt my reading flow, I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish, and have no hesitation in recommending it to all #Thriller fans out there.

Another fantastic book by Cally Taylor, the master of intrigue.

Anna is driving her colleagues back from a course when she loses concentration for a second, a lorry driver falls asleep, and the lorry ploughs into their car. 2 men die, one is crippled, and Anna ends up in hospital in a bad state. She and her boyfriend break up, and she feels that someone is stalking her and leaving her notes about sleeping.

Anna decides she needs to get away, and goes to work in the only hotel in a remote island in Scotland. Has she left her stalker behind or are they closer than she thinks?

This is a real ‘edge of your seat’, ‘whodunnit ‘ book. I loved it.

Creepy, scary, claustrophobic thriller that had me hooked. Is the narrator reliable? Is she in danger from her boyfriend? Can she escape danger by fleeing to a remote Scottish island? I suspected everyone in turn; except the actual killer.

This book was like a twisty, good old fashioned whodunnit. Good read but not mind blowing for me. I have enjoyed the authors other work, but this wasn't one of my favourites. Kept me guessing though!

I received a copy of Sleep in exchange for an honest review, so thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books!

Anna did something bad; she was driving back from a works retreat with three colleagues in the car, and two of them end up dead, the other possibly paralysed for life. Wracked with guilt but cleared of any blame, Anna ups and leaves her whole life in London to live and work on the isolated Scottish island Rum. With very little phone signal, and a ferry that only arrives once a day, she thinks it's the perfect place to forget about her past - and the messages she keeps receiving threatening she'll soon be 'sleeping'.

But as her first batch of guests arrive, so does a storm which kills all phone service and renders the ferry unable to run - it even floods the island so they can't reach the small village on the other side of it. Stranded and isolated with seven strangers, the messages keep coming, and Anna knows one of them is out to get her. But which one?



Before even reading the first sentence of Sleep, there were two reasons why I knew I was going to enjoy this. First off, I have read everything C. L. Taylor has written. She does really good thrillers, and I'm always excited to see a new release of hers.

Secondly, the group-of-strangers-in-an-isolated-place-and-one-of-them-is-a-murderer trope is one my all time favourites. If that is the premise of a book, there's a 90% likelihood I'm going to pick it up based on that alone. And while all books like that have at least a slight And Then There Were None vibe to them, this one especially so. So much so that it's made me really want to pick up And Then There Were None again.

Set on a secluded Scottish island, Anna is soon faced with the fact that one of the people staying at the hotel where she works is trying to kill her for her past mistakes, and that she has no escape and no way of proving she's in danger.

I really enjoyed the multiple POV's in Sleep - it worked really well to build suspense and make you keep asking questions. It worked really well to break up Anna's storyline and flit to different side stories, each which had their own mysteries.

I also must commend Taylor on her cast of characters. I analysed each one, scrutinised every word they said, and I still couldn't guess the culprit. Not that I really wanted to, but I never would have guessed their motive either. I always feel like I'm 'not very good at thrillers', I guess because I can never see what's coming? But surely that just means I'm reading really good thrillers? You should never be able to guess, no matter how many in this genre you read or how good a sleuth you think you are. I never try and guess because why ruin it for yourself! But lately, I do find myself being more critical of what the characters say and trying to analyse their behaviour. Alas, to no use! Taylor is one step ahead increating unguessable plots and creepy thrillers!

(Is it just me, or is Sleep no longer looking like a real word!)

A gripping story, based on a well known but never-failing trope, Sleep is a great read and I highly recommend it! 4 out of 5 stars