Stay Awake by Megan Goldin (Audiobook)

 

Liv Reese wakes in the back of a New York taxi with no knowledge of how she got there. Scrawled across her hands and arms is the message "Stay awake" and in her pocket is a blood-covered knife. In desperation, she heads to the sanctuary of her apartment only to discover she no longer lives there and two years seems to have disappeared from her memory.

As I was scrolling through BorrowBos to find my next audiobook I came across Stay Awake by Megan Goldin and the blurb immediately grabbed my attention. The outline of the plot sounded twisty enough to keep me enthralled. When I first started listening I was put off by the narration, it was very soporific. This was probably intentional, to play alongside the story of a woman trying to stay awake for fear of what will happen if she falls asleep. Thankfully, BorrowBox offers the facility to speed up the narration so I listened to it at x1.25 speed and found it much better.

The storyline is full of twists, jumping between the present day when Liv finds herself running from the police, the suspect in a gruesome murder, and trying to find out how two years have disappeared from her memory, and two years ago. The time jumps are clearly labelled but I found it difficult at times to remember whether I was in the past or the present, keeping track of the time period is probably easier reading a print version.

Following Liv through her attempts to discover what she has done you get a real sense of fear, alongside her confusion. Not knowing who she can trust, her only hope is to turn to the people she was once close to, her flatmate and her boyfriend. Unfortunately, they prove elusive as she tries to track them down while evading the police.

We slowly learn what has happened to Liv and why two years have disappeared from her memory, however, the sense of menace is all-pervading. 

Fans of the film Memento or the novel Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson would enjoy this creepy and unsettling story.

Author Details

Megan Goldin worked as a correspondent for Reuters and other media outlets where she covered war, peace, international terrorism and financial meltdowns in the Middle East and Asia. She is now based in Melbourne, Australia where she raises three sons and is a foster mum to Labrador puppies learning to be guide dogs. She is the author of The Escape Room, The Night Swim, and Stay Awake.