I saw someone say this mixes crime thriller with cult horror perfectly and couldn’t agree more. If you’ve been looking to dip your toe into the horror genre, this would be a great one to start with. Its not over the top and the “gore” I would consider relatively light but still leaves you chilled.

You start the story with the execution of the serial killer, Father Silence. Who, after all these years, finally breaks his silence with the chilling warning to “beware the one that got away”. We quickly meet the "Outcast" that makes everyone question everything about Father Silence.

This story is told from multiple POV’s and each one is like you’re peeling back a layer just for it to bring you deeper into the mystery. You wont be able to stop turning the pages to figure out what is going on. By the end, you hit this crescendo that leaves you reeling. And the imagery?! Top notch.

I do want to add a little bit of a trigger warning, there is substance abuse, some involving a relapse and childhood trauma, which does involve r@pe.

3.5 stars rounded down. I’ve heard lots about Markert so I was pretty psyched for this one. I enjoyed the story overall but felt there was a bit too much going at once. The story started off strong but between the characters and potential personas, there was just a lot to keep up with. Some have nicknames and it was hard keeping everything straight.

I also struggled with the way this book toed the supernatual line without firmly committing. I would’ve preferred it pushing the line a bit harder if supernatural was the intent. Instead it’s just used to justify any convenient bits.

I enjoyed the characters but there was some major cliches there.

Overall I still would love to check out future works for Merkert. The book has a lot going on but would interest those who enjoy books about cults and buried secrets.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I'll be honest--what first grabbed me about this book was that fabulous cover. But once I delved deeper and read the synopsis, which intigued me beyond words, I knew I had to request it on NetGalley! And oh my goodness, am I glad I did! On to my review!

The prologue was compelling, leaving you as the reader with so many questions, but setting the stage for an enthralling psychological thriller that will often leave your heart racing. The plot-line surrounds a serial killer known as Father Silence, his House of Horrors, and the gruesome legacy he leaves behind. There was so much going on in SLEEP TIGHT that my head was spinning during most of it. You need to bring your A-game to this novel — don’t expect an easy read where your mind can wander. Don’t read it while you're sleepy, either! I found myself rereading passages just to make sure I was following everything correctly. As a former psychology major, counselor, and professional student (haha), I was truly fascinated by so much about this book. I don’t want to divulge anything, though, because any spoilers going into the novel would be tragic. The less you know, the more you’ll enjoy it, trust me!

There are many characters in this book, which sometimes negatively impacts character development. However, the author does an amazing job of developing his characters with such detail, helping the reader become even more immersed and invested in the story playing out on the pages. Tess (our MC) is a complex, flawed, brilliantly written protagonist. Her strained relationship with husband, Justin, added to the tension and helped truly humanize both of them. The antagonists in SLEEP TIGHT are equally well developed, including the Outcast and Noah, making both absolutley intriguing, especially when we are given glimpses into their troubled minds. Long held secrets, as well as traumatic suppressed memories, slowly make themselves known—a gradual process, but only helping propel the plot forward in ways you couldn’t possibly imagine going into this book.

Oh, and I especially loved reading the "BEFORE" chapters in the novel, including the police interviews. Each was deftly placed in the book to help build up the mystery and suspense. It's a cat-and-mouse thriller that will have you asking who is the real villain, whom can you trust, and what’s with those masks? My one complaint is about the ending, which was very good but seemed rushed in my opinion. I would have liked to see more regarding confrontation and closure. But without a doubt, I'd recommend this book to everyone who loves horror-filled stories filled with mysteries, twists, and memorable serial killers.

I want to thank NetGalley, J.H. Markert, and Crooked Lane Books for gifting me the ARC of SLEEP TIGHT! It was such a privilege to read this before publication. And I appreciate you trusting me with an honest review!

5 stars. I absolutely loved this book. So creepy, fast paced, twisty and complex! The multiple POVs and amazing chapter cliffhangers left me turning pages until late into the night. I’d highly recommend this eerie and heart pounding book and I can’t wait to go read this author’s author books.

A twisting, relentless thriller that erupts like thunder in the dark and doesn’t take a break once it gets moving.

There are some horror elements at play, but this is a thriller, through and through, with some true crime vibes to keep it interesting. Unlike many thrillers, though, its characters are anything but generic. We mostly follow one main protagonist, Tess, but there is a whole orbit of secondary characters, and every one feels intentional and complete. They have different fears and strengths and motivations and that comes through and makes the story richer for it. The writing is exciting and has a lot of momentum. It mostly follows the principal character of Tess, but it does jump around now and again to give us perspective from other characters, and this becomes a critical literary device when the action really starts. The whole book is tense, with violence and clues pervading almost every page, but once things ramp into high gear around the 75% mark our main characters are split up, and we get different pieces of the puzzle delivered from different characters while they aren’t yet able to share all of the information with each other, and for the most part this is a really smart way that let the action feel non-stop and yet everyone still felt like they were in peril. The prose was direct and almost knowing, with realistic dialogue (inner and outer) and it was overall a lot of fun to read. The story itself was a twist on things already seen in this genre space, and while it adopted a few quirks of the genre that weren’t my favorite the story twisted things enough to make everything feel pretty fresh and compelling. The mystery of the story unfolds in a satisfying way, and I liked that by the end there were things still unaccounted for. That is to say not every single aspect was spoon fed to us, some of the mysteries of trauma can’t be neatly explained (and this is where some of the horror genre conventions do come into play).

