Don't Wake Up
- Liz Lawler
- Jul 22, 2017
- 2 min read
From the very first words of this excellent debut by Liz Lawler, we feel the chilling horror of Alex's realisation of what's happening to her. She slowly wakes to the sounds of beeps and metal instruments but is still in the grips of anaesthesia to be clear what's being done to her. She's an emergency room doctor at the hospital and is comforted by the familiar sounds.
She's thinking hard – what can have happened to her, has she been in an accident? As she looks down, she sees that she has a green operating gown on, her thighs are up and calves in stirrups, her arms are velcroed down and her head in blocks with a neck collar, all holding her still. Then the only person in the room with her, a doctor, tells her there's nothing wrong with her. Alex is seething at her treatment, then the doctor tells her to shut up or her lips will be stapled together. Terror runs through her veins, this obviously isn't a real doctor and she's being held on an operating table in a compromising position at the mercy of this person. From here on, the story becomes a real page turner. It becomes very clear in the first few chapters that Dr Alex Taylor isn't believed. She claims she was kidnapped and possibly raped, but all examinations of her show nothing has happened to her body. She is so frustrated by her situation – she knows this was real, it really happened to her but no one will accept it as true.
When another young woman turns up at the emergency room in strange circumstances, and then yet another close to dead actually in Alex's parking space outside her home, things really start hotting up. What is the connection? Have they got similarities with Alex's unexplainable experience?
Alex's personal life is pulled apart, her past, her relationships and her mental state. The characters are well drawn and the hospital emergency room and procedures feels very real. I just felt that the story was a little bit too far fetched – all the pieces fell in front of Alex, but it does make a very good fast paced read, perfect for lovers of chilling thrillers and suspense.