Insomnia: A Novel

Named One of the Best Thrillers by the Washington Post

"Possibly my favorite of Pinborough's yet, and that's saying something. It's an absolute rollercoaster of a ride: twist upon twist, expertly handled. I actually gasped out loud several times. So atmospheric and sexy... A triumph!" -- Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author, on Dead to Her

In this mind-bending thriller from the bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes, Emma Averell worries that her sudden insomnia is a sign that she's slowly going insane--like the mother she's worked so hard to leave in her past, soon to be a series on Paramount+

In the dead of night, madness lies...

Emma Averell loves her life--her high-powered legal career, her two beautiful children, and her wonderful stay-at-home husband--but it wasn't always so perfect. When she was just five years old, Emma and her older sister went into foster care because of a deeply disturbing incident with their mother. Her sister can remember a time when their mother was loving and "normal," but Emma can only remember her as one thing--a monster.

And that monster emerged right around their mother's fortieth birthday, the same milestone Emma is approaching now.

Emma desperately wants to keep her childhood trauma in the past, but as she stops being able to sleep, she also can't stop thinking about what happened all those years ago. Is the madness in her blood? Could she end up hurting her family in her foggy, half-awake state, just like her mother? Or is there another explanation for the strange things that keep happening around her? Emma must unravel the dark strands of her past to protect the people she loves... or risk losing it all, including her sanity.

Unsettling and utterly addicting, Insomnia is a heart-pounding thriller that will have you up all night.

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336 pages

Average rating: 6.47

43 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

KaitBoyd
Apr 18, 2023
10/10 stars
I watched the Netflix Series 'Behind Her Eyes' and loved the suspense and supernatural themes. So, when I saw that Sarah Pinborough wrote Insomnia I knew that I had to read it!

The story itself reminded me of 'Behind Her Eyes' and the movie 'Hereditary'. You have a mother as the main character who is doing everything she can to find out about her estranged mother's life as she tries to uncover family secrets to protect her family. But, is she protecting her family from the impending danger, or is she the danger her family needs protecting from?

The whole story you are in just as much disbelief as the main character...she doesn't know if she is awake or asleep, if she is sane or going mad like her mother, and as things twist and turn deeper into the story a mind-bending and time-bending twist is added!

This will be hard to tip for my favorite thriller of 2022! Thank you for the ARC!
Writer13
Jan 18, 2023
4/10 stars
This book creeped me out but in a good way. It was fast paced enough and had short enough chapters to keep me entertained. I don’t believe in people knowing the future, but I did like the way it was set up. The connections made sense. The one thing that irritated me was the muttering of the numbers. I wish we had more clues concerning that part. Although I understand she was in pain Caroline’s hatred of Emma made no sense to me. Emma was five for crying out loud. She should have been mad at her parents, not some girl she didn’t know. I have a whole slew of questions how she was able to pull off half the stuff she claimed. However, the characters were well drawn out and at one point I even wondered if something was wrong with Emma, but when someone is being gaslit as Emma was it was a bit easier to see the signs if you’ve been through it. I did not like Robert or Chloe. Both disgusted me and I couldn’t stand them. I’m not sure what to think about Will. While I enjoyed the book I felt that I missed a lot of connections, but with more context I would have gotten them. I would definitely recommend this book to adult readers and I might read more by this author. Sorry if my review makes little sense I did enjoy the book, but I was left with so many questions and oh yeah I hope my insomnia NEVER gets to the point I lose my grip on reality. Though I understand now it wasn’t just that never discount what insomnia can do to someone.

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