What can I say? It was fun, it kept me captivated, and I didn’t want to put it down. It touched on really interesting ideas of trauma and repressed/internalized violence, living up to parental expectations, reliance on external validation/substances for navigating self-worth and some other potentially hefty topics, but it didn’t really spend much time on any of them. They were kind of background flavors to the overall stew, and they did their jobs of keeping things interesting, but I would have liked to see at least some of those threads pulled a little harder. That could have elevated this to another level, if some of those substrata themes were explored more fully. Still, this is an easy book to recommend. It is dark, gripping, and a lot of fun.

(Rounded up from 3.5)

I want to thank the author, the publisher Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you, #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks, for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

As Detective Tess Claibourne faced her husband's infidelity, their relationship hit a rough patch. However, when her parents were brutally murdered and their daughter kidnapped, they were compelled to set aside their marital issues and work together to save their child. When all traces of the killer’s signature point to the execution of Father Silence, a convicted serial killer, Tess knew she had to seek out Noah Nichols, the boy who survived Father Silence’s murder spree. But Noah proves to be an enigma - a puzzle Tess and her husband Justin must solve before time runs out.

Right off the bat, this book lured me with its use of the “consulting with the criminal” trope. There’s an unexplainable gravitational pull in solving crime by seeking the insight of a convicted murderer (think “The Silence of the Lambs”). I am fascinated by how the author has explored DID or “dissociative identity disorder” through the lens of a paranormal structure. However, I would have wanted a deeper discussion on this because, quite honestly, this arc pretty much supports the supernatural aspect of the entire narrative. Instead of blurring the lines between reality and the paranormal, the author did not expound on the origin or mechanism behind this extraordinary ability.

It's easy to pigeonhole this book as gripping as any other mystery novel of a cat-and-mouse chase accompanied by the flawed protagonist detective. But I need to get this off my chest: some flawed protagonists are easily likable, and then there’s Tess Claibourne. It could just be me, but I hoped the author could have given her a humbling moment. However, an aura of arrogance prevailed, and it didn't sit well with me. On the other hand, Noah’s arc (pun intended), with so many layers, deserves a sequel.

In the final reveal of the story, I found it disappointing how the true villain, built up as the most feared, left something missing for me to swallow as another bitter pill. The showdown fell short of genuinely showcasing the villain's dark character despite the fact that I cannot deny how masterfully developed the villain's backstory was. Again, this is just my two cents. The ending was satisfying, although I sometimes needed to reread to follow the flow of the author's writing, leaving me confused and unsure about some scenes that transpired.

The “Sleep Tight” narrative hinges on the workings of the dark and complex framework of the human psyche. Though not without flaws, it’s one of the best detective novels I’ve read. There was a perpetual sense of anticipation surrounding how the "big reveal" would unfold, as some of the twists were completely unpredictable. It may sound cliche to describe this book as an edge-of-your-seat thriller, but there’s no denying its merits. It is unmistakably a horror mystery depicting inner demons' workings propelled by unexplained supernatural forces.

I fell asleep reading this one and finished it immediately upon waking. The storyline draws you in, surprises you, and keeps your heart pumping.

I found the characters in this book to be complicated and varied. It truly has a little bit of everything. The author explores a variety of mental illnesses throughout the narrative which didn't feel like overkill, but felt like humanity, flawed and raw.

Tank you very much for letting me read and review Sleep Thight, Chrocked Lane Books, the author J H. Markert and Netgalley.

Overall this is a tense twisty serial killer thriller with child trauma and I enjoyed most of it. But it felt a little dragged and I fell off the story here and there through the book as it was overwritten part wise.
So if more chapters were focused only on the present time I wouldn't fell off and my rating would be higher.

I'm glad I read it and the tense creepy parts were really good.

ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL STORY!!

We get just the right amount of background and information on each the characters that I'm fully invested in all of their lives. Constantly holding my breath and on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what comes next!

This book kept me hooked from page one!! With the backstory, so brilliantly woven in with current day events, this entire book felt like I was putting together a huge puzzle one tiny piece at a time. By the halfway point, the pace picks up so much that I legitimately could not put it down! Twists and turns and mind blowing revelations that I never saw coming kept my heart racing and the pages turning!

Favorite read of the month for sure! So happy I was given a chance to pick this one up!

I really enjoyed this super fast paced dark thriller/horror.

