This was a fast read for me, in many ways your typical psychological thriller but it was superbly menacing and I give it extra points for being quite unpredictable - not necessarily on the "whodunnit" level, although Liz Lawler does a great job of obfuscating things - but more because it didn't feel at all like things would necessarily work out for our main protagonist. Did all come good in the end? Well you'll have to read to find out.

It has that addictive quality that I look for in this genre, certainly a page turner, also intensely creepy at times. Imagine you are assaulted but nobody believes you. Imagine then that at every turn you are looking more and more unbalanced but you know that you are not. That is an intriguing layer to Don't Wake Up, I also give points for the fact that the characters mostly behaved reasonably given the circumstances. If I had one bugbear it was one police officer character that was way too caricature but I won't say more because everyone reads differently

Overall Don't Wake Up is a great read, especially as a book to sit down with when you just need to read totally in the comfort zone - I have no problem recommending it to fans of this genre, whilst it may not offer anything unique, it is accomplished writing and a banging good story.

From the phenomenal No.1 bestselling author Robert Bryndza comes the second heart-racing, electrifying thriller in the Detective Erika Foster series.

Already a top 20 ebook bestseller with over 60,000 pre-orders sales.

UK: http://amzn.to/1pLtbYX

US: http://amzn.to/1WqsTkE

Published by: Bookouture (2nd June 2016)

ISBN: 9781786810052

Source: Netgalley

My rating: 5*

Synopsis:

If the Night Stalker is watching, you’re already dead…

In the dead of a swelteringly hot summer’s night, Detective Erika Foster is called to a murder scene. The victim, a doctor, is found suffocated in bed. His wrists are bound and his eyes bulging through a clear plastic bag tied tight over his head.

A few days later, another victim is found dead, in exactly the same circumstances. As Erika and her team start digging deeper, they discover a calculated serial killer – stalking their victims before choosing the right moment to strike.

The victims are all single men, with very private lives. Why are their pasts shrouded in secrecy? And what links them to the killer?

As a heat wave descends upon London, Erika will do everything to stop the Night Stalker before the body count rises, even if it means risking her job. But the victims might not be the only ones being watched… Erika’s own life could be on the line.

The global bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice is back with a heart-racing, electrifying thriller. 

Review:

Wow! Where do I begin? I'm in a bit of a daze after finishing this book in just one sitting - I simply couldn't put it down! Robert Bryndza's writing style is intelligent and his storytelling compelling. I was drawn in from the very outset and swept along on the white water raft that is The Night Stalker, clinging on for dear life through the twists and turns until I was flung out at the conclusion, utterly spent.

I really like that we get to know who the killer is at the beginning of the book and so have some understanding of why they kill and how they pick their victims. Their reasoning is kind of understandable - in a strange way, I actually had some empathy for the killer!

Detective Erika Foster is one of my favourite detectives. She's feisty yet flawed, as are all the best detectives, and it's most definitely to her advantage as she pursues the answers even when she is removed from the case for personal reasons.

Although this is the second book in the Detective Foster series, it reads well as a stand alone, so it's not essential to read the first book prior to this one, but I do recommend The Girl in the Ice, as it's simply a fantastic read.

I wholeheartedly recommend The Night Stalker to fans of crime fiction and police procedurals. I cannot wait to see what awaits Detective Foster in her next case!

Special thanks to Bookouture, Robert Bryndza and Netgalley for providing an ARC in return for my honest review.

About Robert Bryndza

Originally from the UK, Rob lives in Slovakia 
with his Slovak husband and their two crazy dogs. He originally trained as an actor, but was bitten by the writing bug in his mid-twenties and hasn’t looked back. His debut novel, The Not
 So Secret Emails of Coco Pinchard became
 an Amazon bestseller, and has grown to be a best selling series of five books.

In addition to his recent number one romantic comedy Miss Wrong and Mr Right, Rob is excited to embrace the darker side of life, writing his first crime thriller series. He is currently writing the third book in the Detective Erika Foster series, which will be released in September 2016.

Get in touch with Robert here -

www.facebook.com/bryndzarobert
www.twitter.com/RobertBryndza
www.robertbryndza.com

About The Girl in the Ice (Detective Erika Foster #1)

• Over 565,000 copies sold
• #1 Amazon US

• #2 Amazon UK

• #1 Amazon Canada
• #1 Amazon Australia

• #1 Amazon Netherlands

• Top 100 Amazon France, Spain and India
• #2 Wall Street Journal Best-sellers

• #3 USA Today Best-sellers

Catch the rest of the blog tour here!

Published by: Harlequin (UK) Mira (2nd June 2016)

ISBN: 9781848454415

Source: Netgalley

Rating: 5*

Description:

No matter how fast you run, the past always catches up with you.

Catching the Light: Four women, four compelling short stories
Different stories about women and the choices they make that they sometimes wish had been different.
Some are disturbing to me as the women are being not only punished for not being what the spouse really want but hitting her.
Glad other things intervened to help her get out of the bad situation. Enjoyed one other where the woman is sitting for a dog due to the woman who became hospitalized.
Love how she's able to go outside and find others with same passion for their pets.
 

In the winter of 1951-52 three commercial passenger planes crashed within the city limits of Elizabeth, New Jersey, the city being on the flight path into Newark Airport. There were over a hundred fatalities including some residents.

In the novel, In the Unlikely Event, author Judy Blume, who was a young girl and a resident of the city during that period has taken the experience and crafted a fictional tale of growing up in the fifties with these disasters as a backdrop.

This is a coming of age novel focusing on family and friendship with a host of characters including the heroine, fourteen year old Miri Ammerman, her single-parent mother Rusty, her maternal grandmother Irene, and her uncle Henry, a reporter. There’s also a host of Miri’s friends, their families and even a boyfriend.

Blume somehow manages to keep it all straight by telling the story in multiple points of view and each time it changes using the person’s name as a heading for the section.

The novel is well crafted, the characters are fully developed and the writing is simple and straightforward.

In the Unlikely Event is compelling and entertaining if you like a story primarily told from a young girl’s point of view. This reader found the ending to be overly optimistic but was grateful all the same for the characters I came to grow fond of.