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Nightwatcher #2
Sleepwalker
Ten years after the catastrophe, a great fallen city has risen again. Ten years after, a horror begins anew . . . or never truly ended.
The nightmare of 9/11 is a distant but still painful memory for Allison Taylor MacKenna—now married to Mack and living in a quiet Westchester suburb. She has moved on with her life ten years after barely escaping death at the hands of New York’s Nightwatcher serial killer. The monster is dead, having recently committed suicide in his prison cell, but something is terribly wrong. Mack has started sleepwalking, with no recollection of where his nighttime excursions are taking him.And here, north of the city, more women are being savagely murdered, their bodies bearing the Nightwatcher’s unmistakable signature.
Suddenly Allison must confront a devastating truth: her life is in jeopardy once again . . . and quite possibly from the man she trusts and loves.
The nightmare of 9/11 is a distant but still painful memory for Allison Taylor MacKenna—now married to Mack and living in a quiet Westchester suburb. She has moved on with her life ten years after barely escaping death at the hands of New York’s Nightwatcher serial killer. The monster is dead, having recently committed suicide in his prison cell, but something is terribly wrong. Mack has started sleepwalking, with no recollection of where his nighttime excursions are taking him.And here, north of the city, more women are being savagely murdered, their bodies bearing the Nightwatcher’s unmistakable signature.
Suddenly Allison must confront a devastating truth: her life is in jeopardy once again . . . and quite possibly from the man she trusts and loves.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published September 25, 2012
88 people are currently reading
885 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Corsi Staub
81 books1,895 followersNew York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub is the award-winning author of more than ninety novels, best known for the single title psychological suspense novels she writes under her own name. Those books and the women’s fiction written under the pseudonym Wendy Markham have also appeared on the USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookscan bestseller lists.
Her current standalone suspense novel, THE OTHER FAMILY, is about a picture-perfect family that that moves into a picture-perfect house. But not everything is as it seems, and the page-turner concludes “with a wallop of a twist,” according to #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben.
Her critically acclaimed Lily Dale traditional mystery series centers around a widowed single mom—and skeptic—who moves to a town populated by spiritualists who talk to the dead. Titles include NINE LIVES; SOMETHING BURIED, SOMETHING BLUE; DEAD OF WINTER; and PROSE AND CONS, with a fifth book under contract.
Wendy has written five suspense trilogies for HarperCollins/William Morrow. The most recent, The Foundlings (LITTLE GIRL LOST, DEAD SILENCE, and THE BUTCHER’S DAUGHTER), spans fifty years in the life of a woman left as a newborn in a Harlem church, now an investigative genealogist helping others uncover their biological roots while still searching for her own.
Written as Wendy Markham, Wendy’s novel HELLO, IT’S ME was a recent Hallmark television movie starring Kellie Martin. Her short story “Cat Got Your Tongue” appeared in R.L. Stine’s MWA middle grade anthology SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN and her short story “The Elephant in the Room” is included in the Anthony Award-nominated inaugural anthology SHATTERING GLASS.
A three-time finalist for the Simon and Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award, she’s won an RWA Rita Award, an RT Award for Career Achievement in Suspense, the 2007 RWA-NYC Golden Apple Award for Lifetime Achievement, and five WLA Washington Irving Prizes for Fiction.
She previously published a dozen adult suspense novels with Kensington Books and the critically-acclaimed young adult paranormal series “Lily Dale” (Walker/Bloomsbury). Earlier in her career, she published a broad range of genres under her own name and pseudonyms, and was a co-author/ghostwriter for several celebrities.
Raised in Dunkirk, NY, Wendy graduated from SUNY Fredonia and launched a publishing career in New York City. She was Associate Editor at Silhouette Books before selling her first novel in 1992. Married with two sons, she lives in the NYC suburbs. An active supporter of the American Cancer Society, she was a featured speaker at Northern Westchester’s 2015 Relay for Life and 2012 National Spokesperson for the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation. She has fostered for various animal rescue organizations.
Her current standalone suspense novel, THE OTHER FAMILY, is about a picture-perfect family that that moves into a picture-perfect house. But not everything is as it seems, and the page-turner concludes “with a wallop of a twist,” according to #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben.
Her critically acclaimed Lily Dale traditional mystery series centers around a widowed single mom—and skeptic—who moves to a town populated by spiritualists who talk to the dead. Titles include NINE LIVES; SOMETHING BURIED, SOMETHING BLUE; DEAD OF WINTER; and PROSE AND CONS, with a fifth book under contract.
Wendy has written five suspense trilogies for HarperCollins/William Morrow. The most recent, The Foundlings (LITTLE GIRL LOST, DEAD SILENCE, and THE BUTCHER’S DAUGHTER), spans fifty years in the life of a woman left as a newborn in a Harlem church, now an investigative genealogist helping others uncover their biological roots while still searching for her own.
Written as Wendy Markham, Wendy’s novel HELLO, IT’S ME was a recent Hallmark television movie starring Kellie Martin. Her short story “Cat Got Your Tongue” appeared in R.L. Stine’s MWA middle grade anthology SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN and her short story “The Elephant in the Room” is included in the Anthony Award-nominated inaugural anthology SHATTERING GLASS.
