Fantastic read even though the most of it is psychological! I couldn't put it down!

WOW......my heart is still racing this book is so utterly compelling and so intricately detailed so full of description it has blown my mind.
A truly gripping and if I'm honest quite scary really ...in a good way I loved it ..it had me edging of my seat a well written page turner that blew my mind ...bravo

I found this book to be just okay. Typically thrillers really have to WOW me to be rated about 3 stars. I felt like this was just another book in the genre that had nothing about it that stuck out to me. Reading this felt like I was watching an old rerun of criminal minds, where I could faintly recall the plot being recycled from something else, but couldn't pinpoint where.

This next one is a huge change of pace. Don’t Wake Up by Liz Lawler not for the faint of heart, either. It’s a psychological thriller and it hits hard. It’s creepy as hell. It very well may give you nightmares. This is a good thing. It’s well written and well constructed. I’m not going to say a whole lot about it overall, because I don’t want to give spoilers. But first, here’s the description:

Alex Taylor wakes up tied to an operating table.

The man who stands over her isn’t a doctor.

The offer he makes her is utterly unspeakable.

But when Alex re-awakens, she’s unharmed – and no one believes her horrifying story.

Ostracised by her colleagues, her family and her partner, Alex begins to wonder if she really is losing her mind. And then she meets the next victim.

You can tell just by the description that it’s going to be pretty terrifying. It was incredibly frustrating to see how no one believes Alex. The plot was complex and the characters were compelling, especially Alex. The end was satisfying and pulled things together well. I’d definitely read this one if you’re into thrillers.

This was a good read that wasn't predictable or easy to figure out, at least for me, who is responsible for everything that happened to Alex. First, I have to commend the author on her use of proper medical terminology, as the main chapter is a physician, as are several other characters. (Turns out the author was a Nurse)

Alex Taylor is getting ready for dinner with her boyfriend whe she wakes up restrained to a bed in the operating room. Someone is with her in the room, but who is it? She then wakes up in the Emergency Room where no one believes what happened to her. She is believed to be making this up for attention due to some recent stressors in her life. Other incidents happen throughout the story that make the police question if she committed the acts herself or not. One officer was ready to put her in jail, while another officer was more willing to listen to her.

Overall I enjoyed this book and I will read more by this author in the future. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Alex Taylor is a well respected doctor who is professional and totally dedicated to her profession. Waking up in the first chapter Alex finds herself tied down on an operating table about to undergo every women’s nightmare. Don’t Wake Up is utterly gripping and gallops along at a break neck speed ensuring the reader is both captivated and horrified at the same time.

Some of the scenes are extremely graphic and deeply uncomfortable to read and imagine and I did have to pause to take a moment several times throughout the book. The author manages to create a thrilling psychological story which kept me questioning Alex’s sanity and version of events throughout.

As an animal lover I hated this book. Contains to much animal abuse.

Loved it! really enjoyed the way it was written, wasn't the normal crime book where you are working out who did it, but it seemed to focus more on whether the victim was suffering from a psychotic episode or did it really happen. A real page turner would highly recommend.

Great read. Gets you hooked from the start. Would highly recommend!!

I am not a huge fan of the taglines used nowadays describing how books WILL make you feel! I feel it’s a challenge and one I’m usually able to dispute very quickly! But here I have to totally agree with the tagline used alongside the title of Don’t Wake Up as the first chapter is addictive, gripping and downright scary as hell! My pulse rate must have been through the roof and I nearly needed a doctor myself!

Several people had recommended this book to me saying it was a perfect example of my kind of book and I have to say that they are right! Once I picked this up that first chapter grabbed me by the throat and refused to loosen its grip no matter how hard I tried to shake it off. I defy anyone to not be affected by the nightmarish scenarios that Alex has to live through here. The question is will Alex be believed and if not, how much danger will it take to change everyone’s opinions. Her lover, her colleagues and her friends all think she’s having a breakdown so, slowly and surely, they slip by the wayside as Alex loses their support and possibly her own mind.

Liz Lawler is going to be a name to look out for in the future! I loved her easy going and engaging writing style and her ability to totally immerse her readers in the lives of her characters. There were so many twists and turns here I was dizzy with indecision about who to trust and have to admit I had no idea who was behind this vicious campaign against Alex, or why, until it actually slapped me in the face! It then kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat even to the very end.

