Are You Awake?

Product Information

Tim is a journalist who suffers from PTSD and Insomnia, since getting injured in the field. His partner, Alice has left him and he is on administrative leave from the paper he works for.

The party should have been perfect: six couples from the same baby group, six newborns, a luxurious house. But not everything has gone to plan, and while some are here to celebrate, others have sorrows to drown. When someone falls from the balcony of the house, the secrets and conflicts within the group begin to spill out … Coincidentally, there is a missing 19-year old woman from their town, and they can’t help but wonder if that’s who they saw in the window of the house. The police aren’t making time for Mary and Tim, so they decide to take matters into their own hands and try to solve a crime.From the bestselling author of What You Did comes a true-crime investigation that cast a dark shadow over the Ireland of her childhood.

I really wanted to love this book. It was a decent mystery, but everything else just fell flat for me. I am a huge fan of McGowan and will continue to read her books even though this one wasn't my favorite. I am hoping that others will enjoy it more than I did. I have heard great things about this author’s work, so I will have to give her another try-but this one unfortunately, was a MISS for me! Although I liked Tim, and felt compassion for all he has endured-I struggled whenever the narrative switched to Ireland in the 1990s seemed a safe place for women. With the news dominated by the Troubles, it was easy to ignore non-political murders and sexual violence, to trust that you weren’t going to be dragged into the shadows and killed. But beneath the surface, a far darker reality had taken hold. These two Amateur Detectives succeed where the Police have failed, finding lead after lead that Detectives have apparently missed! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Are You Awake Summary

But neither of them are prepared for the storm they unleash in the wake of their digging. Can they succeed where the police have failed? Will they find Samantha and uncover the truth before it's too late? For all of them? I loved Ms McGowan's book THE PUSH. It was edge of your seat thrills. This one was good but not great. It had some things that I love and others that just didn't do it for me. The insomnia stuff is done well, with Tim struggling to differentiate what's real at times. The mother reluctantly awake with her baby in the depths of the night gave me vibes of Celia Fremlin's classic The Hours Before Dawn (and if you're a fan of domestic psychological thrillers and haven't read Fremlin, you really should).

When Mary & Tim realise Samantha's disappearance could link to the disappearances of several other young women in the area over the years, things snowball. It's the usual case of amateur detectives somehow being able to outwit the police & get witnesses to talk, for example, the person they initially think is behind Sam's disappearance conveniently has a 'Road to Damascus' conversion & spills everything. The plot was okay but stretches credulity in some parts, it was interesting though & it mostly kept my attention. 3 stars Mary is a married mum of two wee ones who is desperate to sleep. She is also a lawyer which in this story is almost irrelevant. One tormented sleepless night up with her babies she looks out the window and questions what she sees...is it her insomnia-induced state or did she really see something? Meanwhile, Tim is awake but for different reasons. His terrible past prevents him from falling asleep. But on that same fateful night he, too, sees something from his window. The two meet one night and make a decision to investigate. Is there a link to the missing neighbourhood girl? The pasts become the present as other characters appear. And there is reason to question each of them.

I feel like this had promise going into it. I’ve loved the author before, started off with an intriguing plot line, and then my interest sort of fizzled. The plot had really nice build to it, everything went well until the end. The ending is a bit rushed but it didn't ruin it for me. taking a bite of the juiciest, cheesiest, creamiest mac n cheese but the aftertaste is kraft dinner dry ass powder.