A slow start turns into a complex psychological thriller. Imogen Church and January LaVoy captivate the listener as they weave a tense narrative told by multiple characters speaking in multiple timeframes. Church and LaVoy bring an authentic and distinct voice to each character as the chapters unfold. Using an American accent for the character of Liv Reese, who loses her memory each time she falls asleep, Church is the perfect unreliable narrator. LaVoy keeps the listener in a tight grip as she portrays the assertive Detective Halliday, who is caught in a macabre murder investigation rife with multiple suspects and a dearth of clues. The narrators make this audiobook a riveting listening experience as the story progresses to its final twist. M.R.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Stay Awake: A Novel
Narrated by Imogen Church, January LaVoy
Megan GoldinUnabridged — 10 hours, 59 minutes
Stay Awake: A Novel
Narrated by Imogen Church, January LaVoy
Megan GoldinUnabridged — 10 hours, 59 minutes
Audiobook (Digital)
Free with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime
Already Subscribed?
Sign in to Your BN.com Account
Related collections and offers
FREE
with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription
Overview
A murder she doesn't remember committing. A killer she doesn't remember meeting. Megan Goldin's Stay Awake is an electrifying novel that proves memory can be deadly.
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 claims to live in her apartment. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it's missing. In its place is a bloodstained knife. Her hands are covered in scribbled messages, like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.
Two years ago, Liv was 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, similar to the 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. 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.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.
Editorial Reviews
06/06/2022
This adrenaline-fueled thriller from Goldin (The Night Swim) opens with Liv Reese waking up early one morning in a Brooklyn-bound cab, though the last thing she remembers is working her Manhattan day job. Her skin sports myriad handwritten messages, including DON’T SLEEP! I FORGET EVERYTHING WHEN I FALL ASLEEP; she has cash, but no keys, phone, or wallet; and when she buzzes the apartment she shares with her roommate, strangers answer. Her pocket contains a bloody knife, which she tosses. Hours later, Liv wakes on a park bench, though the last thing she remembers is being at work. Back at the office, the staff and decor have changed completely. When a man calls asking where she put the knife, Liv assumes it’s a wrong number—until the news reports a murder where the killer wrote WAKE UP! on a window in blood, and she panics. Goldin skillfully interweaves Liv’s tense, propulsive present-day narration with chapters following NYPD detective Darcy Halliday’s homicide investigation and flashbacks to two years earlier. Shocking twists and resourceful, well-drawn female characters keep the pages turning as the clever mystery unfolds. Goldin reliably entertains. Agent: David Gernert, Gernert Co. (Aug.)
New York Post's "Best Books of Summer"
“Highly diverting…Goldin disorients the reader by deploying multiple timelines.” –New York Times Book Review
“Goldin — writing in sharp, uncluttered prose — cleverly keeps us guessing.” –The Washington Post
“Goldin seamlessly ups the tension…Stay Awake will have readers staying awake to the last page.” –South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“An adrenaline-fueled thriller…Shocking twists and resourceful, well-drawn female characters keep the pages turning as the clever mystery unfolds. Goldin reliably entertains.” –Publishers Weekly
“Misdirection has always been a key tool in [Goldin’s] toolbox, and she uses it to perfection in this beautifully conceived and executed thriller.” —Booklist
Praise for The Night Swim:
*A Book of the Month Club Book of the Year Nominee*
“Goldin’s prose is inviting, at times electrifying, and always sensitive in dealing with hot-button issues…well done.” —Booklist (starred)
“Outstanding…[Goldin's thriller] casts a searing light on small-town politics.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)
“Remarkably strong.” —Kirkus Reviews
“A blistering plot and crisp writing make The Night Swim an unputdownable read.” –Sarah Pekkanen, bestselling author of The Wife Between Us
Praise for The Escape Room:
“The pages turn themselves…a sleek, well-crafted ride to a surprisingly twisty conclusion.” —New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice
“THE ESCAPE ROOM works as the ultimate locked-room mystery…Goldin excels at illustrating the pressures of a Wall Street career.” —Associated Press
“Addicting.” —Time Magazine
"High wire tension from the first moment to the last. Four ruthless people locked in a deadly game where victory means survival. Gripping and unforgettable!" —Harlan Coben
"Fantastic. One of my favorite books of the year." —Lee Child
"Amazing...a thriller set in an elevator [that explores] the vast territory of people's worst natures. A nightmarish look inside ourselves. Simply riveting." —Louise Penny
“A shrewd, brilliantly structured thriller doubling as a takedown of corporate culture.” —Shelf Awareness
“There is clearly no happy ending likely for the four colleagues trapped inside [the escape room]; but fans of JP Delany and Ruth Ware will want to be right in there with them…a nail-biting tale of a corporate team-building exercise gone horribly wrong.” —Booklist
“Riveting…[a] tale of greed and revenge set on Wall Street…Thriller fans will eagerly turn the pages to see what happens next.” —Publishers Weekly
“Cancel all your plans and call in sick; once you start reading, you'll be caught in your own escape room—the only key to freedom is turning the last page!” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“Smart and compelling... I devoured this novel!” —Karen Cleveland, bestselling author of Need to Know
“A sharp, slick, utterly engrossing thriller. This knockout debut hooked me from the first page and didn’t let go.” —Cristina Alger, USA Today bestselling author of The Banker’s Wife
10/01/2022
Liv Reese has a rare type of amnesia caused by extreme trauma. She wakes up unable to remember anything after her last happy moment two years earlier. This happens repeatedly, making her life confusing and chaotic. She uses caffeine and over-the-counter products to keep herself awake and writes messages on her hands and arms in case she does fall asleep. One night she wakes up in a cab without her purse, her wallet, or her keys. She is holding a bloody knife wrapped in a T-shirt, but she doesn't remember how she got there. The news reports a fatal stabbing and surveillance video shows Liv leaving the scene of the crime. Did she kill someone, or is someone else taking advantage of her condition? Talented narrators Imogen Church and January LaVoy are in their element as they voice Goldin's (The Night Swim) latest, conveying Liv's confusion and the urgency felt by those trying to help her. Perfectly timed pacing keeps the action moving and builds the terror Liv experiences, alternating between the present and the events leading up to the amnesia-causing trauma. VERDICT Recommended for Goldin fans and those who enjoy listening to tales of suspense.—Joanna M. Burkhardt
03/01/2022
Goldin follows up her edgy and much-appreciated The Escape Room and The Night Swim with Liv Reese waking up in a taxi she doesn't remember catching; thrust from her brownstone apartment, now inhabited by a stranger; and finding a bloodstained knife in her pocket and the words "STAY AWAKE" scrawled on her skin—the same message scrawled in the victim's blood at a crime scene. Even more confoundingly, she learns that two years have gone by, completely lost to her memory. With a 150,000-copy first printing.
A slow start turns into a complex psychological thriller. Imogen Church and January LaVoy captivate the listener as they weave a tense narrative told by multiple characters speaking in multiple timeframes. Church and LaVoy bring an authentic and distinct voice to each character as the chapters unfold. Using an American accent for the character of Liv Reese, who loses her memory each time she falls asleep, Church is the perfect unreliable narrator. LaVoy keeps the listener in a tight grip as she portrays the assertive Detective Halliday, who is caught in a macabre murder investigation rife with multiple suspects and a dearth of clues. The narrators make this audiobook a riveting listening experience as the story progresses to its final twist. M.R.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940176473766 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Macmillan Audio |
| Publication date: | 08/09/2022 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 1,006,594 |
Videos
