Don't Close Your Eyes

by P.S. Cunliffe

One missing person. Ten sleepless nights. Whatever happens, don't close your eyes...

Catherine is frantic. It's her husband Simon's turn to take their son to nursery and he's nowhere to be seen. He promised he'd be here. So, where is he? And why isn't he taking her calls?

Her worst fears are soon realised when the police arrive at her door to tell her that Simon is missing, presumed dead. Refusing to accept that he's gone, Catherine spends her days retracing his last steps, and her nights searching the streets in desperation.

She will not rest, she will not sleep, until she's put her family back together.

The days merge into one, and things quickly unravel. Then comes another knock at the door. This time, a young woman. A stranger. Who tells Catherine she doesn't know her husband at all. That their whole life is a lie.

Catherine needs to know the truth. She needs to find Simon more than ever.

The body can't survive for more than 10 days without sleep. Will Catherine find her husband and uncover the truth, before it's too late?

Genres: Thriller, Audiobook, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Contemporary

396 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2023

Reviews

[Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not close my eyes
while reading "Don't Close Your Eyes".

WHY?

From start to finish, the book was riveting and unputdownable.

One missing person, ten sleepless nights.....

And the passionate love two deeply flawed women once had for a troubled, conniving, and wickedly evil man.

I was surprised to learn that this perfectly plotted, twisty, and gripping thriller was penned by a first-time author.

I listened to the full-cast audiobook read by Amy Noble and Ben Caplan.

Both narrators gave Academy Award performances.

Five enthusiastic stars!

[margaret Paterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this read and the storyline but was frustrated by the repetitive nature of the ‘sleeplessness’ thread which became very annoying.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

For my full review, visit me at https://mrsbrownsbooks.wordpress.com/...

This book was a disappointment because there were no surprises to the plot. The writer indicates answers very early on in the plot so reading the story is just a case of waiting for the characters to cotton on to the truth. This made the book frustrating and I just didn’t get any sense of suspense or tension, more frustration about the naivety of the characters.

[Kael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’d love to read just one domestic thriller where the women characters aren’t excruciatingly in denial.
Also predictable.

[Lani (I’m here for the books) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 stars. It didn’t pick up any speed until the last few chapters. That’s too long for me. There was some suspense in the beginning and very little action until the end. Why didn’t Catherine just go to sleep, even a little cat nap. Why was she so determined to stay awake and find that man? I know it went hand in hand with the story, but sleep would’ve made her that much more prepared and ready for whatever the hell went on in this book that could’ve been told and wrapped up in the first three chapters.

[Natalie "Curling up with a Coffee and a Kindle" Laird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one.
My followers know I love a book about missing people, so I couldn't pass up on this one!
It was a fast read, engaging from the start and definitely keeps you guessing. I liked it so much, I've heard the audio is excellent so I'm buying that to experience it all again!

[Millie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this book purely because I hate to not finish a book.

[Brittany McCann · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has more holes than a colander.

Based on the reviews, I swear I read a different book.

All I can do is rate my experience with this; it was a struggle.

There was just barely enough going on that would cause me to keep giving it a chance, but I don't know that it was worth it.

Don't even get me started on using sleep deprivation as an unreliable narrator slant.
The way P.S. Cunliffe tries to show sleep deprivation with her constant never-knowing what the word for something was so cringe. Maybe a couple of times, but it got super annoying and overdone.

By the time the end comes around, there is FINALLY something thrilling going on... There was no secret, and I couldn't even care; I just wanted it to end.

Not much of a thriller, barely a mystery, just kind of a strange contemporary book that got you too intimate with characters whose lives didn't really matter to me.

1.5 stars.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audio.

Seriously? Do I care that someone was pushed? I mean… they didn’t die. (Love me a good murder story).

And Catherine, take a nap. How did she go from absolutely NO energy to the end where she bursts out with battling “him”? The constant reminder of her exhaustion had me rolling my eyes.

I didn’t find there was enough meat in this story to keep my interest. I did finish, but could have easily set it aside at the 50% mark.

