Bookshelf Roundup 10/16/22: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
Posted on October 16, 2022 6 Comments
Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every weekend which fills the role of several blog memes, like Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? where I summarize what I’ve finished reading in the last week and what I’m planning to read soon. Mostly it also serves as a recap post, so sometimes I’ll throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.
Received for Review
My thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!
Thank you to the William Morrow team for sending me a review copy of Marple: Twelve New Mysteries featuring a dozen stories inspired by Agatha Christie’s legendary detective character Jane Marple written by an incredible lineup of powerhouse authors including Leigh Bardugo, Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware and more! I would definitely be willing to put aside my misgivings for anthologies to give this one a try.
Also thank you to Tachyon Publications for sending me a copy of the tenth anniversary edition of The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson. This is one of my favorite novellas of all time, and I can’t believe it’s been ten years! I’ll be hosting a special giveaway later this week for this book, so keep an eye out for that for your chance to win your own copy.
With thanks also to Jo Fletcher Books for a review copy of Sorcerer’s Edge by David Hair. This lovely gem is the third book of The Tethered Citadel series and was a surprise from across the pond, and I have the first novel but must have missed the release of the second one somehow! Once I can track down a copy and catch up, I look forward to starting this.
As well, a big thanks to Redhook for the following ARCs: The Magician’s Daughter by H.G. Parry and Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie are both high on my anticipated book releases for early 2023. I still haven’t read either author before, and hope to change that soon.
In the digital haul, with thanks to Penguin Audio for a listening copy of Ghost 19 by Simone St. James, which I hit the download button on as soon as I saw the author! From HarperAudio I also received a listening copy of Across the Sand by Hugh Howey, his new standalone novel set in the world of Sand. And finally thank you to Tantor Audio for Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi, a collection of four horror novellas which I plan on listening to later this month as part of my challenge to read as many dark fantasy and horror books during the spooky season.
Reviews
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik (3.5 of 5 stars)
The Final Equinox by Andrew Mayne (3 of 5 stars)
What I’ve Been Reading
Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read!
Audiobook Review: The Final Equinox by Andrew Mayne
Posted on October 14, 2022 7 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Final Equinox by Andrew Mayne
Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Series: Book 2 of Theo Cray and Jessica Blackwood
Publisher: Brilliance Audio (September 13, 2022)
Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Narrators: Jennifer O’Donnell, Will Damron
I have certain expectations from an Andrew Mayne novel. That I would have to big time suspend my disbelief, perhaps. Or that things would be over-the-top bonkers or off the wall insane. What I didn’t expect, though, was to feel—GASP!—bored?
But that’s exactly what I thought of The Final Equinox. Not all of it, fortunately, but there were good chunks that left my mind zoning out and thinking of other things. It’s quite possible that the subject matter and themes might have been a factor. Because for the first time, a Theo Cray story got away from the murder mystery and hunting down a killer format to focus on something a bit more science-fictiony and out there—literally. The story begins with our favorite computation biologist and weirdo genius being summoned to a mysterious facility out in the middle of nowhere in the Nevada desert. No one will tell him anything about why he’s there until he agrees to sit through a presentation by the facility’s director, and out of sheer curiosity, Theo agrees.
And what he ends up learning is mind-staggering. For years, a billionaire named Thomas T. Theismann has been pouring his vast fortune and endless resources into his obsession of finding and making contact with alien life. At long last, it appears he has succeeded. A signal has been detected at the outer edges of the solar system, and now, along with group of other experts and supersmart individuals, Theo has been asked to help find the source. Later on, he discovers that he’s also there to replace another scientist, who recently killed himself. Feeling out of his depth, Theo covertly contacts his girlfriend Jessica Blackwood to ask her to look into the suspicious death. As their separate investigations gradually come together to form a larger disturbing picture, Theo and Jessica wonder how all of these strange happenings could be related.
At first, I was excited at the premise of The Final Equinox. Granted, it seemed a little outside the scope of Theo Cray’s usual adventures, but ever since he got together with Jessica Blackwood, his horizons have been broadened and I could hardly resist a story related to the search for first alien contact.