I loved experiencing this “nightmare in book form” and feeling unable to wake myself up from the hold it had over me! Some of the graphic and realistically described hospital scenes had me crossing my legs in fear (you will understand why when you read it!!) and at times I wanted to put this book down but it became physically impossible to do so until I found out the truth.

A thoroughly enjoyable and highly satisfying psychological thriller!

A gripping, engaging psycholigical thriller in the world of doctors and nurses.

How can you believe in your own mental sanity when nobody believes you, when everybody tells you you haven't experienced what you remember? It's easy to lose your mind.

Soon nearly everybody is convinced Alex is not only mentally ill but a serial killer.

The story telling is very intense, Alex' fear gets palpable. Although there are some logical gaps and a main error that I won't name here (would be too big a spoiler) this novel draws you in.

Alex Taylor is someone that if they were real you would probably feel intimidated by. She is a doctor working successfully at the A&E of a hospital near Bath, UK. She is a licensed helicopter pilot. She is tall, slim and very attractive and has the dashing veterinarian boyfriend to go with it. She would be a total nightmare if it weren’t for the fact someone has taken her hostage and is threatening all manner of mischief medically speaking as she lies naked, tied to a steel trolley in an operating room. Beside her is a man claiming to be The Doctor and he is threatening her real harm if she doesn’t behave in the manner he expects. Her helplessness and fear simply leaps off the page.

But somehow she is allowed her freedom and they find her unconscious under a tree in the hospital grounds and in the emergency room as a patient herself, claiming that she has been raped and tortured. Medical examination would conclude otherwise. Did she dream it all? Because it felt pretty real to her. Alex soon gathers negative attention from both hospital staff and police to herself by insisting on her story being real, although they tell her repeatedly that she is suffering a delusion and she should get some professional help. Alex starts to wonder about her own mental well-being herself, until The Doctors next victim comes into the emergency room, suffering horrific injuries. Alex is one of the doctors attempting to save the life of the young woman and hears her say the same statement that Alex herself had said when she was brought into the A&E. And then another odd situation occurs and involves Alex. Things begin to happen around her that make no sense to her, things that people around her are able to explain away despite her fears and life becomes something of a nightmare for Alex.

It’s really good. The suspense, the red herrings, the police investigation; it’s all really good. You know that something is going on that just isn’t right, but until the killer twist is revealed, you have no idea of what is going on or who is behind all the attacks. The Doctor will scare the bejebbies out of you with what he is capable of. Lawler has written a menacing book in which who dunnit is superbly played out. It is fast paced and keeps you guessing all the way. This is a mind twist from the very start. It’s scary pretty much from the opening pages and the twists and missteps of all involved are intriguing and at times frightening until you read the last page. Well worth the read.

Fantastic! Fast paced, thrilling and what an outcome! Will be keeping an eye out for more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has the makings of a good thriller Alex Taylor is a highly skilled physician with a great career and a loving fiancé her life seems fairly comfortable. This is until the moment she wakes up after she believes she has been kidnapped. She remembers being incapacitated, strapped naked to an operating table with a Dr about to operate. The book follows Alex as her colleagues fear for her mental health. No one believes her story as the supporting evidence is lacking. When a friend of hers is found dead she goes from being disbelieved to being the prime suspect for her murder. For me this story was a little too far-fetched and not executed in the best way I found it slow and I was quite disappointed by the ending. That being said as a debut novel I think the content has merits and I certainly wouldn't be put off reading the next installment. The author clearly has a great knowledge of medical procedures and the medical parts of the book were great.

This is one of the best thrillers I have read in quite a while. It is not until very close to the end that you have a clue about who done it and even then you don't know how it will end. I would have liked a little more to the story at the end... but it was clear re: what happened, so I suppose I shouldn't get greedy!
The story centers around Alex Taylor, a young, talented doctor, whose life starts to come apart, after a trauma a year earlier. Everyone believes she is losing her mind.... and maybe she is... but you'll have to read the book to find out. Mayhem, murder, love and hate are all to be found in this novel. I read it in a weekend.... you might read it in a day... regardless, once you start, you won't be able to stop!

Ehhhhh..... I finished it, so it wasn't absolutely horrible. Did not hold my attention very well, a bit hard to follow. Thank you for the opportunity to read it though!

