A college student, Tara Beckley, finds herself entangled in a sinister plot when her part-time job gives her the assignment of transporting a professor to a conference.

The tension builds as they travel along and you just know something is just not quite right. Wild ride ahead...

Things go horribly wrong, some bad dudes are on the hunt for information and it turns into an action-packed, dodging bullets and run for your life ride. The beginning pieces of the puzzle start to emerge as the events unfold at a fast pace.

A few chapters felt a bit slow when the doctor is working with the coma patient, but the process was interesting. Also really enjoyed the character of Shannon and her love for her sister, Tara.

Recommend to fans of suspense with high action, a layered mystery with a kind of mafia feel and a strong female protagonist.

Michael Koryta never fails with his books. I think I have read every one of his novels and will continue to do so. This book was very interesting and I can only imagine the horror of being aware, but not being able to communicate. I also enjoyed Dax's character. Yes, he was a bad man, but I did enjoy his character. Keep them coming!

This wasn't a bad book, but I'm starting to feel that I'm just not 100% compatible with Michael Koryta's new books. This is a shame, because I'm an avid cheerleader of all his older works, and perhaps this makes me biased, but it's tough to engage with your standard mob thriller when you know an author can offer so much more than your run-of-the-mill gangster plot. This also felt a smidge too long, and if it had been shaved down a little to provide a snappy, faster paced reading experience, I may have given an extra .5 star to bump my rating. If you've enjoyed the author's books in the past, and are looking for your typical thrilling read, I still recommend giving this one a try.

Oh my! What a thrill ride! If you like that surge of adrenaline when you are reading an exceptional thriller, then add this to your reading list.

A young coma victim may hold the key to several murders and the missing phone from a dead scientist who has secrets of his own. But she has locked-in syndrome, and while she is very aware of what everyone around her is saying she has no way to let them know she is still in there.

This is a tense, well written story with divergent characters and an ending that will have you tightening your seat belt!

Highly recommended!

When a visiting professor asks his student driver/escort to take a scenic route through the campus, Tara Beckley thinks it a little strange. Out of nowhere a car crashes into them, killing him and propelling Tara into the river below. Tara is confined to a hospital in a coma, but in reality has locked in syndrome, meaning she is totally aware but can’t move. Meanwhile Abby Kaplan has been hired to investigate the accident and protect the college from liability. She soon discovers that not only was the crash deliberate, but also that mysterious young man is tracking her and Tara as well. Then bodies begin to pile up.


Michael Koryta takes this story a notch above the average thriller by adding layers of mysterious happenings, strange coincidences, and natural forces to the narrative. As the reader, you’ll be thinking “what just happened??” again and again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book.

When a visiting lecturer is violently killed in what seems to be an accident, and his guide is deep inside of a coma, answers are hard to be found as to why assassins are emerging, people are getting murdered, and a single phone is at the center of the story. Koryta is no stranger to weaving complicated, original fiction, and If She Wakes is no exception. The writing is clean, experienced, and intriguing, although the pacing could stand to be a little faster. The story seems to drag on for a hair longer than it needs to, but the ending is satisfying, and lovers of Koryta’s books will find this one just as worthy.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the digital ARC of If She Wakes by Michael Koryta. This was the first book I have read by Michael Koryta: I plan to read more in the future. The characters did not seem to tie together at the beginning of the book and then everything fell into place and the story took off. This was a thriller I did not want to put down. Great Read!

Suspense and thrills from start to finish. Koryta is the master of weaving complex characters and a great story line.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview If She Wakes by Michael Koryta. I am not sure if I have read any of Koryta's books, but I will now.
This is book is really very exciting - Fast Paced and original.
Great characters that are deep and as a reader I was vested immediately.
A young college student, Tara, is tasked to take a well-known doctor to a college dinner. This doctor is strange, but she hs agreed to drive him to the dinner as part of her classwork. . Before they get there, the man asks Tara to pull over so he can take in the view. She reluctantly agrees; he takes her piicture on a strange phone, and then a van pulls out of no where and kills the man and Tara is tossed into the river.
Another young woman, Abby, is a claim investigator, and she is tasked with looking at the car accident that Tara was involved in. The doctor is dead, and Tara is in a coma. Abby has her own demons - she was a stunt car driver who has been charged with her boyfriend's murder. This case might help her grieve the demons she lives with each day. So takes this case and she looks for the phones for Tara and the doctor to help solve this case, but strangely they are missing. Abby soon discovers that this was not a normal auto accident - it may be a murder. But her boss and even the police are willing to put this one to rest. But Abby can't and soon she finds herself involved with killers who will do anything to get the phone back with Tara's picture on it. The bodies pile up and Abby faces a young man who will kill anyone who gets in the way of obtaining that phone.
I loved this book - I could not put it down and I hope that Koryta brings Abby back in another book. 5 stars!!! Recommend.

I am a very big fan of Michael Koryta! I I eagerly wait for each novel he writes! And each one keeps me so into it that I finish it in no time at all!. I favor the ones more with supernatural themes but all are just great to me! This one had a good lady character who drove race cars and speed was her high. This is all I will tell you so I won't spoil the story for you. Enjoy!

Hammel College in Maine. As she drives to deliver a visiting professor to a conference, a horrific car accident kills the professor and leaves Tara in a vegetative state. At least, so her doctors think. In fact, she's a prisoner of locked-in syndrome: fully alert but unable to move a muscle. Trapped in her body, she learns that someone powerful wants her dead--but why? And what can she do, lying in a hospital bed, to stop them?