A three-time finalist for the Simon and Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award, she’s won an RWA Rita Award, an RT Award for Career Achievement in Suspense, the 2007 RWA-NYC Golden Apple Award for Lifetime Achievement, and five WLA Washington Irving Prizes for Fiction.
She previously published a dozen adult suspense novels with Kensington Books and the critically-acclaimed young adult paranormal series “Lily Dale” (Walker/Bloomsbury). Earlier in her career, she published a broad range of genres under her own name and pseudonyms, and was a co-author/ghostwriter for several celebrities.
Raised in Dunkirk, NY, Wendy graduated from SUNY Fredonia and launched a publishing career in New York City. She was Associate Editor at Silhouette Books before selling her first novel in 1992. Married with two sons, she lives in the NYC suburbs. An active supporter of the American Cancer Society, she was a featured speaker at Northern Westchester’s 2015 Relay for Life and 2012 National Spokesperson for the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation. She has fostered for various animal rescue organizations.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
March 17, 2013
This is book two in a series of three. I didn't realize that until I finished this book which ended in a cliff hanger. When I looked for the sequel, I found there was a book preceding this one. Oops. However, the book is a decent read on it's own, and there is plenty of back story so you aren't confused. In fact, there is so much back story, you don't need to read the first one. My main criticism is there is too much repetion about what happened before. I don't need to be constantly reminded that the husband's wife was killed in The Towers, over and over and over again.
November 10, 2012
This was such a good book. The closer I got to the end the more I could not put it down. This is the second book in her new trilogy, the first one I was disapointed in almost did not read this one. I am so glad I did. Can not wait for the third.
June 22, 2016
I really like this series. Even though if you read the first book you know "who did it" it is still good thriller with twists and turns and a cliffhanger ending, can't wait to read the next one!!
August 8, 2025
The series by Wendy Corsi Staub is perfect to listen to. The first book, Nightwatcher, was excellent so I was excited to listen to the next, The Sleepwalker. Set 10 years post 9/11, it had the same characters entwined in a new murder mystery. It held my interest throughout and a lovely surprise at the end, setting up the next series book. I can’t wait to dive in. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
October 15, 2012
Wendy Corsi Staub's novels are very addictive if the reader is looking for great characters, a lot of suspense and don't mind a little cliffhanger at the end. Sleepwalker is the second novel in a trilogy with Allison Taylor now Allison MacKenna as the central character.
Allison met her husband Mack MacKenna when she had an apartment across from Mack and his wife in New York. Mack's wife was killed in the 9-11 tragedy and Allison suffered a tragedy of her own at that time. She discovered the body of Kristina Haines, another resident in the apartment building. Kristina had been brutally murdered. Jerry Thompson, a maintenance man in the apartment building, was convicted of Kristina's murder and sentenced to prison.
Allison and Mack eventually married and now have a wonderful family. Now it is announced on the news that Jerry Thompson has committed suicide and suspicious things begin happening to Allison. She feels that someone has invaded her space but who or how this can happen, she has no idea. Mack is taking medication for his insomnia and Allison catches him walking in his sleep one night. Allison fights back the thoughts that Mack may be the cause of some of the strange little things that are happening.
When Bob Lewis, Allison's neighbor who is out of town, contacts Allison and asks that she go next door and check on his wife Phyllis, Allison agrees. On arriving at the Lewis' home Allison finds that Phyllis has been murdered and in the same manner as Kristina ten years before.
So the nightmare begins again for Allison and her family. Detective Rocky Manzillo, the detective who originally investigated Kristina's death, is called in on the case even though his wife is very ill. It seems that Jerry Thompson is speaking from the grave to those who found him guilty letting all involved know that there is still someone out there who won't be satisfied until Allison and all involved are punished.
The last book in the trilogy is Shadowkiller. I am waiting anxiously for the release of this third book. I would suggest that readers start with the first book in the trilogy but I think the author gives enough background in Sleepwalker to make it an enjoyable read even though you have not read the first book.
Allison met her husband Mack MacKenna when she had an apartment across from Mack and his wife in New York. Mack's wife was killed in the 9-11 tragedy and Allison suffered a tragedy of her own at that time. She discovered the body of Kristina Haines, another resident in the apartment building. Kristina had been brutally murdered. Jerry Thompson, a maintenance man in the apartment building, was convicted of Kristina's murder and sentenced to prison.
Allison and Mack eventually married and now have a wonderful family. Now it is announced on the news that Jerry Thompson has committed suicide and suspicious things begin happening to Allison. She feels that someone has invaded her space but who or how this can happen, she has no idea. Mack is taking medication for his insomnia and Allison catches him walking in his sleep one night. Allison fights back the thoughts that Mack may be the cause of some of the strange little things that are happening.
When Bob Lewis, Allison's neighbor who is out of town, contacts Allison and asks that she go next door and check on his wife Phyllis, Allison agrees. On arriving at the Lewis' home Allison finds that Phyllis has been murdered and in the same manner as Kristina ten years before.
So the nightmare begins again for Allison and her family. Detective Rocky Manzillo, the detective who originally investigated Kristina's death, is called in on the case even though his wife is very ill. It seems that Jerry Thompson is speaking from the grave to those who found him guilty letting all involved know that there is still someone out there who won't be satisfied until Allison and all involved are punished.