When Dr. Alex Taylor wakes up she finds herself held fast to a table by someone in the garb of a surgeon and she's in an operating theatre, naked and covered in drapes. The light is shining in her eyes, blinding her and she is terrified that she's been in a bad accident and has been brought to the hospital where she works in A&E. A mechanical voice speaks to her and threatens something horrific just before the anesthetic takes effect. When she comes to, later, she is in cubicle number 9 of her very own department, in the city of Bath where she lives and works. Though she has only a few bruises, she recounts her story of what happened to her and finds that absolutely NO ONE believes her. Neither the police nor her good friends and co-workers can find any proof. Then there are some other deaths of people known to Alex and soon, she's not a victim, she's a suspect.

This was a fast-paced mystery with lots of red herrings and many different characters. Though the conclusion was predictable, much of the ongoing action kept it suspenseful. I must admit that I sort of wanted a different ending -- just so it would be really shocking! Alex was just a little "too perfect" and her psychological distress and attempts to cope while sliding into a hot mess made me a bit annoyed, but isn't that the worst thing when someone doesn't believe you and you can't prove them wrong? And there are doubts from your nearest and dearest?

I love medical mysteries. Some of my classic favorites are from Robin Cook, the master of the genre. So when I read the description of this new one, I just knew it was for me.

When Dr. Alex Taylor wakes up on an operating table, she's naturally confused. Did she suffer an accident that she can't remember? Nope, it's something much more sinister. Or at least that's what she believes. But her story of abduction by a madman is so absurd that nobody believes her, even though she's a highly respected surgeon. And then when strange things continue to happen, her credibility is further damaged. And her sanity is called into question. Can she get anybody to believe that her experience is somehow connected to a series of mysterious deaths? And will it be too late to save herself?

This is a classic thriller. It has all the elements needed for a suspenseful who-dunnit. A great summer read!

3.5 stars

Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Setting: Bath, England

Alex Taylor is a highly skilled physician with a great career and a fiancé who matches her equally in education and status. Her life seems fairly comfortable until the moment when she's kidnapped and strapped to a table in a somewhat familiar environment. She endures the torment of being bound and taunted, but is then released without knowledge of how she was kidnapped or why she's freed. Her mental deterioration soon becomes a liability to everyone around her.

This story had a strong start, shifted into a slower pace, and was more drama than thriller until the last 20% when the police procedural aspect became more exciting. Detective Inspector Turner and Laura Best were intriguing, but they seemed more like simple-minded characters and less complex. The final reveal sort of fizzled out for me, but I liked this debut novel. I especially liked the hospital setting, the medical jargon, details of the medical procedures, and the main characters, including Nathan.

Looking forward to reading more of this author's work.

When books are battling for my attention and I can have half a dozen (or more) on the go at any one time then what I really need is to pick up a book which will grab my attention from the first page. Big love for Don’t Wake Up for doing just that – the opening chapter was chilling and I wanted to keep reading.

Alex Taylor is a doctor. She had been about to meet her boyfriend but she wakes on an operating table. A strange man is standing over her wearing surgeon mask and scrubs – she doesn’t recognise the room she is in nor does she recognise the surgeon. She is absolutely terrified over what may be about to happen to her and the man forces her to make an horrific choice. The next time Alex awakes she is back in familiar surroundings and there is no evidence that anything untoward has happened.

Alex cannot make anyone believe what has happened to her and it starts to impact upon her work. Liz Lawler has done a great job of building a world around Alex and then she starts to pull it apart around her. We see Alex desperate to find a sympathetic ear, her colleagues cannot trust her judgement and as she becomes increasingly frustrated.

At the risk of exposing too much detail (avoiding spoilers) another “attack” victim will cross paths with Alex and the police will become involved. As a reader I started to wonder if I could trust what I was reading – was Alex a reliable narrator or was much of what was happening to her just a figment of her imagination? There were times I was frustrated with how she behaved and one character (who was dismissive of everything Alex tried to explain) made me “pure raging” at several times during the book. I don’t always get that emotional involvement with characters so this is a definite plus for Don’t Wake Up.

Remember all those books demanding my attention? Well they were all ignored while I read Don’t Wake Up. It was sufficiently nasty in places, had some good twists which I did not see coming and I realised that I had to find out what was going to happen to Alex. Well worth hunting this one down