Waiting on Wednesday – Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. This week I look at one of the more intriguing thrillers set for release in 2022 with Stay Awake by Megan Goldin.

Stay Awake Cover

Over the last few years one of the more interesting thriller writers has been Australian author Megan Goldin who has been killing it with some captivating and thought-provoking novels. Debuting in 2017 with The Girl in Kellers Way, Goldin first came to my attention when I was lucky enough to receive a copy of her 2018 book, The Escape Room, which I read in one sitting. The Escape Room, which subsequently gained substantial popularity following its release in America, was a fantastic and intriguing read that imagined an elaborate revenge plot against a highflying Wall Street investment team. I deeply enjoyed The Escape Room and it led to me checking out Goldin’s next book, The Night Swim, which ended up being one of the best Australian books of 2020. The Night Swim was a powerful and intense novel that detailed the harrowing aftermath of two controversial rape cases from various parts of a town’s history. Both of these novels were really good and I have been eagerly waiting to see what Goldin comes up with next.

Well, my wait is over as Goldin has a fantastic sounding new novel coming out in August 2022 with Stay Awake. This excellent and intriguing novel has an amazing plot that sees a women awaken in a terrible situation, with murder, memory loss and deadly surprises.

Synopsis:

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers—a stranger who now lives in her apartment and forces her out in the cold. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing, and in its place is a bloodstained knife. That’s when she sees that her hands are covered in black pen, scribbled messages like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.

Two years ago, Liv was living with her best friend, dating a new man, and thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. Catching a glimpse of the local news, she’s horrified to see reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, the same message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years? Liv finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing as she tries to piece together the fragments of her life. But there’s someone who does know exactly what she did, and they’ll do anything to make her forget—permanently.

A complex thriller that unfolds at a breakneck speed, Stay Awake will keep you up all night.

I am deeply intrigued by this awesome and impressive sounding novel, especially as it looks like Goldin has come up with a really complex plot here for Stay Awake. I love the idea of an amnesia laden plot that involves a shattered mind, secret instructions written on skin, murder and dangerous predator. I honestly think that this novel has a load of potential, especially in Goldin’s exceedingly capable hands, and I reckon I will probably power through this book in no time at all.