Are You Awake?

Product Information

This book is quite entraining and gripping. I enjoyed reading it over the course of a few weeks (on and off) and it succeeded in keeping me interested in the book and the fate of the characters. Mary's two young children won't let her sleep; Tim, a journalist, just can't, following recent trauma. When these two sleepless people witness something concerning in the dead of night, perhaps linked to a recent crime, the unlikely pair - both experiencing their own form of desperation - come together to investigate. An intriguing premise that didn’t quite deliver for me….Can the eye witness accounts of two sleep deprived witnesses be reliable? I had mixed feelings about this one. The premise was interesting albeit a little far fetched. Two unconnected insomniacs think they see a missing girl trapped in an empty house. The rest of the book is these characters trying to get the police to take them seriously whilst making various unsavoury discoveries along the way. That said, it was an interesting idea and it did keep me reading as I wanted to know what had happened - though the finale was a little flat; I was expecting a big twist but there were no real surprises at the end.

These two Amateur Detectives succeed where the Police have failed, finding lead after lead that Detectives have apparently missed! 🤦🏻‍♀️ 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.

From the bestselling author of What You Did comes a true-crime investigation that cast a dark shadow over the Ireland of her childhood.

As I read on though, some things really got to me. Mary is supposedly an attorney, but she asks the simplest questions about crime and evidence. Also, Mary’s husband is actually kind of the worst and I just could not stand reading about how terribly unhelpful he was. I actually wanted to slap the man through the book. What a dud. 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 characters are conflicting. I like them, but not all of them. When I think of it, the flaws in them should make them feel more realistic, but some decisions did not appeal to me, which explains why I am not a big fan of the main characters. Reading about breast feeding, crying children, food being thrown, and dirty nappys always bores me to tears as a woman who is childless by choice. And, the decisions she would make while her children were in tow would not win her any “mother of the year” awards. So, I found myself wanting to skim through half of the chapters for that reason.

As for the investigation, Mary and Tim weren’t very good at it, they just kept stumbling across situations, and it was frustrating that the police were doing nothing. As for the conclusion and what had happened to Samantha, this just fell flat and certainly wasn’t worth persevering with the book for. Mary and Tim are neighbors who’ve never met. Neither of them sleep well, and they spend their days wishing to go to bed. Mary has 2 young children who are never quiet and keep her up all night (and an unsupportive jerk of a husband to boot). Tim can’t stop thinking about something tragic that happened in his past, and it keeps him up.

Member Reviews

first off the author is one of my favorite thriller writers. I am so excited to read another one of their books! This one did not disappoint. Mary is supposedly a brilliant lawyer, although on maternity leave. However, she makes terrible decision after terrible decision that someone that smart would unlikely make. She’s also irresponsible in putting her children in danger at times, although she does cop to it eventually. While I enjoyed some of the OTT moments, I feel like it would’ve worked better if the book was aiming to be a darkly comedic mystery. The ending was pretty ridiculous and implausible, but that’s nothing new.

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. There are a few red herrings, but equally so, they are also a paramount part of the mystery. Figure that one out. I did...and it seemed I had two answers instead of one. But which one what the truth? Claire McGowan is an accomplished writer of thrillers and the premise of ‘Are You Awake’ sounds promising. Two people, unable to sleep for very different reasons, believe that they see a missing girl being assaulted in the middle of the night. The police do not appear very interested.

Wikipedia citation

Though Mary's occupation as a lawyer isn't convincing enough to add depth, it did not really matter to me as the story is super good. If you seek a clever and atmospheric thriller to curl up with, make it this one.