Before I Wake

BEFORE I WAKE
Anne Fraiser
ISBN: 0-451-41184-6
May 2005
Onyx
Paperback
Mystery/Suspense

If you’re in the mood for a book that delivers pulse pounding, knuckle biting, riveting suspense, look no further!

Criminal profiler Arden Davis once volunteered for a drastic experimental project. The project was called TAKE and forced test subjects to be put in a sensory deprivation tank with only a killer’s recorded voice for company. The hope for the project was that this new method would allow them to catch serial killers.

But for Arden, it had unexpected consequences. The very madman she’d worked to catch murdered her parents, causing Arden to undergo a complete ‘bleaching’ of the horrific memories that haunted her. Yet even with this process, she is left with disjointed memories she cannot make sense of.

When Special Agent Nathan Fury shows up on her doorstep he delivers some crushing news. The man they’d caught for her parents murder didn’t actually commit the crime. The real murderer still walks the streets. Arden agrees to help, even if it means risking her sanity. She’ll do anything to make sure the killer doesn’t roam free.

BEFORE I WAKE is an amazing thriller. The book starts with a bang, and doesn’t slow down until readers reach the last page. With twists and turns to keep readers on their toes, Ms. Frasier delivers a satisfying mystery full of emotion and all out chills.

Readers become engrossed in Arden’s memories, sifting through them and struggling to make sense of them just as she does throughout the book. The fresh angle of the use of sensory deprivation tanks is both frightening and intriguing to read about. As more copycat murders start happening, and new suspects start cropping up (including Arden herself), readers will race to the finish to find the truth.

BEFORE I WAKE is a dream of a book for mystery/suspense lovers. Ms. Frasier has a natural storytelling ability that will keep readers awake well until the wee hours of the morning desperate to know the outcome of the story. Don’t miss it!

Reviewed by Cindy
May 2005