The last book in the trilogy is Shadowkiller. I am waiting anxiously for the release of this third book. I would suggest that readers start with the first book in the trilogy but I think the author gives enough background in Sleepwalker to make it an enjoyable read even though you have not read the first book.
January 9, 2013
Rating: 3.5 (entertaining enough...but not strong enough for me to rate a 4)
Sometimes I believe I'm a glutton for punishment.:) I read Nightwatcher and thought it was a good read...even thought it was elongated...and didn't realize that the ending would be a cliffhanger. When I finished Nightwatcher, I wanted to throw the book across the room, but, also, read Sleepwalker and finish the series to see how everything works out.
Sleepwalker started off with a bang for me...and kept me quickly turning the pages...trying to anticipate what would happen next...the same experience I initially had with Nightwatcher. But, like Nightwatcher, the middle was lengthy and saggy, and the ending rushed. Allison worked my nerves with her whininess and Mack, well, he was just clueless. I couldn't believe how everyone seemed to bumble and stumble along...including the policemen. The foreshadowing regarding Mack's 'deceased' ex-wife wasn't so forewarning...her name was mentioned too many times for it to be coincidental.
Well, since I've read two of the three books, I'm now vested in the series...and am looking forward to reading the next/last book if for no reason other than to put myself out of my misery. :)
Sometimes I believe I'm a glutton for punishment.:) I read Nightwatcher and thought it was a good read...even thought it was elongated...and didn't realize that the ending would be a cliffhanger. When I finished Nightwatcher, I wanted to throw the book across the room, but, also, read Sleepwalker and finish the series to see how everything works out.
Sleepwalker started off with a bang for me...and kept me quickly turning the pages...trying to anticipate what would happen next...the same experience I initially had with Nightwatcher. But, like Nightwatcher, the middle was lengthy and saggy, and the ending rushed. Allison worked my nerves with her whininess and Mack, well, he was just clueless. I couldn't believe how everyone seemed to bumble and stumble along...including the policemen. The foreshadowing regarding Mack's 'deceased' ex-wife wasn't so forewarning...her name was mentioned too many times for it to be coincidental.
Well, since I've read two of the three books, I'm now vested in the series...and am looking forward to reading the next/last book if for no reason other than to put myself out of my misery. :)
May 6, 2021
wonderfully frustrating! I can’t think of any other way to say it. As the story continues, from book one, you will find yourself getting more and more frustrated as you get to the end of the book. However, it is a good frustration! The author has drawn out the conclusion, until the absolute very end. Even though you know how it is going to end, there is one little aspect of the entire story that you are just waiting for it to come out. deception, twist interns, trust issues, someone from the past! These are all of the ingredients that we’ve together this wonderful story! Suspense, psychological confusion, thrilling! You will experience them all.
September 1, 2025
This book was pretty on par with the first one. It tried to introduce a new gimmick that could have been really cool but completely fell flat instead. Because of a big reveal at the end of the first book, the reader isn’t allowed to wonder what’s going on in this one. We’re miles ahead of the characters, who spend half the book barking up what we know all along to be the wrong tree. After that first half, though, things start to pick up. The biggest thing going for this book is the main characters, whom I’ve grown attached to throughout this one and the last.
October 27, 2012
Great book from the second half onward. The first half dragged on a bit. I was unsure what I was supposed to feel about Mack. I thought he was just a selfish workaholic and Allison seemed to swing between whiner and Polly- Anna. But then the second part picked up and I did have to do more thinking about the events and past characters and actions. That was great. Loved Rocky and Murph! Looking forward to the third book.
May 5, 2013
Loved this book also! Great second installment in this trilogy, left with a cliffhanger, which i love! On to the next and final book in this series...
October 7, 2012
Best twist at the end that I can ever remember. Can't wait for the 3rd book in February 2013!!
August 7, 2017
In 'Sleepwalker', ten years after the horrifying 9/11 attack, Allison and Mack are happily married with three children but the nightmare isn't over yet. Upon receiving news regarding serial killer Jerry's suicide, they are relieved but Allison still feels strangely unsettled. Soon, the actual murderer strikes again and this time, there's the question of whether Allison and Mack will make it out alive..
Despite the promising premise, the execution itself was a letdown as the story lacked the sense of urgency, suspense and emotional connection that the first installment had. I found Allison and Mack to be oddly disconnected and unconvincing as a couple, probably because of the time jump. Allison used to be interesting and likeable but here she deteriorated into an image-conscious, pretentious mother who raised her kids the way the other mothers around her did. The old Allison would have done things her own way.
Meanwhile, Mack was just as closed off and distant as before. Their two elder children didn't behave or talk like actual children at times. That aside, the crime aspect required suspension of disbelief as one is expected to believe that one person alone can commit a string of murders, plant hidden cameras, break and enter, steal things, frame another person and stalk people within a very short timeframe. The M.O. was drastically different overall. It was too elaborate compared to what this perpetrator would normally do.
It didn't help that Mack's medication played a major role in making him a strong suspect. The criminal's plan relied heavily on this, hence I found it to be conveniently incorporated into the story just to ensure that the could fool the police. Allison and Mack shot themselves in the foot several times. For instance, they could have made use of the nanny cam much earlier on. I'd expected them to be a lot smarter, sharper and more careful thus their terrible decisions and lack of action were disappointing.
