The title of Megan Goldin's latest thriller, STAY AWAKE, is important. In fact, it’s been vital to the survival of Liv Reese. Why must she stay awake? Why has she written those words on her arms? On the doors? Why are exhortations like this posted and written everywhere: stay awake, don't trust anyone, don't sleep?

What we know from the first page is that Liv has problems remembering things. For example, she doesn't know why she has a bloody butcher knife in the pocket of her cardigan. She doesn't know why someone else is living in her apartment or why it's been totally redecorated. She doesn't know why her roommate, Amy, isn’t answering the phone, nor does her boyfriend, Marco.

"The dialogue is realistic and the action nonstop. The scenes where things are happening to Liv and she doesn't know why are surreal and, in a sense, frightening..."

The novel is cleverly told from Liv’s perspective in the present, with the day of the week and time specified at the beginning of each chapter, as well as in the past (two years ago, to be exact). At the start, we see that Liv has memory issues and doesn't know how she came to be in a cab at night. She last remembered being in her office and answering the phone. Two detectives are assigned to solve the murder in which she is implicated. While both of Liv's points of view are in first person, we hear from the detectives in an equally significant third person narrative, our interactions with them also clearly denoted with the day and time.

Goldin's ability to weave the plot and keep us guessing, wondering exactly what happened and who did it, is masterful. We come to like Liv and want to believe that she wouldn't seriously harm anyone, but the evidence is stacked against her. Either she's psychotic, killing people and not remembering it, or she's the victim of a carefully laid plot to ensnare her so that she looks like the guilty party to all the world. We keep reading to find out who the puppeteer is and what happens to Liv.

The dialogue is realistic and the action nonstop. The scenes where things are happening to Liv and she doesn't know why are surreal and, in a sense, frightening; we can only imagine how we would react if we were going through something like this. My only frustration with an ending that was truly fabulous is that I wanted to know what happened to Liv's one-eyed cat, Shawna. I would like to imagine that Liv went to the shelter and rescued her. But that's a minor point in a book that delivers big for fans of gripping thrillers with a unique twist.