4.5 stars.

Before I Wake is an intriguing psychological thriller about a mother's frantic search for answers about the reason for her fifteen year old daughter's suicide attempt. This compelling novel is full of unexpected twists and turns and the skillful use of an unreliable narrator by C.L. Taylor adds another layer of mystery to the unfolding drama.

What would induce Susan "Sue" Jackson's young, pretty and vibrant daughter Charlotte to deliberately walk in front of a bus? Haunted by this question and the certainty that fear is keeping Charlotte in a comatose state, Sue's search for answers begins with Charlotte's dairy. One line reverberates over and over in Sue's mind and convinces her to continue digging for the truth. She uncovers a shocking web of lies and deceit that lead her to frightening suspicions about the people in Charlotte's life. But as she delves into her daughter's personal life, it soon becomes clear that the secrets from Sue's haunting past may not be buried as deeply as she believed.

In the beginning, Sue seems like any ordinary middle-aged wife and mother. Her anxiety over Charlotte's health is reasonable but allusions to a past "episode" coupled with her growing paranoia raise doubts about her mental state. Diary entries from a previous relationship years earlier provide valuable insight into a recent event in Sue's life and they also explain her growing panic about mysterious packages and brief but terrifying of glimpses of someone from her past. Wild accusations and increasingly erratic behavior lead everyone to mistrust her assertions but Sue doggedly pursues the truth until she uncovers a horrifying and quite possibly, deadly plan.

Before I Wake is a clever and perplexing debut novel by C.L. Taylor. The characters are multi-faceted with all too human flaws and frailties. The intricately plotted storyline is incredibly complex and frighteningly realistic. A series of red herrings and misdirects coupled with the increasing doubts about Sue's reliability effectively obscure the truth and the story culminates with a highly dramatic and adrenaline filled ending. ( )

Another audiobook which I listened to while running. Sue and Brian Jackson’s daughter has stepped in front of a bus and lies in a coma. Brian is convinced it was an accident, but Sue believes that Charlotte intended to kill herself and is determined to find out why. As she conducts her own investigation, the story is interspersed with her diary flashbacks which reveal an horrifically abusive relationship with her ex-boyfriend James. Sue believes that after 20 years, James has tracked her down and that her life – and her family’s life is in danger.

Honestly I wanted to like this book. I used to love psychological thrillers and still do sometimes, but there seems to be so many of these kinds of books around at the moment, and consequently there are a lot of cliches – and this book contains them all. James is such a monster that he ends up being a caricature, and Sue was so wishy washy that (in the present day storyline) I found it hard to feel much for her at all. Brian is a background character, who the reader never really got to know, and even though the book is about Charlotte and what may have driven her to try and kill herself, I ended up feeling that she was never a properly developed character. Maybe I’m sick of reading about abusive men and the women who forgive them time and time again – it seems to be a trope in fiction drama lately.

Certain parts of the story did keep me listening, but some situations were ludicrous and the ending was ridiculous beyond belief. I could say why, but it would mean revealing spoilers.

Anyhow, despite the somewhat scathing review, this wasn’t all bad. But it certainly wasn’t all good. I’ll probably be giving this author a miss from now on…but there are plenty of favourable reviews around for this book, so don’t let me put you off!

A note about the narration: I did think Jenny Funnell did a good job, but not good enough to cover the flaws in the story! ( )

This was the first book I had read by this author and I will diffidently be searching for more. I'll have to admit that I didn't think I was going to care for it in the beginning. The story interweaves diary entries with flashbacks. At first I just didn’t get the connection but once it settled down and I kept reading, it became clearer. There is so much good stuff in this action-packed novel. The author does an excellent job of showing the horror and fear of being in an abusive relationship and how difficult it is sometimes to leave it behind and start over. Overall this will appeal to thriller fans and for those who love an action-packed ride. ( )

A 3.5 star read for me. While I liked the mystery of what happened to Charlotte and I can usually roll with unreliable narrators, I found Sue & her diary entries of the past to be irritating. This was definitely a page turner but once the past and present converged this was a crackfic hot mess and I kept reading to see how far the author was going to take this. If I'd known this was how the book was going to read, I'd have saved it for a vacation beach read. It was that kind of melodramatic. Still, I'm glad I read it as it's been on my TBR list for some time and all in all, I'd read another book by this author. ( )

Entertaining. ( )