Overall, 'Sleepwalker' was uneventful and repetitive for the most part with a rushed resolution. With bland main characters and a stereotypical villain who had the potential to be complex, this installment was simply lacklustre. Also, characters who are supposed to be .
Despite the promising premise, the execution itself was a letdown as the story lacked the sense of urgency, suspense and emotional connection that the first installment had. I found Allison and Mack to be oddly disconnected and unconvincing as a couple, probably because of the time jump. Allison used to be interesting and likeable but here she deteriorated into an image-conscious, pretentious mother who raised her kids the way the other mothers around her did. The old Allison would have done things her own way.
Meanwhile, Mack was just as closed off and distant as before. Their two elder children didn't behave or talk like actual children at times. That aside, the crime aspect required suspension of disbelief as one is expected to believe that one person alone can commit a string of murders, plant hidden cameras, break and enter, steal things, frame another person and stalk people within a very short timeframe. The M.O. was drastically different overall. It was too elaborate compared to what this perpetrator would normally do.
It didn't help that Mack's medication played a major role in making him a strong suspect. The criminal's plan relied heavily on this, hence I found it to be conveniently incorporated into the story just to ensure that the could fool the police. Allison and Mack shot themselves in the foot several times. For instance, they could have made use of the nanny cam much earlier on. I'd expected them to be a lot smarter, sharper and more careful thus their terrible decisions and lack of action were disappointing.
Overall, 'Sleepwalker' was uneventful and repetitive for the most part with a rushed resolution. With bland main characters and a stereotypical villain who had the potential to be complex, this installment was simply lacklustre. Also, characters who are supposed to be .
July 13, 2021
Quick read, but yawn. The characters are one dimensional and stereotypical. I cringed at the dialogue of Rocky and "Murph". It was very choppy. It seemed parts had been added without a final read through. I swear sometimes Mack and Allison were disagreeing about something and a page later they had switched sides on the disagreement.
There is no mystery here. You know who did it early on, even if you did not read the first book. I am not a big fan of villains who are just plain old crazy. And I especially don't like when they are somehow severely mentally ill, had a horrible childhood, but somehow are criminal masterminds who perform their complex crimes flawlessly.
Finally, you have to go along with some very unlikely goings on. A dead woman is found in a nightgown stolen from the Mackenna's house, yet the police dont search their house and no one notices the cameras. Mack takes forever to take seriously the fact that the next door neighbor was murdered in the same way as their neighbor 10 years ago. And the policman's dialogue with Alison in the final scene is ridiculous!
There is no mystery here. You know who did it early on, even if you did not read the first book. I am not a big fan of villains who are just plain old crazy. And I especially don't like when they are somehow severely mentally ill, had a horrible childhood, but somehow are criminal masterminds who perform their complex crimes flawlessly.
Finally, you have to go along with some very unlikely goings on. A dead woman is found in a nightgown stolen from the Mackenna's house, yet the police dont search their house and no one notices the cameras. Mack takes forever to take seriously the fact that the next door neighbor was murdered in the same way as their neighbor 10 years ago. And the policman's dialogue with Alison in the final scene is ridiculous!
March 30, 2018
When a loving family man goes on a drug to help him sleep he begins sleepwalking and not having memories of what he has done during these travels When it looks like he is a murderer he can't remember if he is or not.
April 3, 2019
This is another wonderful addition to the series. More surprises pop up as you follow along. The plot centers around Allison Taylor (now Allison Taylor MacKenna). I enjoyed the suspense and having everything lead up to the next book.
January 28, 2022
Wendi never fails to deliver an awesome book. I found myself second guessing everything on everyone. The only people in the family I knew weren’t guilty were the kids. It was a great book. I read until I fell asleep because I didn’t want to put it down.
June 24, 2018
A serial murderer is stalking the MacKenna family 10 years after the case is thought to have been solved.
September 16, 2020
This is the best written of the trilogy.
November 5, 2020
What a twist!!! Loved this one. So many twists and turns.
April 24, 2023
Round up to 4.5 stars.
May 27, 2024
Conclusion of the night watcher series.
I appreciated the doubt but everlasting love the main character, Alison showed her husband.
I appreciated the doubt but everlasting love the main character, Alison showed her husband.
December 10, 2025
Good story. Flowed smoothly. Last 2 pages were a surprise but perfect leading to next book.
July 11, 2013
Title: Sleepwalker
Author: Wendy Corsi Staub
Length: 432 pages
Publisher: Harper
Published: September 25, 2012
Genres: Suspense, Fiction
Visit my review: http://chorleychronicals.blogspot.com
My Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
Synopsis:
Ten years after the catastrophe, a great fallen city has risen again. Ten years after, a horror begins anew…or never truly ended.
The nightmare of 9/11 is a distant but still painful memory for Allison Taylor MacKenna—now married to Mack and living in a quiet Westchester suburb. She has moved on with her life ten years after barely escaping death at the hands of New York’s Nightwatcher serial killer. The monster is dead, having recently committed suicide in his prison cell, but something is terribly wrong. Mack has started sleepwalking, with no recollection of where his nighttime excursions are taking him. And here, north of the city, more women are being savagely murdered, their bodies bearing the Nightwatcher’s unmistakable signature.