Thank you to net galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book

You can;t move, but you can;t forget and the KILLER is after you. Welcome boys and girls to the most underrated thriller/chiller writer I have found. From the first book of his I read and everyone that follows this guy is a master. In a literary landscape filled with epmty titles and covers this is the true "K-MAN" at work. I promise you will love it.
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The fact that I got a free advance copy from NETGALLEY has no bearing on this great book. Enjoy!!

Tara Beckley is escorting a professor to speak at her university when tragedy strikes. A runaway van collides with Tara’s CR-V instantly killing the professor and sending Tara careening into a nearby river. A short time later, Tara awakens to discover she is fully conscious and aware but unable to communicate with the outside world – a victim of “locked-in syndrome”.

Private Investigator Abby Kaplan has been hired by the university to look into the accident and remove any shred of liability on their behalf. As she digs deeper, she begins to uncover that this was no simple accident, but rather an execution. Can Abby put together the pieces before those that eliminated the professor return to finish the job with Tara?

I received a free copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

If She Wakes reads like a script for a Liam Neeson or Keanu Reeves action thriller, although I’m not sure if either of them would have a role to play. It reminds me of the type of movie I would have rented on a Friday night in my early twenties when I was obsessed with low-budget action flicks.

The novel’s principal protagonist is an Irish mobster who came of age as a member of the IRA during the 1980s. His dispatched hitman, Dax Blackwell, is a great villain and the perfect adversary for Abby – a former Hollywood stunt driver. I felt the scenes they shared were the best parts of the novel as the duo played cat and mouse.

As for the plot, I found things got a bit too silly and a little too unbelievable. I wasn’t big on the twist in the novel’s finale and I didn’t much care for the character of Lisa Boone, a government agent racing against Dax to retrieve the professor’s lost phone, as I felt she added yet another layer to an already convoluted plot.

I will say there are two things I didn’t like outside of the actual content of the book. I really do not like the book’s title and I very much dislike the cover. If I didn’t have prior experience with Michael Koryta (his novel The Prophet is exceptional), I wouldn’t even pick this one off the shelf. Maybe it’s the plethora of “The Girl with/that/who” titles that are just clogging up the shelves nowadays coupled with the fact that Tara is basically awake the entire time. I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes you can’t help it.

All negative criticism aside, If She Wakes is surface-level storytelling that hits the highway and speeds to its destination, despite that it is on a road that is littered with potholes.

I love Michael Koryta's books and If She Wakes was not a disappointment. Well written with true to life characters who all have some background baggage they need to deal with. A solid storyline with some great twists, enough violence to keep it interesting,and a subtle viewpoint about today's technology, drug addictions, and the government

This is the second book by this author that I’ve read. What drew my attention is that one of the characters has locked in syndrome. I was curious as to how much of the story, or rather how she’d fit in to the story. It was a real page turner for me, surprisingly so considering that I didn’t care about why all the killing was going on. I can’t believe how much I loved the characters, especially Dax. He’s flawed for sure, but there was something about him.

I would’ve have liked to know if there was some history with Jack Blackwell and Lisa Boone.

Top notch writing and thrills. The story moves along nicely. I’ll be recommending this book.

KaPOW! WOW! BOOM! Nonstop action, taut suspense, great characters, and Koryta's usual brilliant writing. A winner and highly recommended

Another winner for Michael Koryta!

Tara, while driving a doctor to his keynote speech at her college, is asked to take a bit of an offshoot so Dr. Oltamu can sight-see. Here, he wants to take pictures. Just following the picture-taking, a crash into Tara's car kills Oltamu and renders Tara in a paralytic locked-in state. As the reader finds out more, this is not one incident.There are a myriad of people and reasons for this unfortunate act.

We meet everyone from doctors to hired killers in this story. Throw in a former race car driver and a kid named Dax, and we have a thrilling story that does not let the reader down.

A number of suspenseful twists in this book make for a brilliant read! RECOMMEND!!!

Many thanks to Hachette Book Group and NetGalley for a wonderful read!

I was first introduced to Koryta's novels when I read an ARC of How it Happened. So when this title popped up, I knew I had to have it! The book focuses on Tara, a young student who is volunteering her time to guide a guest speaker to his destination when an horrific car accident leaves him dead and her in a coma with locked in syndrome; she can't move or speak but can see, hear, and is aware of everything going on around her. Enter Abby, a retired race car driver and a kick-ass, somewhat "broken" woman who is sent to investigate as there are many anomalies. What follows is a breakneck-paced plot that pits bad guys against good guys and who knows what the truth is? And you won't until the very end! But strap yourself in and be prepared to feel like you are Danica Patrick in multiple car chases having to pit herself against a sociopathic thug willing to kill for sport and money. Enough said. Conspiracies abound and this one will take your breath away!

Another fine read by Michael Koryta. Unique plot premise. Very interesting.
The ending was highly satisfactory.
I read all books by this author.

Action, murder, thriller, mystery, medicine, relationships, espionage ... this book weaves together so many genres into one exciting story. When a visiting speaker at an Eastern university is run down and killed, his hostess is reduced to a shell of herself, first in a coma and then in a paralyzed state where she’s aware of what’s happening, but no one knows if she’s more than a body. The secrets she holds are of international significance, and a cast of well-developed characters with issues of their own are all trying to pry them out of her.