However, I ended up being less than impressed by the results. But first, let’s start with the positives. The globetrotting aspect of this series is one thing I’ve been enjoying greatly, and the trend continues here, with Theo and Jessica each setting off on their own assignments which take them to some fascinating, uncanny places. And for all that Theo and Jessica may seem like an odd pairing, I do like their unique dynamic, which makes for some interesting and witty conversations. Their different backgrounds also lead them to bring different strengths to the series. Theo, who is socially awkward, is at his best when he’s dealing with data, and not people. Jessica, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. Being raised in a family of magicians have taught her how to be a master of deception and play to a crowd’s emotions, skills that make it possible for her to blend into any social situation. Together, they make a formidable team.
And now for the not so great. I mentioned losing interest during certain parts of the story, and this was not exclusive to just one character’s POV. Overall, I enjoyed Theo’s chapters slightly more than Jessica’s, simply because I prefer his voice (audiobook narrator Will Damron had a lot to do with that too—he’s superb). Despite her unconventional childhood and extraordinary background, Jessica has always struck me as more of your standard mystery series heroine. Contrast that with Theo, whose personality makes his POV very distinctive and engaging to read. That said, even Theo’s chapters let me down this time. We’ve gone deep diving into heavy science and technology topics before in previous books, but the info-dumping and techo jargon in one just got waaaay out of hand. As I was listening to this audiobook, more than once I found my attention drifting, the first time this has ever happened to me with an Andrew Mayne book.
Don’t get me wrong, ultimately The Final Equinox was worth reading. Obviously, I’m not going to give away anything about the ending, but it was a good one. But boy, I do hope the author will go back to stories more in the vein of murder mysteries with his brand of wild action and fun shenanigans. I just hope this book isn’t setting the trend for future Theo Cray & Jessica Blackwood novels or I just might start regretting the two of them ever getting together! The good news is, the audiobook edition, which I was lucky enough to review, was a decent listen. Will Damron always delivers, he’s the perfect Theo Cray, and Jennifer O’Donnell also does a fantastic job as Jessica Blackwood.
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of Mastermind (Book 1)
Waiting on Wednesday 10/12/2022
Posted on October 12, 2022 6 Comments
Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that first originated at Breaking the Spine but has since linked up with “Can’t Wait Wednesday” at Wishful Endings now that the original creator is unable to host it anymore. Either way, this fun feature is a chance to showcase the upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick
A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher (March 28, 2023 by Nightfire)
“A contemporary Southern Gothic from award-winning master of modern horror, T. Kingfisher. A House With Good Bones explores the deep, dark roots of family.
Sam Montgomery is worried about her mother. She seems anxious, jumpy, and she’s begun making mystifying changes to the family home on Lammergeier Lane. Sam figures it has something to do with her mother’s relationship to Sam’s late, unlamented grandmother.
She’s not wrong.
As vultures gather around the house and frightful family secrets are unearthed under the rosebushes, Sam struggles to unravel the truth about the house on Lammergeier Lane before it consumes her and everyone else who stands in its way…”
Book Review: The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
Posted on October 10, 2022 20 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 3 of Scholomance
Publisher: Del Rey (September 27, 2022)
Length: 496 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
The Last Graduate was one of my favorite books I read in 2021—a huge comeback from my less than impressed reaction to the first book, A Deadly Education. A sequel that manages to rectify or improve upon all the flaws of its predecessor is a rare thing indeed, which was why I was optimistic that the upwards trend would continue with the final installment of the trilogy, so I was very excited to pick up The Golden Enclaves.
Since the story begins in the immediate aftermath of the previous book (which ended on a killer cliffhanger), it is highly recommended that you are caught up with the series before continuing with this review, as references to events and spoilers from the first two books will be all but inevitable. For years our protagonist Galadriel “El” Higgins has been attending Scholomance, a school for magically gifted children. In order to graduate though, students in their senior year must pass a final test which involves running a gauntlet against a swarm of maleficaria, or “mals”, which are monsters that feed on magic. Every year some students fall to the mals, but this year El had an idea to change things. For weeks, she and her fellow classmates had been training hard to pull off her plan of ensuring everyone succeeded in completing the gauntlet. There should have been no more death, and everyone was supposed to graduate.