Suddenly Allison must confront a devastating truth: her life is in jeopardy once again…and quite possibly from the man she trusts and loves.
My Review:
Wendy Corsi Staub has done it again!! She has superbly written another intense, gratifying suspense novel, which knocked me off my feet! She is certainly one of the most gifted authors of her genre!! I was thrilled with
Nightwatcher, but when I read the reviews for Sleepwalker, and saw how many people enjoyed this book more than the first in the series, I couldn't wait to get started! It certainly didn't disappoint, even from the very first few words.
Traditionally, I have difficulty getting wrapped up in a book until I get at least a few chapters into it, but there was no such problem with Sleepwalker! The author has me attached from the very first sentence! It took all I had to put down the book until I could come back to it, and each time I came back, it was with waited breath! Never once was I bored with the book or the story, and felt that it flowed smoothly and concisely! Staub was able to carry you though the story with sometimes knowing bits and pieces of what was happening, but never enough to totally understand it until...BAM! It smacks you in the face!
I fell in love with Mack and Allison in the first book, and was so happy to see them get their happily ever after, together! Only, is it a happily ever after, after all? Each character was well described and in depth enough that I could vividly picture each character that I was reading about as if I knew them personally!
Overall, this was a fantastic read that I have not only added to my favorites list, but will recommend to all of my friends! After reading this, it have left me excited and antsy to read the third and final book in this series! I can't wait to see what else Wendy Corsi Staub has in store for us! She has left me wanting more, more more!! I will also pick up some of her other novels, as I believe she has a true writing ability like none other!
Author: Wendy Corsi Staub
Length: 432 pages
Publisher: Harper
Published: September 25, 2012
Genres: Suspense, Fiction
Visit my review: http://chorleychronicals.blogspot.com
My Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
Synopsis:
Ten years after the catastrophe, a great fallen city has risen again. Ten years after, a horror begins anew…or never truly ended.
The nightmare of 9/11 is a distant but still painful memory for Allison Taylor MacKenna—now married to Mack and living in a quiet Westchester suburb. She has moved on with her life ten years after barely escaping death at the hands of New York’s Nightwatcher serial killer. The monster is dead, having recently committed suicide in his prison cell, but something is terribly wrong. Mack has started sleepwalking, with no recollection of where his nighttime excursions are taking him. And here, north of the city, more women are being savagely murdered, their bodies bearing the Nightwatcher’s unmistakable signature.
Suddenly Allison must confront a devastating truth: her life is in jeopardy once again…and quite possibly from the man she trusts and loves.
My Review:
Wendy Corsi Staub has done it again!! She has superbly written another intense, gratifying suspense novel, which knocked me off my feet! She is certainly one of the most gifted authors of her genre!! I was thrilled with
Nightwatcher, but when I read the reviews for Sleepwalker, and saw how many people enjoyed this book more than the first in the series, I couldn't wait to get started! It certainly didn't disappoint, even from the very first few words.
Traditionally, I have difficulty getting wrapped up in a book until I get at least a few chapters into it, but there was no such problem with Sleepwalker! The author has me attached from the very first sentence! It took all I had to put down the book until I could come back to it, and each time I came back, it was with waited breath! Never once was I bored with the book or the story, and felt that it flowed smoothly and concisely! Staub was able to carry you though the story with sometimes knowing bits and pieces of what was happening, but never enough to totally understand it until...BAM! It smacks you in the face!
I fell in love with Mack and Allison in the first book, and was so happy to see them get their happily ever after, together! Only, is it a happily ever after, after all? Each character was well described and in depth enough that I could vividly picture each character that I was reading about as if I knew them personally!
Overall, this was a fantastic read that I have not only added to my favorites list, but will recommend to all of my friends! After reading this, it have left me excited and antsy to read the third and final book in this series! I can't wait to see what else Wendy Corsi Staub has in store for us! She has left me wanting more, more more!! I will also pick up some of her other novels, as I believe she has a true writing ability like none other!
April 25, 2013
This story is second in the Nightwatcher series. In Book 1, Allison, who had escaped a miserable childhood, is living in New York City and working as an editor at a fashion magazine when 9-11 occurs. She and her neighbor Mack's wife are thrown together when Mack's wife Carrie appears to have died in the twin towers. Two women are murdered in their building and the brain damaged handyman Jerry is arrested and convicted due to confessing after cops browbeat him though he did not kill anyone. It was his mentally ill father masquerading in drag and making Jerry think he was Jerry's twin sister Jamie who the crazy dad murdered years ago as a kid after she attacked Jerry and cracked his skull, leaving him brain-damaged.
We now see Mack and Allison 10 years later at the anniversary of 9-11. They have been married for years, have three children (daughters Hudson, 6 and Madison, 4 and baby boy J.J.) and live in a ritzy suburb. Mack is making a lot of money at the ad agency in New York but if racked with guilt over his first wife Carrie. You see, they had been trying to conceive a child through artificial methods and failing and the drugs were making Carrie miserable so she declared the night before 9-11 that she no longer wanted to try to conceive. The next morning, Mack told her he intended to divorce her over it. Those were the last words he got to say to her before the terrorist attack.
