Book #9 While You Sleep

While You Sleep by Stephanie Merritt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read much of While You Sleep, at night, in bed, in a dark room - the only illumination provided by my Kindle Paperwhite screen. This practice is not to be recommended if you have an active imagination! There are enough creepy moments in this Gothic chiller to scare the most stout-hearted…

While You Sleep provides the perfect ingredients for a sleepless night. Zoe Adams leaves her family in America to escape what seems to be a failing marriage. She has rented the newly refurbished McBride house on a remote Scottish island. A house with dark secrets, as Zoe is soon to find out. She is vulnerable enough without her first night being disturbed by unknown voices, things that ‘go bump in the night’ and a sense that she is being watched. Could this have anything to do with the deaths here over a century ago of a widow and her young son and, more recently, the disappearance of a local boy who had visited the property for a dare? Why did the landlord, who owns the local pub, not mention any of this? Why did Zoe not skedaddle after that first terrifying night? Hmmm. Her determination to stay, bordered on the foolhardy to say the least! Especially when she started to experience erotic night visions - rather explicit I must say. Is she seeing the same visions that the widow did all those years ago? The local school teacher and the owner of a bookshop, who seems obsessed with the history of the house, befriend Zoe and show concern for her wellbeing. Do they know more about the McBride house history? Is there more to Zoe’s past than she has revealed?

While You Sleep is scary, full of evil events, and a plot that, at times, does stretch credulity. Frankly, I would not have stayed in the McBride house beyond that first night - but then there would not have been a story to tell. So, if you enjoy a Gothic chiller, suspend disbelief and enjoy. Not alone in a dark room though!


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