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While You Sleep

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While You Sleep

By: Stephanie Merritt
Narrated by: Caitlin Thorburn
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About this listen

A PACY, CHILLING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO STOP READING!

A house full of secrets…
The McBride house lies on a remote Scottish island, isolated and abandoned. A century ago, a young widow and her son died mysteriously there. Last year a local boy, visiting for a dare, disappeared without a trace.

A woman alone at night…
For Zoe Adams, the house offers an escape from her failing marriage. But when night falls, her peaceful retreat is disrupted—scratches at the door, strange voices—and Zoe is convinced she is being watched.

A threat that lurks in the shadows…
The locals tell Zoe the incidents are merely echoes of the house’s dark past. Zoe is sure the danger is all too real—but can she uncover the truth before she is silenced?

©2018 Stephanie Merritt (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Ghosts Gothic Psychological Supernatural Suspense Scary Paranormal Haunted Fiction Highlander
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Critic reviews

‘Creepy, clever, atmospheric, a fabulous Gothic thriller’ Kate Mosse

‘Atmospheric, spellbinding – as haunting as the best of Du Maurier, as psychologically astute as Kate Atkinson. Read it and shiver’ A. J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

‘A contemporary, edgy and, at times, terrifying tale’ Daily Mail

‘Fast-paced, psychologically astute and intensely atmospheric, this is a real page-turner that builds to a gripping dénouement’ Mail on Sunday

‘Alarmingly unnerving…deliciously gothic’ Observer

‘Creepy psychological thriller about secrets’ Sun

‘Pure edge-of-the-seat stuff: a fantastically entertaining, yet deeply unsettling read’ Julie Myerson

‘Forget sleep – this broodingly creepy gothic tale of love, lust and loss on a remote Scottish island kept me awake most of the night, partly from fear, but mostly because I couldn't put it down’ Fiona Neill, bestselling author of The Betrayals

‘The isolated setting, unreliable narrator, and menacing cast of characters all come together for a genuinely terrifying read!’ Amy Engel, bestselling author of The Roanoke Girls

‘A sumptuously written contemporary Gothic thriller…at turns chilling, poignant, and sensuous’ Gregg Hurwitz, bestselling author of Orphan X

‘While You Sleep makes for utterly riveting bedtime reading. Steph has taken familiar ingredients and made something fresh and frankly terrifying from them. I loved it’ Andrew Taylor, bestselling author of The Ashes of London

‘Sexy, scary and gripping’ Cass Green, bestselling author of In a Cottage In a Wood

‘A genuinely terrifying, unsettlingly erotic blend of supernatural and physical peril’ Irish Times

‘Merritt…lifts this bone-chiller far above the usual ghost story’ Good Housekeeping

‘Atmospheric’ Sunday Times Culture Magazine

‘A spine-chilling Gothic suspense novel’ Red Magazine

‘Hits a midpoint between Broadchurch and Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’ Guardian

‘A witty psychological ghost story’ Guardian Review

What listeners say about While You Sleep

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Dodgy Scottish Accents

Terrible “Scottish” accents. The Scottish characters did not sound Scottish and the Islanders seemed to speak in a raspy whisper that was very annoying. The narrator’s speaking voice and American accents were lovely- just a dire attempt at sounding Scottish. The Story however, held my interest until the end.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

So-so.

I enjoyed this book on the whole but there was something a little disappointing about the storyline and its conclusion. I think I also got rather fed up with Zoe's constant irritation with pretty much every person who tried to help her.

The accents were also pretty dreadful at the start although they did improve.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

While you sleep by Stephanie Merritt

This was a creepy paranormal thriller, which had it all. Ghosts, evil, dead children, younger lover, bad men, winds, storms, thunder, lightning.
It was a really good book to listen too and an enjoyable read.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Story with no depth

Really not impressed with this audio book. So many loose ends that are meant to create a mysterious atmosphere, but really just led to annoyance in my case. Performance was fine.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

My ears are bleeding!

A reasonable story but oh my god the narration!!! This narrator has single handed affronted the entire Scottish nation with her attempts at a Scottish accent. She sounds like Frank Carson with throat cancer having a stroke!! Totally spoilt what is otherwise a reasonably good story. I dreaded the parts where I knew she was about to murder the accent again like one would anticipate nails being scraped down a blackboard. Story would transfer well to screen so long as they use ACTUAL Scottish actors and would be good in paper/kindle format.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Accents!

Please, for the love of your listeners, stop trying to put on accents that you aren't familiar with. Listening to someone mutilate the story line with a gross approximation really spoils things.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Dreadful accents put me off this ghost story

Since the story takes place in Scotland it might have been sensible to get a narrator who could manage the accents. Male characters sound particularly odd - even the English ones. It has put me off finishing the book even though I’m enjoying the story.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Ok

Story was ok but spoiled somewhat by the narration. Misplaced emphasis and pauses made it more difficult to listen to. Ending rather predictable.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

This audio was riving. well written, well read. superb story that you just have to keep on listening to. Highly recomended.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Really enjoyed this&the narration is BRILLIANT!

This is totally my kind of book in every way, brilliantly atmospheric and creepy. Yes the Scottish accent isn’t the greatest (i am also Scottish) but the whole book is not just that character so the negative reviews are not justified because the narration of every single other character was WONDERFUL!💯👏🏽
Caitlin (the narrator) has a beautiful voice and read this book exactly as it should have been read! She done her very best and tried obviously VERY hard to do the Scottish accent which isn’t easy to do, and after a while I actually didn’t mind it whatsoever and grew to like it! It certainly wasn’t a problem or was I giving up on the brilliant story because of 1 characters voice! Thoroughly enjoyed this in every way! Brilliant book and BRILLIANT narration! Well done Caitlin! Thank you audible for another AMAZING book!💯💯💯💯👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽♥️xxx

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1 person found this helpful