Things aren't so great in suburbia. Housewife and mother Allison never gets to see Mack because he works long hours. At night he can't sleep and is grumpy 24/7. She finally talks him into seeing a sleep doctor and he is given sleeping pills that can cause sleepwalking. Mack used to sleepwalk as a boy and now he is not only sleepwalking but sleeptalking and sleep eating them out of house and home. Then one night Allison catches him sleep walking with a knife.
In prison, Jerry is miserable and abused by other inmates. One real creeper tries to talk him into suicide and suddenly Jerry is found dead having had a drink of poisonous cleaning fluid. Incidentally, Jerry had no access to the fluid but his tormentor did (worked in janitorial).
This news has a strong effect on Allison but an even stronger one on Jerry's father, the crazy cross dresser. He had been on meds for years to keep him from feeling crazy but he's off the meds now that he finds out Jerry is dead. He had been saving up money to try to get Jerry a new trial. He now seeks revenge. He's going after the guard who was in charge when Jerry's death occurred, the cop who wrangled the false confession out of Jerry, and Allison is still on his list since she was the one who testified that she had seen Jerry outside the victims' apartments. He isn't interested in killing any of them- just killing those they love the most. Soon Allison finds out and all hell breaks loose.
Jerry's father intends to murder women and make it look like Mack did it. He is clever in doing so and soon Mack is doubting himself, Allison suspects him, and even his friends have doubts. If Mack didn't rape and kill those women, how did his sperm get in them?
I am on to book 3 which from reading a preview is equally shocking. Carrie is not dead- she is in the Caribbean killing women and now has her sights set on returning to the USA to hunt down Mack and Allison!
We now see Mack and Allison 10 years later at the anniversary of 9-11. They have been married for years, have three children (daughters Hudson, 6 and Madison, 4 and baby boy J.J.) and live in a ritzy suburb. Mack is making a lot of money at the ad agency in New York but if racked with guilt over his first wife Carrie. You see, they had been trying to conceive a child through artificial methods and failing and the drugs were making Carrie miserable so she declared the night before 9-11 that she no longer wanted to try to conceive. The next morning, Mack told her he intended to divorce her over it. Those were the last words he got to say to her before the terrorist attack.
Things aren't so great in suburbia. Housewife and mother Allison never gets to see Mack because he works long hours. At night he can't sleep and is grumpy 24/7. She finally talks him into seeing a sleep doctor and he is given sleeping pills that can cause sleepwalking. Mack used to sleepwalk as a boy and now he is not only sleepwalking but sleeptalking and sleep eating them out of house and home. Then one night Allison catches him sleep walking with a knife.
In prison, Jerry is miserable and abused by other inmates. One real creeper tries to talk him into suicide and suddenly Jerry is found dead having had a drink of poisonous cleaning fluid. Incidentally, Jerry had no access to the fluid but his tormentor did (worked in janitorial).
This news has a strong effect on Allison but an even stronger one on Jerry's father, the crazy cross dresser. He had been on meds for years to keep him from feeling crazy but he's off the meds now that he finds out Jerry is dead. He had been saving up money to try to get Jerry a new trial. He now seeks revenge. He's going after the guard who was in charge when Jerry's death occurred, the cop who wrangled the false confession out of Jerry, and Allison is still on his list since she was the one who testified that she had seen Jerry outside the victims' apartments. He isn't interested in killing any of them- just killing those they love the most. Soon Allison finds out and all hell breaks loose.
Jerry's father intends to murder women and make it look like Mack did it. He is clever in doing so and soon Mack is doubting himself, Allison suspects him, and even his friends have doubts. If Mack didn't rape and kill those women, how did his sperm get in them?
I am on to book 3 which from reading a preview is equally shocking. Carrie is not dead- she is in the Caribbean killing women and now has her sights set on returning to the USA to hunt down Mack and Allison!
April 9, 2013
Story Description:
HarperCollins|September 25, 2012|Mass Market|ISBN: 978-0-06-207030-2
Ten years after the catastrophe, a great fallen city has risen again. Ten years after, a horror begins anew…or new truly ended.
The nightmare of 9/11 is a distant but still painful memory for Allison Taylor MacKenna – now married to Mack and living in a quiet Westchester suburb. She has moved on with her life ten years after barely escaping death at the hands of New York’s Nightwatcher serial killer. The monster is dead, having recently committed suicide in his prison cell, but something is terribly wrong. Mack has started sleepwalking, with no recollection of where his nightmare excursions are taking him. And here, north of the city, more women are being savagely murdered, their bodies bearing the Nightwatcher’s unmistakable signature.
Suddenly Allison must confront a devastating truth, her life is in jeopardy once again…and quite possibly from the man she trusts and loves.
My Review:
The terror continues for Allison in this second book and it’s real. Her guard was down for a while and she was living happily with Mack and their three children: Hudson, Madison and J.J. until she heard on the news that the man responsible for killing all those people ten years ago committed suicide in prison. Everything comes flooding back to Allison and she knows in her heart of hearts that something is wrong, something is amiss.
Mack, with his lifelong insomnia has begun taking a new drug to help him sleep but one of the side effects is sleepwalking. He gets up and eats during the night and does all sorts of crazy things but has no recollection in the morning when he wakes that he’d done any of it.
