Anna O

Starred review from December 4, 2023
Former political speech writer Blake debuts with a devilishly twisty psychological thriller about a woman accused of killing her best friends and then falling into a deep sleep. Forensic psychologist Benedict Prince specializes in sleep-related crimes, studying instances of reckless driving, murder, and robbery committed while the perpetrators were asleep. His article on a possible cure for “resignation syndrome,” or involuntary extended sleep, has brought him to the attention of officials at England’s Ministry of Justice, who want Prince to revive 25-year-old editor Anna Ogilvy, so she can be tried for murder: Anna’s been asleep for several years, ever since she was found beside a bloody knife in a cabin next door to the corpses of two of her friends. As Prince attempts to stir Anna, he looks into the factors that might have driven her to violence. Interwoven throughout Prince’s investigation are chapters focused on a pseudonymous character who’s researching the case for their own obscured purposes, as well as entries from Anna’s missing diary, which cover the days leading up to the murders. Blake never lets the reader, or his hero, get comfortable, delivering one game-changing twist after another all the way through to the final sucker punch. The exhilarating results are likely to shock even seasoned thriller fans. Agent: Madeleine Milburn, Madeleine Milburn Agency.

Starred review from November 15, 2023
Four years after a woman allegedly murdered her best friends while sleepwalking, an ambitious London psychologist gets the opportunity to treat her--and to determine, once and for all, her guilt or innocence. Dr. Benedict Prince, forensic psychologist and sleep specialist, is summoned to a meeting with Dr. Virginia Bloom (his boss at the Abbey Sleep Clinic) and a man from the Ministry of Justice to discuss a recent article in which Ben proposed a possible cure to "resignation syndrome," which is when a patient enters a deep sleep, often lasting for years, as a way of directly avoiding trauma. The government wants Ben to conduct an experiment on a notorious (alleged) criminal: a young journalist named Anna Ogilvy, aka "Sleeping Beauty," who's believed to have murdered two people while sleepwalking, and who hasn't woken up in the four years since. The government needs Anna awake so she can stand trial for these murders. Ben, of course, has little choice but to agree, and he begins sensory stimulation therapy, believing that if he can connect Anna's subconscious to happy memories from her childhood, he may be able to wake her. Before she went to sleep, Anna was working to uncover a connection between one of the most notorious English murderers of the 20th century and a secret government experiment called MEDEA. While she might be guilty, Ben realizes that she might also have been a scapegoat for someone else's murderous rage. And if this shadowy someone has previously killed to protect their secret, Anna's waking may put her, and Ben, in danger. From the bowels of a notorious psychiatric hospital to a primeval forest to the sun-drenched beaches of Grand Cayman, Blake's thriller invokes comparisons to Greek tragedies and locked-room mysteries alike, while exploring the additional complicated psychology of sleep and guilt. While this is fully a "whodunit" with an actual solution, it's even more a "whydunit." Once you pick it up, there's no putting it down. Layered and grandly operatic in scope and tension.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 10, 2024
At a remote cottage, Anna sends a WhatsApp message: ""I'm sorry. I think I've killed them."" But when authorities arrive to question Anna and attempt to save two stabbing victims, the woman is fast asleep, a state in which she will remain for years. Did she commit the murders while sleepwalking? Is she actually asleep or is this a years-long ruse? When she begins to stir four years later, Ben Prince, a psychologist specializing in sleep-related crime, rushes to her bedside, hoping to uncover Anna's secrets. Flashing back to Anna's journal before the murders, delving into the lives of Anna's nurse, and giving glimpses of the media fervor attendant to this interesting case, first-time novelist Blake offers many elements that will appeal to readers who prefer their psychological thrillers extra twisty with an innovative premise. Unfortunately, even though Blake alternates perspectives, the voices for his varied characters lack differentiation and he leans on explanations after the fact rather than creating on-page action. A heavy marketing push and comparisons to favorites like Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins will nonetheless draw many readers.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 14, 2024

DEBUT Dr. Benedict Prince, a sleep psychologist focused on those who commit crimes when they sleep, gets assigned to the infamous Anna O case in this strong debut. Anna Ogilvy, a young journalist accused of killing her two friends and business partners while sleepwalking, has been the focus of tabloid stories, podcasts, and true crime documentaries. An added twist to the puzzle is that Anna has not woken up since the crime, descending into a prolonged four-year slumber due to a condition known as resignation syndrome. In seeking to revive Anna, Dr. Prince starts digging into the particulars of the crime and finds a connection to another case of sleepwalking murder, awakening more violence. Using a rotating list of narrators, the story has some lags in pacing and the plot contortions begin to feel contrived when examined too closely, but overall this title is a smart and compelling thriller in a similar vein to Alex Michaelides's The Silent Patient. Readers may be haunted by the question of whether anyone is aware of what they do while sleeping. VERDICT A promising debut with a compelling central mystery that will keep readers guessing.--Jon Jeffryes

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