Customer Reviews

Before I Wake

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Fans of Spruill's "Painkiller" will not be disappointed by "Before I Wake"! Amy St. Clair is the head of ER at Hudson General, and has noticed a disturbing trend of heart attack patients who should not have died! After only about 70 pages, I already had a handful of potential suspects. I thought that perhaps the further I read, that I'd find myself narrowing down the list of suspects -- but this only happened once, after an unexpected murder. Although I had my suspicions, I truly wasn't sure who or what was really causing the unexplained deaths until Amy, the heroine, found out for herself. The characters are all well-fleshed out and believable. I can really imagine what each person looks like as I read along; that, to me, is a trait of a really good writer. Not only could I see the scenes Spruill described, but every single person as well. It is a gripping novel of suspense, and very hard to put down!

This is a very interesting book,which gives the reader an internal thrill. The book carefully starts with an introduction to Amy St.Clairs life and then ties in events from her past into her present life. The book transforms into a mysterious thriller which endevours the reader to pursue reading the book because each piece of new information somehow ties in with Amy's life.The past boyfriend that comes into her life and the nightmares. This is an interesting book and it will keep you wondering for more throughout the whole book.

Although there are tons of red herrings in this book and it does have some really creepy moments, "Before I Wake" ends up being a cliche of derivative characters and plot mechanisms.
Amy St. Clair, the head of Hudson General's Emergency Room Department, is a dedicated workaholic, involved with staff psychologist Tom Hart. She is also a widow, with two engaging daughters. Who should come back into her life but her teenage sweetheart, Otis "Campy" Camp, who went off to Vietnam and out of Amy's life. But he's back and Amy's confronted with two hot and heavy lovers. Meanwhile, the poor girls is having horrible nightmares about something that happened when she was four years old--in the woods, in the dark.
And, to top off everything, ER patients are dying from heart attacks that they shouldn't have died from. Who is murdering these elderly gentlemen(all bankers at a certain height and age)and will Amy's billionaire father, Winnie, be next? And what about Amy's mentally challenged brother, Phillip? Is he is as "dumb" as he seems?
There are lots of histrionics in this book and it manages to hold your interest even with its many flaws. The true villain is hidden quite nicely until about a third towards the end when the obvious becomes obvious.
However, Sprull has wound a clever, if derivative, tale, and is an entertaining read, just not a classic.
SLIGHTLY RECOMMENDED.