Before I Wake

Suzy is obsessed with finding out the reason her daughter Charlotte, now lying in a coma, stepped in front of a bus. Certain that it was not an accident, she tracks down the secret that Charlotte was hiding, finding clues in her diary, phone, and computer. But are they hints or just coincidences? The reader soon finds out that Suzy suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has had "episodes." Her harrowing past is revealed in flashbacks at the end of every chapter, taking the reader to a time in her early twenties when she was trapped in an abusive relationship with a sometimes charming but mainly controlling, explosively angry lover who eventually locked her in his house and wouldn't let her out. These scenes are dramatic and read quickly—and give the reader doubts about Suzy's fragile psyche. The present-day scenes are not as intense, yet first-time author Taylor keeps the plot moving and knows how to layer on tension and bring it to a climax.