Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

​Imagine if Drew Barrymore’s character from Fifty First Dates woke up in Memento. The author did. Kinda sorta. That’s much of the premise of Stay Awake anyway, albeit it in tone it’s pure Memento and there’s no Adam Sandler in the vicinity.
And so, our protagonist, Liv, wakes up at a crime scene, somewhere in NYC, terrified, with no recent memories to guide her, but whatever she’s written all over her arms. She must figure out what’s going on, but her mental clock resets every time she goes to sleep, erasing the last two years of her life.
Now, that’s a good thriller premise. Difficult to come by these days – the genre’s too popular for quality control, so there’s a lot of crap out there. And in that sea of crap Stay Awake stood out tall and proud for doing all the familiar genre things but well and excitingly.
Liv is a fun protagonist, unreliable by design, but consistent in her inconsistency, constant in her disorientation but determined. Liv’s past reveals a comfortable life until a tragedy ripped it apart. Liv’s present is red flashing lights of danger at every corner.
Sounds fun, doesn’t it? it is fun. And moreover, maybe the best thing about it, is that the author made the prerequisite ending twist a doozy. Genuinely unpredictable or at least not an easy one to predict. This is awesome, I’ve been solving thriller after thriller with frustrating ease and much too early in the game. I’d like to attribute it to my innate detecting genius, but to be fair, a lot of it has to do with how predictable the authors make it, like they just can’t help showing off their cards early on. Goldin, to her credit, maintains her cards close to the vest at all times. She throws plenty of small red fishes in to muddy the waters but stays mum on the killer until the appropriate reveal time. Very nicely done.
All in all, a very enjoyable read. Good writing, good plotting, all that. One of the most impressive thrillers I’ve read recently. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.