TUESDAY EXCERPTS: “DON’T WAKE UP”

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, First Chapter/Intros, originally hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea and now hosted by I’d Rather Be at the Beach; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by The Purple Booker.

Today’s feature is a recent download:  Don’t Wake Up, by Liz Lawler: A harrowing psychological thriller debut about a woman who awakens after an assault with no physical proof of the attack and who must try to convince everyone of what really happened.

 

***

Intro:  It was the familiar sounds that awakened her.  They were strangely comforting, even though her first instinct was to leap up in panic to see what her colleagues were doing.  She heard instruments being placed on a steel tray.  Monitors emitted regular beeps, sterile packages were torn open, and in the background there was the ever-present hiss of oxygen.

***

Teaser:  Home no longer felt like home.  Laura Best’s presence was a thorn in his side and, come the New Year, he would have to make some decisions.  Either she left or he did. (p.62).

***

Synopsis:  When Dr. Alex Taylor opens her eyes, she is hooked up to an IV, is bound to an operating table, and her legs are raised in stirrups. Disoriented and alarmed, she assumes she’s been anesthetized and brought to surgery after being in an accident. But the man standing over her, with his face hidden behind a surgical mask and wielding instruments, is no doctor she recognizes at the hospital where she works as a successful and respected doctor. He’s a stranger—and he’s calmly and methodically telling her how he’s about to attack her. Before Alex can even scream for help, she succumbs to another dose of anesthesia, rendering her unable to defend herself….

When she comes to on a gurney, she finds herself surrounded by her colleagues and immediately reports the attack and rape. The police are skeptical of her bizarre story. And after a physical exam reveals no proof of any attack, even her boyfriend has doubts. Despite Alex’s adamant claims, no one believes her, leaving her to wonder if she has, in fact, lost her mind.

Until she meets the next victim…

***

I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book, and can’t wait to start reading it.  What do you think?

***