[Den · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise was a good idea, but the story lacked substance for so much of it. It was quite predicable 1/3 of the way through and while the theme of sleep deprivation was interesting, at some point it becomes too ridiculous. Catherine’s stubbornness to stay awake the whole time was bizarre and illogical. I would just wish that the characters in stories such as this quit falling into habits and actions that aren’t realistic. I mean, when Catherine realizes she is impeding investigations and is risking her child’s welfare, she decides to push that aside and pursue whether her husband is alive? That and not listening to the police at the end? These decisions were only to push the story along and seemed like the thought process of a character in a c-rated film. Maybe I’ll reread it after not sleeping for a few days and see if the book hits differently.

[Devan Willett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m actually SHOOK that this has a 4 star rating. It was a generous 2.5 for me. This book was appalling long. I’m willing to bet that 100 pages of needless description could have been cut in the editing process. Furthermore, why do women in these domestic thriller books need to look so darn helpless and stupid? My Lord, I thought we were past this in 2023.

[Ciara Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed listening to the audio on Chirp. As for the book itself, it felt very drawn out & tedious at times, a little confusing here and there at first, but I’m glad I stuck with it! The different twists and angles were pretty good, some kinda easy to guess, some not so much. The ending was pretty good I thought. - I don’t think I would’ve stuck with it if I hadn’t been listening to the audio though.

[Mariam Salahudeen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but it did not deliver on the thrill factor. The premise is interesting, but the overall lack of suspense was a letdown.
The reader knows pretty much everything, and the story depends on the characters finding out the truth. Sadly, it's quite predictable.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot was too predictable from the very beginning.

[Natalie Mackay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t waste your time.

[Phoebe Tweed · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book I’ve read in a while and loved it. Normally one for a romance but this had me hooked. Can’t wait to read more by this author. Onto the next …

[Fredi Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay, however very predictable early on, writing style was mild.

I feel this would make a good ITV 9pm 2 part series because so little actually happened over 10 days, probably could have been better written and half the pages.

Was not a fan of the constant reminder of Catherine's exhaustion, I think it was a bit boring how repetitive that was. Bit contradictory of what she could and couldn't do. Couldn't string a sentence together, would forget words, would find the strength to drag her son across the city in the hunt for Dylan.

Also when stories like this are set in London, you can always sense when the writer is an outsider, it's very cliché with all the locations, descriptors and the characters who are included.

Would give this a 2.5 because it's okay, I wanted to see Simon/Adam locked up, pity it had the "and then he was hit by a bus" type ending, boring!

[Donna Mallery · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn’t a bad story. It was interesting and had a decent plot. I’m not sure if it’s my mood or what, but the book was just a little slow for me. Probably 3.4. The other reviews are probably more accurate as I switch back and forth between 3 or 4 stars.

[Katherine Strand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid thriller... but I am someone who will never understand a person's resistance to go to sleep 😆 just sleep Catherine, please just sleep.

[Sherrill Carper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Agonizingly slow. Could not wait for it to be over and was determined to get all the way through it and glad when it was over. I hate to give such a low rating but I also fall into the 2-star club.

[Meagan | Mysteries & Mezcal · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is predictable, the main characters are gullible, and the author takes entirely too long to get to the point.

[Paige Ogden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was torn between giving this one two or three stars. I think 2.5/5 might be it for me. I started off interested in the story, but felt like it dragged on. There were long sections in the book where the story was stagnant and I wasn’t reading anything new. Because of that, it didn’t keep my attention + focus fully. I just wanted the book to end.

Simon’s wife + mistress are both in complete denial over the kind of man that Simon is. His actions show his character and neither of them want to believe it which honestly can be frustrating to see as a reader. No amount of emotion/feeling they have for this man will change what he did and the evidence of it that comes up.

His wife, Catherine, seemed blind to a lot of his actions and wasn’t invested in their marriage either. Her actions after she finds out he’s missing presumed dead are driven by her guilt. She’s defensive when questioned by police and refuses to sleep while Simon is missing. She put her son in danger and imo ended up worse off in all the situations she was in due to hallucinating, weakness, brain fog, etc.

Sara, the mistress, fed into all the lies Simon fed her. I almost felt bad for her, but also - people treat you how they feel about you. Refusing to believe what they show you will never be to your benefit.

I felt like Lydia’s story was too brief. I didn’t really care for any of the characters.

This book had good ratings, but I was not a big fan.

