Title: ANNA O
Author: Matthew Blake
Read: February 2024
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟
Book Description:
We spend an average of 33 years of
our lives asleep. But what really happens, and what are we capable of, when we
sleep?
Anna Ogilvy was a budding twenty-five-year-old writer with a bright future.
Then, one night, she stabbed two people to death with no apparent motive—and
hasn’t woken up since. Dubbed “Sleeping Beauty” by the tabloids, Anna’s
condition is a rare psychosomatic disorder known to neurologists as
“resignation syndrome.”
Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist and an expert in the field of
sleep-related homicides. His methods are the last hope of solving the infamous
“Anna O’”case and waking Anna up so she can stand trial. But he must be careful
treating such a high-profile suspect—he’s got career secrets and a complicated
personal life of his own.
As Anna shows the first signs of stirring, Benedict must determine what really
happened and whether Anna should be held responsible for her crimes.
Only Anna knows the truth about that night, but only Benedict knows how to
discover it. And they’re both in danger from what they find out.
Joining the ranks of Gillian Flynn, A. J. Finn, and Alex Michaelides, Matthew
Blake delivers the thriller of the year: a dark, twisty, and shocking mystery
about a young woman who commits a double murder while sleepwalking, and then
never opens her eyes again.
My musings:
Even with my shiftwork induced obsession with
sleep, I was surprised to find out that the average person spends 33 years of
their life asleep. 33 years of ZZZZ! But would I willingly sacrifice any of
those blissful moments under the doona for more productivity? The answer is no.
And yet there seem to be people who can multi-task and combine sleep with some
amazing / terrifying feats, such as killing someone whilst sleepwalking. This
is the crime Anna O has been accused of, and yet she cannot face trial, since
she has never woken from her slumber since the fateful night her two friends
were murdered four years ago.
Dr Benedict Price is a forensic
psychologist specialising in sleep disorders and related crimes. As an expert
in his field, he is tasked with the tricky job of waking Anna from her slumber.
Facing issues in his own personal life and the ethical dilemmas that his job
brings, Benedict has some reservations about the whole project, and yet cannot
resist the opportunity to be involved in such a fascinating case. But will
waking Anna put them both in danger?
I loved the whole premise of sleep
disorders, sleepwalking and crimes committed whilst fast asleep and greedily
hoovered up all the little morsels of insight into some case studies the author
mentions along the way – I would have loved much more of this! But whilst I
felt the science behind the novel fascinating and well presented, the actual
thriller part of the book seemed to stall and lack in places, especially in the
later half. I felt that both Benedict as well as Anna lacked character
development, and despite its twists and turns, I guessed parts of the outcome of
the story long before the final reveal. So perhaps this was not the thriller of
the year for me, but as an original premise it made for hours of interesting
reading and intrigue and I mostly enjoyed it. If you find sleep in general
fascinating, then this book should definitely be on your list!
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