Then, Allison’s next door neighbour turns up dead and she finds the body. The signature of the killer is the same and Allison knows for sure then that he’s back and that she’s next. Or is he back. How can he be when he just committed suicide in prison and then it dawns on her…Mack! His sleepwalking is unpredictable. Is Allison safe in her own home?
This was another sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat read and you won’t be able to turn the pages fast enough to get through this suspenseful thriller. This is Wendy Corsi Staub at her best!
HarperCollins|September 25, 2012|Mass Market|ISBN: 978-0-06-207030-2
Ten years after the catastrophe, a great fallen city has risen again. Ten years after, a horror begins anew…or new truly ended.
The nightmare of 9/11 is a distant but still painful memory for Allison Taylor MacKenna – now married to Mack and living in a quiet Westchester suburb. She has moved on with her life ten years after barely escaping death at the hands of New York’s Nightwatcher serial killer. The monster is dead, having recently committed suicide in his prison cell, but something is terribly wrong. Mack has started sleepwalking, with no recollection of where his nightmare excursions are taking him. And here, north of the city, more women are being savagely murdered, their bodies bearing the Nightwatcher’s unmistakable signature.
Suddenly Allison must confront a devastating truth, her life is in jeopardy once again…and quite possibly from the man she trusts and loves.
My Review:
The terror continues for Allison in this second book and it’s real. Her guard was down for a while and she was living happily with Mack and their three children: Hudson, Madison and J.J. until she heard on the news that the man responsible for killing all those people ten years ago committed suicide in prison. Everything comes flooding back to Allison and she knows in her heart of hearts that something is wrong, something is amiss.
Mack, with his lifelong insomnia has begun taking a new drug to help him sleep but one of the side effects is sleepwalking. He gets up and eats during the night and does all sorts of crazy things but has no recollection in the morning when he wakes that he’d done any of it.
Then, Allison’s next door neighbour turns up dead and she finds the body. The signature of the killer is the same and Allison knows for sure then that he’s back and that she’s next. Or is he back. How can he be when he just committed suicide in prison and then it dawns on her…Mack! His sleepwalking is unpredictable. Is Allison safe in her own home?
This was another sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat read and you won’t be able to turn the pages fast enough to get through this suspenseful thriller. This is Wendy Corsi Staub at her best!
February 11, 2016
Hmph. When you're on a roll, you're on a roll and here we are, once again, mid-series. I've really got to start paying better attention but honestly, nothing on the cover even hinted this was part of a series. The front cover that is ... I just took a quick glance and fell for the "if you like Mary Higgins Clark," which I did back in the day, blurb. If I had bothered to look at the back cover I'd have see the "how it all began" advert for the first book. Ah well, such is life. When you have ten minutes to paw through the Friend of the Library book sale offerings you don't spend a lot of time because you're not spending a lot of money so if it looks remotely interesting it's worth the 50 cents, which is all in a good cause so how wrong can you go?
Fortunately this book stood quite well on it's own and kept me turning the pages at every opportune and some not so opportune moments. Good thriller that kept me guessing. I like how the author also kept our heroine guessing as well. Said heroine was a witness in a murder investigation some years past and has built herself a very happy life out in the burbs when the man she testified committed the murder suddenly commits suicide in prison. There are questions as to how and why the convicted would commit suicide and since he's a few bricks shy of a full load how he mustered the wherewithal to do so. After a brief period of, he's dead, now we can relax time passes, previous doubts about her testimony and the criminals confessions arise and then things start really happening. Fine escapist reading. Good enough I will be checking out the third installment and other offerings by Staub because escapist reading is really a necessity.
Lovely escapist reading.
Fortunately this book stood quite well on it's own and kept me turning the pages at every opportune and some not so opportune moments. Good thriller that kept me guessing. I like how the author also kept our heroine guessing as well. Said heroine was a witness in a murder investigation some years past and has built herself a very happy life out in the burbs when the man she testified committed the murder suddenly commits suicide in prison. There are questions as to how and why the convicted would commit suicide and since he's a few bricks shy of a full load how he mustered the wherewithal to do so. After a brief period of, he's dead, now we can relax time passes, previous doubts about her testimony and the criminals confessions arise and then things start really happening. Fine escapist reading. Good enough I will be checking out the third installment and other offerings by Staub because escapist reading is really a necessity.
Lovely escapist reading.
June 15, 2013
I knew it! I knew in the first book "Nightwatcher"! I always said to myself, what if Carrie WASN'T killed in the WTC on Sept 11, but used it as an escape instead? I mean, bodies weren't exactly found. And as the final pages of this book prove, that seems to be just the case. But what havoc does she not end to wreak on Mack and Allison? I'll guess I'll have to wait and see when I start the third book tomorrow....lol
As for this book - brilliant! I'd actually started this book first nod was about two chapters in when I discovered it was a second book in a trilogy. So I found myself the first book an read that before delving any further into this one. I enjoyed both bookends their own right, as well as together. I mean, despite Mack's sleepwalking, we all KNOW Jamie/Sam is he one behind the murders, and framing Mack for it. So you can't help feeling frustrated when the cops are looking n the wrong direction. I mean Rocky suspects and you just want to push him a little further, but when evidence says otherwise it's hard to argue with that. But still WE as the readers know differently, and just know that Jamie/Sam had managed it someway we have yet to discover. And now that it has all come together and Jamie is finally dead (again) and Sam is now too...we're left with the parting chapter revealing Carrie to be alive after all. So...what next? I can't wait to find out!