When Father Silence, a serial killer who dressed as a priest to lure his victims, is executed, the detectives who were responsible for his arrest are found murdered by a new killer calling himself the Outcast. Tess, a detective herself, has blocked out what happened all those years ago when her father arrested Father Silence. The Outcast soon kidnaps Tess's daughter and Tess must finally recall her hidden memories to find her daughter before it is too late.

This novel has a bit of everything, serial killers, kidnapping, cults, addiction, psychic connections, childhood trauma and creepy masks. The book has great pacing but a few times I thought that there was too much going on and maybe too many characters. I had to reread a few sections to get everyone straight in my mind. The book is full of action and plenty of suspense to keep the reader guessing until the end. I will definitely check out some other books by this author. I recommend this book for fans of dark thrillers and horror.

Thanks NetGalley, Crooked lane Books and J. H. Markert for the copy of this book.

J.H. Markert hits another one out of the park with this mind bending, twisty thriller. Such amazing characters and the story was told in such a way that I felt like I was totally along for the ride. Back story was given in tantalizing tidbits that guaranteed my ongoing investment in the characters and their plights. The pacing was excellent and the twists were top notch. A five star read!!!
A big thank you to NetGalley , Crooked Lane Books and the Author for providing me with an arc of this title free of charge. I'm leaving an honest review voluntarily.

This is such a complex and interesting page turner. Psychologically accurate and gruesomely thrilling. Reading this felt like a good popcorn binge during your favorite thriller movie. Thank you for the arc!

Oh my goodness but this was a dark and twisty one!! I have had mixed success with Markert... I really enjoyed The Nightmare Man, but struggled to connect with Mister Lullaby. Fortunately, with Sleep Tight I'm pleased to report that I've once again found the perfect blend of psychological drama and horror and I found myself totally immersed. This was a wild ride, full of nightmares and boogeymen and lost children. I was never entirely sure where things were going to go next, and everyone felt unreliable and untrustworthy right up until the bitter end. Markert's writing style is easy to fall into, and his skill at establishing an eerie atmosphere is remarkable. I can see why he is compared to Stephen King - he too has that ability to capitalize on the fears of children and childhood in a way that resonates with adults without ever feeling over-simplified or infantilized. He knows we know the nightmares under the bed are real things, even if not what we expect them to be, and he plays on that knowledge with a virtuosity that makes your spine tingle and makes you want to look away, even as you're ever more furiously turning pages.

Consistently entertaining yet utterly unremarkable, "Sleep Tight" feels too much like others of its kind, novels about detectives and serial killers and cults and childhood trauma, for it to rise above the trappings of the genre. It is proud to belong, though, and Markert plays fair with his readers throughout. There are parts of it that don't work - notably the trauma - but "Sleep Tight" moves furiously fast, making up for what it lacks in meaningful characters and narrative depth with its use of convention.

This was a good read! It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. Creepy but in a very good way. I went into it unsure what it was really about, and what I'd think. I like to go in blind and this is a book I'd recommend going into blind!

I'm torn. This story had tons of my favorite elements in a horror novel. Cults, serial killers, small towns, a slight supernatural edge(?), a cat-and-mouse with our lead and the proposed killer. But there was just too much. It hit on a lot of tropes but really didn't nail any of them. Sort of a "jack of all trades, master of none" vibe. It definitely kept me reading, wanting to see how the story unfolds. But some of the plot devices were just too "convenient". I feel that repressed memories is just an easy way to tie things together without having to really build something substantial. I loved this authors previous work so I'll just say it's not for me, but I'll definitely read his future works.

I received a free ARC, and this review is voluntary

The synopsis provides an accurate portrayal of the happenings within the story. There are breaks within the story to provide additional context, in the way of interview transcripts, and what appears to be police or news reports. It's a nice added touch.

Overall, it was written well, and it was definitely a wild ride of a story.

I enjoy a good thrilling police procedural plot that borders on horror. I love this authors style and the way he writes. It always hooks me and for sure creeps me out in all the best ways.

While I enjoyed this one, there were so many characters and pov's to track that the story itself lost some of it's oomph. I also didn't feel like the ending was tied up and I don't like leaving a book without answers, great concept though.

This was okay for me, it was better than Mister Lullaby but not near as good as The Nightmare Man (which I still think about).

So glad I was able to read this ARC. I have been in my horror era the past year and this book did not disappoint. If you’re looking for a gory or super scary, horror novel, this is not it. This work of fiction leans more towards a thriller with psychological themes. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a Segway into the horror genre.

My favorite part is that the author left the ending open for a potential sequel or series. If it does become a series, I will absolutely pre-order. Can’t wait to read mor!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC. I took a chance on this book because I have previously not enjoyed this authors work, but this sounded EPIC. And boy.....it was and delivered! I loved all the twists and turns and found myself thinking about the book throughout the day. If you like horror, mystery, and a bit of paranormal, this is a book you need!