Customer Reviews

Never Wake

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an exellent book. The story keeps you interested to the end. I had a hard time putting the book down. If you like a good mystery, this is the book to get. Gabrielle has amazing talent and you'll enjoy all her books.

This is an interesting book. I almost didn't get past the first twenty or so pages because there seem to be several unrelated story lines. The character introduced in the Prologue isn't tied back into the story until more than halfway through the novel. It works even though I had almost forgotten about her when she is reintroduced. It is, for me, a tribute to
Goldsby's skill as a writer that she can get away with this.

The relationship between Emma and Troy doesn't develop in a conventional manner. I didn't expect the final development in the relationship. Without giving away the plot twist, I can say that the last fifty or so pages of the book surprised me. This is really a bit of an urban fantasy.

Entertaining speculative fiction.

Intriguing novel with a unique premise. At over 200 pages this is a wonderfully satisfying read.

I enjoyed the author's other novels -

The Caretaker's Daughter
Wall of Silence

I'm sorry. I liked both of Gabrielle Goldsby's first two books, but this one is too far fetched to swallow. The premise? Two women wake up one morning and believe they're the only two cognizant people on the planet. Everyone else is asleep.

The first woman, Troy, wakes up in a hospital bed and leaves the hospital quickly knowing she won't be able to afford the bill on her messenger's wages. She takes off on her bike, unsettled by all the sleeping bodies around her. Over the course of the next few days, she discovers Emma tucked away in her condo. Emma has kept herself sequestered in her condo for the last few years - never leaving for fear of her safety. It seems Emma was brutally attacked outside the free clinic she ran. Ever since, she's been afraid of society. Getting to know each other through Emma's window, the two radically different women gain each other's trust and Emma eventually lets Troy in. At some point, they discover two other people awake and are surprised at what they learn.

Ok - I admit the writing is good and the characters are interesting, but Goldsby is really pushing the limits of human imagination with her premise. I mean, everyone else in the world is asleep except two lesbians who find each other attractive? What are the odds? And, instead of looking for ways to survive the long term, they spend several weeks basically hanging out. It wasn't Twilight Zone weird, it was just too unbelievable. One last note - there were many editorial errors throughout the book. For example, many words that should have been plural were singular, `iPod' was incorrectly written as `ipod' or `iipodpod' or `ipodipod' or the like. Although not a fatal flaw, these errors were distracting.

I struggled to finish it and wouldn't recommend it to my friends. However, if you're into the strange and unexplainable, this one might be for you.

I can't wait to dive into this new book from Quest. The premise sounds really intriguing and suspenseful. I'll post a full report after I've read the book. But for now, take a look at this description and see if you don't agree this book has a lot of potential for fascinating reading:

Emma Webster is the victim of a brutal assault. Because of the resulting terror, she spends two years as a self-sentenced prisoner locked inside her condo, living a lonely but safe existence - at least she thought it was safe until the world outside her window goes silent.

Troy Nanson, a bicycle messenger, awakens in a hospital with an excruciating headache, but she has no memory of how she was injured or how long she has been there. When her calls for help go unanswered, Troy leaves her bed to search for hospital staff members, only to find them unconscious in the hospital lounge. They have pulses and are breathing, but she cannot rouse them. Are they comatose, drugged? In a trance-induced sleep? She calls 911, but no one answers. As she explores downtown Portland, Oregon, Troy's suspicions are confirmed - the rest of the world has fallen asleep, and nothing she does will wake them. Fear and desperation cause Troy's tenuous grip on reality to slip. She's ready to give up, but then she finds Emma.

Believing they are the only people awake in the entire world, these two women who are as different from each other as they could possibly be, come to depend on one another to find their way through the insanity that surrounds them. Their initial need for simple companionship turns into an attraction that they are just beginning to explore when Troy stumbles across evidence that results in some startling realizations.

There are at least two other people still awake in Portland, but one of them is a murderer. Can Troy and Emma find a way to outsmart the killer, or will they, too, become those who NEVER WAKE?