Sleepless by Louise Mumford is a gripping debut, just don’t read it late at night…

Sleepless is the thrilling and gripping debut from Louise Mumford. In the summer of 2019, Louise experienced a once-in-a-lifetime moment: she was discovered as a new writer by her publisher at the Primadonna Festival. Everything has been a bit of a whirlwind since then.

Louise was born in South Wales. From a young age she loved books and dancing, but hated having to go to sleep, convinced that she might miss out on something interesting happening in the world whilst she dozed – much to her mother’s frustration! Insomnia has been a part of her life ever since.

She studied English Literature at university and graduated with first-class honours. As a teacher, she tried to pass on her love of reading to her students (and discovered that the secret to successful teaching is… stickers! She is aware that that is, essentially, bribery.)

Louise lives in Cardiff with her husband and spends her time trying to get down on paper all the marvellous and frightening things that happen in her head much like her first thriller Sleepless.

Don’t close your eyes. Don’t fall asleep. Don’t let them in.

Thea is an insomniac; she hasn’t slept more than three hours a night for years.

So when an ad for a sleep trial that promises to change her life pops up on her phone, Thea knows this is her last chance at finding any kind of normal life.

Soon Thea’s sleeping for longer than she has in a decade, and awakes feeling transformed. So much so that at first she’s willing to overlook the oddities of the trial – the lack of any phone signal; the way she can’t leave her bedroom without permission; the fact that all her personal possessions are locked away, even her shoes.

But it soon becomes clear that the trial doesn’t just want to help Thea sleep. It wants to control her sleep…

Sleepless is a creepy read that has you hooked from the first page. It’s tense and perfectly conveys the main protagonist’s desperation to cure her insomnia and why she jumps headfirst into the sleep trial without very little thought. It’s something that will resonate with readers who themselves have experienced sleepless nights.

It’s is an exceptionally good read. If we had one bit of advice to readers, do not read it before you go to bed. It’s unique and original plot is intricately layered which is well-paced and keeps you turning the pages. Louise Mumford is a talented writer and it’s hard to believe that Sleepless is her debut novel. It feels as if it’s a new and exciting reading from an already established author within the thriller genre.

You get a copy of Sleepless which is out now via HQ, here.

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