Except something went wrong at the most critical moment. Our protagonist’s former nemesis-turned-boyfriend Orion Lake had stayed behind to make sure everyone else got through, then shut the magical gates on El before she could save him from his sacrifice. Now she is heartbroken and filled with guilt, thinking herself to blame for her true love being tortured and devoured for eternity by a soul-sucking monster. El knows she’ll never be able to rest until she puts an end to Orion’s suffering, but to do that, she will need a way to regain entry into the crumbling depths of Scholomance, a feat that will take some powerful allies, not to mention an astronomical amount of mana.
After reading The Golden Enclaves, I’m probably placing my rating for it slightly above A Deadly Education, but still far below The Last Graduate. I had some pretty high expectations going into this one, but ultimately my hopes for a five-star ending to this trilogy failed to materialize, though granted, this wasn’t a bad book. There were some high points in the story, including getting to know more about El’s family as well as Orion’s family, but more on the novel’s strengths later, as I want to first touch upon its weaknesses.
Perhaps my biggest issue with The Golden Enclaves was the pacing. While I understood El’s need to grieve, the beginning of the book ended up being a dreadful slog of just watching our protagonist as she brooded up the place. She quickly became the girl I disliked again, a step back from all the progress she made in the previous book, highlighting the positive impact that other characters like her friends (especially Orion) had on her personality. Alone again, and without her boyfriend, El retreated back in herself, becoming ill-tempered and self-absorbed once more. Whether it’s her sadness or desperation affecting her motivations, El also made a couple of questionable decisions and interactions with other characters that made little sense to me. Needless to say, these changes in her character hardly made me feel as sympathetic towards her for this book.
As for the positives, as I said, I liked how The Golden Enclaves expanded the world-building, essentially throwing open the doors to the greater international network of magical organizations out there. Not only did we get a glimpse into how magic users lived day-to-day, but the story also explored consequences of the different social classes and how all the enclaves, schools, and other powerful magical communities were connected to each other, including how El herself and her family fit into the overall picture. Then there were the surprising revelations about Orion’s family, which led to some major repercussions for the plot. I’ve always loved the world-building for this series, and the only negative I can level on this front is how I wished there had been less info-dumping, which isn’t normally an issue for an experienced author like Naomi Novik, so that was a little surprising.
Still, all in all, I enjoyed being able to complete the Scholomance trilogy, despite it not being everything I’d hoped for. While I wouldn’t exactly call it a tidy ending, it worked in its own way, and it was an interesting and rewarding conclusion overall even if we had to go through a bit of a struggle to get there.
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of A Deadly Education (Book 1)
Review of The Last Graduate (Book 2)
Bookshelf Roundup 10/09/22: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
Posted on October 9, 2022 18 Comments
Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every weekend which fills the role of several blog memes, like Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? where I summarize what I’ve finished reading in the last week and what I’m planning to read soon. Mostly it also serves as a recap post, so sometimes I’ll throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.
Received for Review
My thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!
We kick things off this week with a surprise arrival with thanks from Minotaur Books: The Devil You Know by P.J. Tracy is the third book of the Detective Margaret Nolan series, which I’ve not heard of before now. But with luck, many of these types of mysteries can be read as standalones, and I’m going to check it out if I can. Up next, my thanks to Tor Books for this sweet little hardcover of Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson, a companion story to the original Mistborn trilogy. I’ve read it before in the Arcanum Unbounded collection, but I may do a reread and a more expanded review at some point. Courtesy of Orbit Books, earlier this month I also received a finished copy of Light Perpetual by Andrzej Sapkowski, the third and final book of the author’s Hussite trilogy.
Thank you also to Tordotcom for an ARC of Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire, book 8 in the Wayward Children series. As well, another surprise came from the amazing team at Subterranean Press in the form of Playing Games by Lawrence Block, a new anthology from the author that’s all about the literal and figurative games we play. From the publisher I also received After Many A Summer by Tim Powers, a new novella which borrows its title from a line from the poem “Tithonus” by Alfred Tennyson and follows a hapless screenwriter who takes on a bizarre assignment.