As for this book - brilliant! I'd actually started this book first nod was about two chapters in when I discovered it was a second book in a trilogy. So I found myself the first book an read that before delving any further into this one. I enjoyed both bookends their own right, as well as together. I mean, despite Mack's sleepwalking, we all KNOW Jamie/Sam is he one behind the murders, and framing Mack for it. So you can't help feeling frustrated when the cops are looking n the wrong direction. I mean Rocky suspects and you just want to push him a little further, but when evidence says otherwise it's hard to argue with that. But still WE as the readers know differently, and just know that Jamie/Sam had managed it someway we have yet to discover. And now that it has all come together and Jamie is finally dead (again) and Sam is now too...we're left with the parting chapter revealing Carrie to be alive after all. So...what next? I can't wait to find out!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2013
Very good book!!!! Wendy Corsi Staub really takes you to that place where suspense really happens!
This book is the 2nd of this series, which started with Nightwalker! The first book starts the day before September 11, 2001, and continues on September 12, 2001. It follows Rocky Manzillo, Allison Taylor, James "Mack" MacKenna, where they are all affected by what happens on that fateful day.
Sleepwalker is 10 years later, with Mack and Allison married with 3 children. They now live in Westchester, having moved out of the city years earlier. What occurred on September 12, 2001 haunts Allison when she hears that Jerry Thompson, the alleged Nightwalker, has committed suicide in prison. Allison is brought back to the day she found her neighbor Kristen dead in her apartment, wearing lingerie that was not her own.
Forward 10 years to 2011, and the "Nightwalker" seems to have come back, but with one twist, his signature has changed in the killings from 2001. Rocky Manzillo, who was on the original case back in 2001 is contacted when a couple of women are murdered in Westchester, who bear a significant attachment to the original case.
I highly recommend reading both books to get an understanding of what actually transpired in each case!
This book is the 2nd of this series, which started with Nightwalker! The first book starts the day before September 11, 2001, and continues on September 12, 2001. It follows Rocky Manzillo, Allison Taylor, James "Mack" MacKenna, where they are all affected by what happens on that fateful day.
Sleepwalker is 10 years later, with Mack and Allison married with 3 children. They now live in Westchester, having moved out of the city years earlier. What occurred on September 12, 2001 haunts Allison when she hears that Jerry Thompson, the alleged Nightwalker, has committed suicide in prison. Allison is brought back to the day she found her neighbor Kristen dead in her apartment, wearing lingerie that was not her own.
Forward 10 years to 2011, and the "Nightwalker" seems to have come back, but with one twist, his signature has changed in the killings from 2001. Rocky Manzillo, who was on the original case back in 2001 is contacted when a couple of women are murdered in Westchester, who bear a significant attachment to the original case.
I highly recommend reading both books to get an understanding of what actually transpired in each case!
December 24, 2013
Sleepwalker by Wendy Corsi Staub is all about a father who seeks revenge on people he feels are responsible for his son's imprisonment and subsequent death. This book is gruesome and the killer is a real creepy mean person who goes to extreme lengths to make others lives miserable. Allison McKenna's testimony at his son's trial is what convinced the jury to convict him so the father lives to make her pay. Allison, Mack and their three little kids kept me reading. Once Mack starts sleepwalking as a side effect from his medication, things start picking up and get very interesting.
This book started out slow for me and I almost gave up on it because of how mean and creepy the killer is. It is not you basic who done it because right from the start you know who the killer is. The "mystery" of it is if Allison and Mack will be able to stay safe and keep their happy family together. I'm glad I finished it and didn't quit on it. If you like creepy books, I recommend it.
(Karen's review)
This book started out slow for me and I almost gave up on it because of how mean and creepy the killer is. It is not you basic who done it because right from the start you know who the killer is. The "mystery" of it is if Allison and Mack will be able to stay safe and keep their happy family together. I'm glad I finished it and didn't quit on it. If you like creepy books, I recommend it.
(Karen's review)
March 6, 2014
This is the second book in the series. It picks up with Allison and Mack happily married with three children. Allison's eyewitness account of seeing Jerry, the handyman, in the hallway after her friend had been murdered helps send Jerry to jail. Mack, who as a child sleep walked, suffers from insomnia. Allison convinces Mack to see a doctor, who prescribes sleeping pills. The side effect causes sleepwalking. Allison discovers that Mack must be sleepwalking again, because he is having lots of late night snacks, and he looks like he is gaining weight. Mack, on the other hand hasn't slept better. Suddenly, the murders begin again..but, Jerry was convicted and is serving time in jail. Other strange things begin to happen, a piece of clothing belonging to Allison turns up missing, and Allison once again, finds herself thrown into a nightmare when she finds her next door neighbor murdered exactly how she found her other neighbor years ago. Suspicion is cast on Mack and Allison has a memory of Mack sleepwalking with a knife. Jerry, was found dead in his cell....it's not over!
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