In Megan Goldin's newest thriller, STAY AWAKE, Liv Reese wakes up disoriented in the back of a cab with a T-Shirt and a bloody knife.  She's dropped off at her apartment, but strangers answer the door.  Who are these people and where is her roommate, Amy Decker?  Liv has lost two years of her memories. What happened to cause her to forget?  If she remembers, can she live with the truth?

     Liv is in New York City with no place to go.  She doesn't know where she's been or what she's done.  She has a wad of cash, but no phone.  Seeking some normalcy, she heads to the place she used to work, Cultura, a high fashion magazine.  Liv used to be the senior staff writer at Cultura and it was a job she loved.  The staff at Cultura recognize her but inform her she's been working in London for two years.  Why can't Liv remember?  Then on the news, Liv learns a murder has taken place in an apartment building and Stay Awake! Was written in the victim's blood on the window.  Liv realizes she has similar cryptic messages written all over her hands and arms like graffiti.  Could she have done this?  Soon, Liv learns detectives are looking for a person of interest that resembles her. The suspect was seen leaving the crime scene.   What did Liv do?  And why can't she reach her boyfriend Marco or her best friend Amy on the phone?  Liv knows if she falls asleep again, she will forget everything.  Liv must stay awake to find the answers and relive the horror that stole her memories.  Can she stay one step ahead?  Or will she fall asleep and be silenced for good?    

     STAY AWAKE is a complex and quick-moving thriller that will keep readers guessing until the very end.  Liv wakes up in the worst of circumstances.   All signs point to her guilt, but a tough and tenacious detective believes otherwise.  Smart writing, on-point plotting, and several twists and turns move the story along swiftly, culminating in the ultimate betrayal.  Liv doesn't know who to trust or where to turn.  She navigates her complex past filled with plenty of creepy potential threats, such as a disgruntled photographer, an obsessed waiter, an unknown stalker, and a violence-driven exhibition guerilla artist.  Liv's dissociative fugue, her misdirections, and her unexplained scar will keep readers guessing as to whether she is a victim or a perpetrator of violence.  Goldin uses many tools in her writer's toolbox to keep readers highly entertained and absorbed in STAY AWAKE.