In the digital haul, with thanks to Simon & Schuster Audio for an ALC of Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse, a novella which should be a quick listen, as well as Macmillan Audio for The Hollow Kind by Andy Davidson which should fit right in with my dark fantasy and horror themed reads this month.
Reviews
Silver Queendom by Dan Koboldt (4 of 5 stars)
The Blame Game by Sandie Jones (3 of 5 stars)
What I’ve Been Reading
Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read!
Thriller Thursday: The Blame Game by Sandie Jones
Posted on October 6, 2022 16 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Blame Game by Sandie Jones
Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Minotaur Books (August 16, 20212)
Length: 256 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
The Blame Game was my fourth book by Sandie Jones, and as usual her domestic thrillers are reliable entertainment, though this was not my favorite. While the story was interesting to follow, confounding character motivations and slapdash detective work dragged this one down for me, unfortunately.
As the novel opens, we are introduced to our protagonist Naomi, a psychologist who runs a private practice out of her own home. She has two major clients: Jacob, a middle-aged man who has just recently made the decision to leave his cruel and abusive wife, as well as Anna, a traumatized young woman who has become estranged from her husband after the loss of their child.
Against her better judgment (as well as her husband’s wishes), Naomi decides to help Jacob out by letting him lie low at her vacation cottage while he makes the separation arrangements. This being a major breakthrough by her client, Naomi wants to ensure that Jacob’s wife won’t find him and intimidate him out of the decision. Soon after that though, Naomi’s other client, Anna, also comes to her seeking help to escape her toxic marriage. Unable to turn away another client in need, Naomi decides to give Anna a place to stay as well, this time in an extra room in her house.
One thing leads to another, and eventually Naomi can no longer keep her husband in the dark about either Jacob or Anna, putting strain on her own marriage. To make matters worse, one day Jacob calls Naomi in a panic, asking to meet in a hotel bar over fears that his wife has tracked him down. Naomi goes to see him and succeeds in calming her distraught client, but not long after that, Jacob goes missing. Naomi is aware how bad this looks for her, since she’s the last person to see him, but how will she convince the police she’s innocent when someone seems to keep manipulating the evidence to keep pointing the blame at her?
To anyone paying attention, the main issue should be obvious. As a psychologist, Naomi crosses the line between client and therapist big time—not just once, but many, many times. Neither is this the first it has happened, according to her husband, who is right to be frustrated and angry at Naomi, who just keeps digging herself deeper and deeper. Needless to say, it was hard to sympathize with a character whose every action I thought was irresponsible and at times downright idiotic. As such, it also made her completely unconvincing as a psychologist and professional.
All in all, the plot was also a bit of a jumble. As a thriller, the novel succeeds in keeping the pace quick and suspense high, but as a mystery it is confusing and not very realistic, especially when the police get involved. Clues are not so much clues as a roadmap, trite as events in the story had to be in order to make things work. Much of it felt forced, but no surprise there, considering the protagonist’s insistence to make the wort possible choice at every turn.
The good news is that the end was worth getting to, though the ending did not make the overall story any more feasible, and in fact makes things feel even more outrageous. But in the end, that’s the fun of a Sandie Jones thriller. It’s just too bad that an aggravating main character prevented me from liking this more or taking this story more seriously. Still, while The Blame Game might not be my favorite of her novels, it was quick and entertaining.
Waiting on Wednesday 10/05/2022
Posted on October 5, 2022 17 Comments
Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that first originated at Breaking the Spine but has since linked up with “Can’t Wait Wednesday” at Wishful Endings now that the original creator is unable to host it anymore. Either way, this fun feature is a chance to showcase the upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick
Paradise-1 by David Wellington (April 4, 2023 by Orbit)
“When Special Agent Petrov and Dr. Lei Zhang are woken up from cryogenic sleep, dragged freezing and dripping wet out of their pods with the ship’s alarms blaring in the background, they know something is very wrong. Warned by the Captain that they’re under attack, they have no choice but to investigate.
It doesn’t take much time to learn that they’ve been met by another vessel—a vessel from Paradis-One, Earth’s first deep-space colony, and their final destination.
Worse still, the vessel is empty. And it carries with it the message that all communications from the 150,000 souls inhabiting the Paradis-One has completely ceased.
