While You Were Sleeping: A gripping psychological thriller you just can't put down

On the positive side this was a really easy read - I used to read loads but in recent years struggled to concentrate. This book has got me back into the habit.I’m struggling to say much else other than it was okay. The plot has plenty of twists and turns, though some rather predictable.The main problem was I was continually frustrated by how unrealistic the police investigation aspect of it was, maybe if it had been set in the 1950’s before forensics and proper process it might have worked. The fact it was so unbelievable intruded on my enjoyment. The characters could have been better developed, but the daughter was interesting to me as someone who has experience of young people with attachment disorder.To sum up, an easy, quick read, perhaps as an on the beach book, but it hasn’t led me to rush to buy others by this author.

Waking up naked in a strange room next to a man who is not her husband is on the beginning of Tara’s problems. The man she is with is dead and though he is not a stranger to her, Tara has no recollection of what happened or how she came to be in his bed. Stuck in an almost impossible position, Tara is torn between doing right by the man and protecting her family. In an instant, Tara makes a decision, one which will have far reaching implications for her and her family and friends.…But someone has been watching Tara. Someone she knows is keeping a secret which can tear her family apart for good. And when people she loves start to be implicated in the man’s murder she faces the agonising choice of telling the truth and risking her marriage, or keeping silent and risk losing everything.Tara is certain that she had nothing to do with what happened, and when it is revealed that the victim had a secret lover, she is even more certain of it. But with her memory still letting her down, and others determined to prove her guilty, can Tara find the evidence she needs to clear her name once and for all.‘While You Were Sleeping’ is a full on twisted thriller which had me hooked from the first page. Having read and loved ‘The Girl You Lost’ I had high expectations, and I wasn’t let down. I quite honestly whizzed through this in one evening as once I had started I didn’t want to stop reading.There are so many interwoven threads, so many secrets being kept, that it was almost impossible to tell who was telling the truth and who was telling a complete an utter lie. With the probably exception of Tara’s ten-year-old son Spencer, each of the characters is hiding something, and it felt as though any one of them could have been responsible for the murder. The husband, the daughter, the betrayed wife of the victim, even Tara’s creepy colleague Mikey, who had more than an unhealthy obsession with her. They are all acting suspiciously. In fact, although she is convinced it wasn’t her, even Tara is an unreliable witness and potential suspect due to her complete amnesia.The characters in this book are all very well developed, if a little unbalanced. I was never entirely certain of the motivations or logic of any of them. Yes, some may argue that the plot was a little far-fetched. Would someone really run out on a dead body, no matter the circumstances? Could you really expect to get away with it? Given the consequences, you feel that Tara would have made a different choice with the benefit of hindsight. However, decision made, the lies and trickery which ensued had me completely engrossed and I had no trouble suspending disbelief and racing along with the action.I didn’t entirely like Tara as a character, and with the 'amnesia' she is somewhat of an unreliable narrator. The story was told from Tara’s point of view as well, which made it a strange experience seeing everything unfold through the eyes of someone I couldn’t quite trust. The fact that the family all lied to each other also made any of them hard to root for but I always had the feeling that something or someone was deliberately working against them, though to what end, I wasn't sure. Still, despite my mistrust of the central characters, I was still strangely engaged, my impetus to keep reading was fed by a desire to satisfy my curiosity as to who might be trying to set who up and why, rather than an aching need for them to be proven innocent.The chemistry between Tara and the lead Detective in the investigation didn’t add much to the story for me, but it provided a segue way into some of the more twisted parts of the plot. Tara’s creepy colleague Mikey and his clear obsession with her also added an element of unease to an already tense plot. His admission of spying on Tara and his manipulation of her was brilliantly written and made my skin crawl. I could cheerfully have throttled her daughter, Rosie, with her mood swings. Noah seemed to be almost the perfect husband at one point, but even he had secrets and was haunted by someone every bit as determined as Mikey to put an end to his marriage. In fact, only their son Spencer and Tara’s sister Lisa, seemingly had nothing to hide.This book was so full of misdirection that right up the final quarter of the book I wasn’t entirely certain who had done it. The closer I got to the end though the clearer things seemed, and a few questions were answered which pointed to the killer. Or so I thought. Because, that said, Ms Croft still threw in one final, highly effective curve ball that made me doubt my convictions for a moment and the final revelation was still quite a bit of a shock.With a good pace to the story and cleverly developed, if not entirely likeable characters, ‘While You Were Sleeping’ is another great addition to the Bookouture library. If you like a twisted tale that will grab your attention and keep you guessing to the end, then I would highly recommend you treat yourself. Read more

I have read a couple of other books by this author, but this will probably be the last. They are becoming formulaic in terms of the plot which unbelievable and full of holes, the female lead character who must be stunning as she always seems to have admirers and actually the personality of these women is identical in each book, and finally that their child (or one of them) is off the wall and 'difficult'. This story where Tara wakes up in her neighbours bed to find him dead started off reasonably well but rapidly descended into farce. I thought the relationship with Holden Hunt was unrealistic to say the least with his inappropriate leaking of information to someone who is basically a suspect. It was a cheap and quick read but I wouldn't recommend it to my book club or friends/family.

I was surprised to discover that this is not the author's first book, as it did read like a first attempt. The narration is completely linear, and written in a 'this happened and then that happened and then something else happened' way. No attempt made at all to use words in an interesting, let alone literate way.The plot is compelling - there is no doubt about that. However, there are too many holes in this story. The action starts during the summer holidays, and then Lisa returns to school. This is no doubt so that the author can introduce her creepy colleague. Three weeks later, we are back in the school summer holidays again!Furthermore, Lisa maintains that there was not a drop of blood on her when she woke up next to Lee. That being the case, the 'reveal' at the end is all wrong. She would have been covered in blood.Another minor annoyance is the author's insistence in expressing all times as a.m. or p.m., which in a novel seems a singularly unimaginative way of describing when something took place.I would recommend that Ms Croft finds herself an editor - or even just reads back over what she's written.