[Amy Binns · Rating 1 out of 5]

what’s the point in telling the reader pretty much everything and then just waiting for the two main protagonists to catch up? also without there being another massive twist? it was long and drawn out too and i guess the author created a new way to make the narrator unreliable but for the love of god refusing to sleep just bc? and forgetting words constantly? there’s better ways to display forgetfulness with lack of sleep. i just got annoyed and couldn’t be bothered to read the last 40% especially when AGAIN the plot twists was basically told to in chapters rather you rather than showing you.

[Annette (Mummy B Movie) Yale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very disappointed in this book. It started out really good. But the characters are so thick and unlikeable I wanted to put them all to sleep. Realistically this would be a very short story. As every health care worker has a duty of care. They would have called an ambulance for Cath after taking her vitals signs and Seeing how sleep deprived she was. As a doctor she would know that sleep, even with medication would enable her to better care for her son, mother, or any of the morons in this book.

[Beth Ashcroft · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was kinda predictable but I loved it. Classic modern day thriller, and easy to read. I like how there was a recording in between chapters that made sense sooner rather than later. I'd recommend!

[beereadsxo · Rating 4 out of 5]

From start to finish this book has you hooked!

The multiple POVS tell a story in just enough detail to leave you guessing until their next chapter, but plenty to keep you on edge and enthralled.

I loved the MC, Catherine’s storyline. With her lack of sleep causing her serious memory issues, the internal dialogue made it so believable that she was struggling, and almost bought the issue to life. Anyone who’s suffered with severe sleep loss will know how difficult it is to function and I genuinely believed everything Catherine/the author was saying!

There were huge plot twists but they were also woven into the story throughout, so there were no dramatic plot twists that shocked you as such, as you were given little Easter eggs of the development but by bit, thus enabling the reader to ‘guess’ what was happening or going to happen. These ‘twists’ didn’t pack a punch like a lot of the psychological thrillers I usually read, however in this book it worked really well.

I felt the ending was slightly rushed, it was almost as if the writer himself has run out of steam 😅 I would have liked to read more about Catherine and Sara individually after everything that happened as they really did have quite a traumatic time!

I was gifted this book, and I’m reviewing this as part of a book tour so catch me on Instagram @bookstabee_ for the final post!

[Leigh Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit tedious and long. It was a good plot but it could have been so much better. The ending, well it was confusing. The author took the whole story by several individuals angle, and I did like it, but none of it matched up in the end. So many things didn’t make sense, and seemed very corny.

[Onai · Rating 3 out of 5]

In its defence, this book does get much better in the second half… I was ready to DNF halfway through it…

[Rhea · Rating 1 out of 5]

No….no….no…..all I can say is thank goodness I am finished with this book. First of all; it took about the first 10 chapter to figure out who everyone was because so many useless people were introduced that had no bearing on the rest of the story.
Oh my gosh…..this book is sooooooo boring!!!! There is SO much detail about everything, but not in the descriptive way that helps you imagine yourself in that situation; but instead….in a way that is “over explaining.”
Catherine; the wife…..every single one of her chapters is nothing but pointless “fluff” writing. She cannot sleep because her husband is missing. She cannot find the right words because she cannot sleep. She is having trouble with her coordination because of lack of sleep….yah-da-daaa…🙄
Sara, the “side piece” cannot figure out he is two timing her when ALL the clues are right there.
Possible spoiler alert ahead:
So, Catherine is married to Simon who always works late….red flag….they have a son named Charlie. Simon goes missing…in the meantime he is spending sometime at Sara’s house but at odd times and hours. WAKE UP GIRL!!! He is married. 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️….Simon becomes obsessed with a podcast about the London Bridge pusher? “I don’t remember if that’s right….” Simon deals with Dylan; then creeps around his wife’s house for a week moving stuff and taking passports??? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Then, he takes their son. Catherine and Sara set out to find him. It’s all unravels exactly how you expected. No surprises. The End.🤯
Will NOT recommend to my worst enemy. 🤔☺️

[Beth Behle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve been on a thriller kick recently and picked this one up randomly. It was so predictable, and why were all the reveals so early? The last 20% was a struggle to get through.

If you have any thrillers you’d recommend, comment below.