Petrov and Zhang must board the empty ship and delve further into deep space to discover the truth of the colony’s disappearance—but the further they go, the more dangers loom.”
Book Review: Silver Queendom by Dan Koboldt
Posted on October 4, 2022 25 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Silver Queendom by Dan Koboldt
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Angry Robot (August 23, 2022)
Length: 408 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Call me an old softie, but a heist novel featuring an ensemble cast of scrappy thieves will get me every single time! Is it any wonder then why I had such great fun with Silver Queendom, Dan Koboldt’s fantasy adventure starring a crew of criminals who moonlight as innkeepers? Or would that be the other way around?
Darin Fields is the owner of the Red Rooster Inn, not exactly known for its comfort or great food, but the establishment makes up for it with its other services. Those in the know come to see Darin to hire him and his associates for their special talents, and it just so happens, he and his team are currently in desperate need of work. Their latest job didn’t exactly go according to plan, leaving them deeply in debt with their local crime boss who doesn’t take kindly to people who owe her money.
Still, one has to be careful in the Old Queendom. After all, Darin isn’t the only thief in town, and this isn’t a place where you’d want to step on any toes. No job is worth getting killed over, and what good is money if you’re dead?
The foundation of any good heist story begins with the crew, and here, Silver Queendom shines. When the book opens, readers are dropped into the middle of a crime in progress, showcasing each of the character’s strengths. Darin is our leader and mastermind, the smooth talker who sometimes lets his mouth get the better of him. Luckily, he has his friends to help out. Evie formerly comes from wealth, and is a master of disguise and quick thinking. And then there’s Tom, the group’s muscle, though in reality, this mountain of a man is actually quite sweet and gentle-hearted. Finally, there’s Kat, the most recent addition to the team. Kat is an amateur brewer who just sort of fell into the whole thieving gig, but she needed a place to keep her stray orphans safe, and the Red Rooster is as good a place as any.
Of course, Darin has one more trick up his sleeve, and that is his metallurgy. Back at the inn, an old bartender named Seraphina holds down the fort whenever the crew is away on business, but she is also an experienced metallurgist who wishes to train Darin to harness his powers, even though magic is strictly forbidden in the Queendom. Only a few know Darin possesses the talent, and he in turn is very circumspect about it, which might explain why the world-building is noticeably sparse in this area. It’s too bad, because would have liked to see more explanation and detail into the magic system, which involves using the power of silver to fuel the user’s actions.
That said, the action and energy in this was high and unrelenting. The plot is not just one heist but many heists, and they simply get bigger and better. Silver Queendom is an adventure through and through, and while it does not offer the genre anything too groundbreaking or new, it was fun and oh so readable. The characters are easy to like and their relationship dynamics and backstories keep the interest strong. It’s great to see that even as the pacing flies along, character development doesn’t suffer at all for it.
Silver Queendom is my third Dan Koboldt novel and he is reliably entertaining as always! If you have a fondness for heist stories, this one is not to be missed, especially if you enjoy the good humor and camaraderie of a fantastic group of characters. Recommended for avid fantasy fans and newcomers to the genre alike.
Bookshelf Roundup 10/02/22: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
Posted on October 2, 2022 19 Comments
Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every weekend which fills the role of several blog memes, like Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? where I summarize what I’ve finished reading in the last week and what I’m planning to read soon. Mostly it also serves as a recap post, so sometimes I’ll throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.
Received for Review
My thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!
A big thanks to Union Square Co. this week for sending me a review copy of A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair, the first book of The Halfling Saga which is a new Young Adult series about an assassin spy who tracks her latest target to the lands of the Fae. When Tachyon Publications also contacted me last month about their upcoming titles, Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai also caught my eye. Thanks so much to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this urban fantasy romance between a Chinese Immortal and a French elf. A huge thanks also to Tor Books for sending me an ARC of The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz, a sci-fi novel of space exploraton and settlement which has been described as perfect for fans of Becky Chambers and Martha Wells.
Just in time for the spooky season, Tor Nightfire also made my week with these two new arrivals, Little Eve by Catriona Ward and The Witch in the Well by Camilla Bruce. I’ve already started on the latter. It’s gonna be an awesome October!
In the digital haul, the beginning of the month always brings new audiobooks. With thanks to Hachette Audio for an ALC of Blitz by Daniel O’Malley, the long awaited third book of The Checquy Files.
And with thanks to Penguin Random House Audio for the following listening copies: Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty, The Family Game by Catherine Steadman, Jackal by Erin E. Adams, and Dead Man’s Hand by James J. Butcher.
Reviews
Stay Awake by Megan Goldin (4 of 5 stars)
Bad Dolls by Rachel Harrison (4 of 5 stars)
What I’ve Been Reading
Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read!
Book Review: Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
Posted on October 1, 2022 10 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press | Macmillan Audio (August 9, 2022)
Length: 352 pages | 10 hrs and 59 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Memory loss thrillers have been done many times before, in many different ways, but Megan Golden has come up with her own twisty, mind-bending take on things. In Stay Awake, we follow Liv Reese, who wakes up one morning in a cab with no memory of how she got there. The last thing she remembers is working at her desk in Manhattan office, then nothing. When the cab drops her off at her apartment, at first she thinks the driver made a mistake. The building looks familiar, but when she rings the bell at the apartment she shares with her roommate, a couple of strangers answer the door, irritated at being woken up at such a late hour. Liv doesn’t have her phone or wallet, but insider her pocket is a knife wrapped in a bloody shirt. Looking down at her hands, she notices scribbles written all across her skin. One of the messages: STAY AWAKE!
While Liv may be confused as to what is happening all around her, readers are clued in almost right away. Our protagonist has a rare memory loss disorder, leading her to become lost and disoriented every time she wakes up, because in her mind it is still two years ago when everything in her life was perfect—she was rooming with her best friend, dating a wonderful new guy, and working at a trendy magazine for the art scene. But now she is alone in the middle of the night on a park bench, wondering why her whole world as suddenly turned upside down. Then, she spies a news report on a murder where the killer has scrawled WAKE UP! across a window in the victim’s blood. The message, so close to the one written on her hands, as well as the bloody knife sends Liv into a panic. She has no idea why she can’t remember anything, but until she finds out more about what’s going, she knows she must keep on running.
It’s understandable, the comparisons to 50 First Dates and Memento. Like the latter, Stay Awake is a narrative where you have to piece things together somewhat backwards. The story is told very cleverly through the creative use of the timeline and various POVs. One of these is Darcy Halliday of the NYPD, who is the hardworking and tough-as-nails lead detective on the murder case. And then of course there are the flashbacks to Liv’s own past, and her attempts to figure out why her memory seems to be stuck to a point in time two years ago. What happened to trigger her memory disorder? What has happened in all that time since? What happened to her best friend? Her boyfriend? Who are some of these people trying to help her now, claiming to know about her situation? Can she trust anyone?
Questions abound in this mystery thriller, and Goldin weaves together these disparate threads with such great pacing and momentum that once you start you just can’t stop. Speaking as someone who has also read the author’s previous two novels The Escape Room and The Night Swim, this one is perhaps the most exciting and propulsive yet. It might not have had the depth and emotional impact of The Night Swim, which is probably still my favorite book of hers, but Stay Awake definitely had a dark, enticing hook that gave the story much of its appeal.
And while it was a killer thriller, in many ways this story also read like a tantalizing police procedural, thanks to the chapters devoted to Detective Halliday who was easily my favorite character. Liv’s narrative, although very compelling, was also disorienting and quite scattered by necessity. Halliday’s POV therefore had the secondary purpose of pulling all the clues together and bringing cohesion to the plot.
In sum, Megan Goldin has written another crowd-pleaser. Mind you it’s not breaking much new ground when it comes to memory loss thrillers, but I did enjoy the tensions of the plot as well as the resourcefulness and tenacity of the main characters. So far the books I’ve read by the author have been very different, and while I expect she’ll come up with more ideas to keep things fresh in the future, I certainly wouldn’t mind if we saw Halliday and her partner Lavelle again in a future case. I’ll continue to follow Goldin’s work with interest.
The BiblioSanctum 