Lock Me In

By: Kate Simants

Narrated by: Pene Herman-Smith

Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Intricately plotted, beautifully written...with great pace, truly sympathetic characters, and a great twist at the end." (Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange)

Shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger award.

Whatever you do, don’t open the door....

By day, Ellie Power has a normal life. She has a stable home, a loving boyfriend, a future.

But at night, she suffers from a sleep disorder. She becomes angry, unpredictable, violent. Her mother locks Ellie in her bedroom every night, to keep them both safe.

Then one morning, Ellie wakes up, horrified to find the lock on her bedroom door smashed from the inside. She is covered in injuries, unable to remember anything about the night before.

And her boyfriend Matt is nowhere to be found....

©2019 Kate Simants (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic Reviews

"An intricately plotted, beautifully written police procedural with great pace, truly sympathetic characters, and a great twist at the end. Highly recommended." (Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange)

"This ambitious and wide-reaching novel had me hooked from the very first page. A complex, twisty narrative which drives relentlessly forward. Well developed, flawed and deeply human characters, gritty, atmospheric settings, fabulous research, and some really heart-wrenching sections. A story of scope and humanity, it will stay with me for a long time." (S. E. Lynes, author of The Women)

"One of the best debuts I have ever read. Lock Me In is creepy, thrilling and completely immersive, genuinely impossible to put down. Kate Simants is a gifted writer with brilliant dialogue and characters you’ll be thinking about for a long time. I loved it." (Clare Empson, author of Him)

Not what I expected!

Well, I wasn’t expecting that!!

Lock Me In is the story of Ellie who suffers from DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder, which used to be known as split personality). Her alter-ego, Siggy is violent and unpredictable and Ellie’s mother has to lock her in her room at night in case she harms someone! When Ellie’s boyfriend, Matt, goes missing Ellie and her mother begin to wonder if Siggy might have harmed him.

The first part of the book was a little slow, but gradually becomes the story becomes more complex and disturbing as the layers are peeled back. The twists were brilliant and totally floored me, and the ending made me angry and sad, but was a fitting conclusion to the book.


The books alternates from Ellie’s POV, and that of the detective in charge of the case, Ben Mae. The way Ellie told her story gave me an understanding of her thoughts and fears about her mental illness..

It’s a longish book (the Audible version is 15 ½ hours) but I flew through it. The narration was good, though I felt that the narrator, Pene Herman-Smith, spoke very slowly and this is one of the few books I have listened to at a speed of 1.5.

This is an impressive debut novel, and the author is one I will watch with interest.

1 person found this helpful

Blown Away!!!!

An amazingly good book, which entranced me from the beginning.
The story line is chilling, also quite complex, so you do need to pay attention.
Finally Superb Narration, and definitely worth buying! Excellent!

1 person found this helpful

Weird

I have never “read” such a strange story. There seemed to be no point to it until very near the end .Even then I floundered around trying to tie the facts together. I would not recommend it .

bit confused

I really struggled to finish the book I found it confusing and a bit boring, the narrator wasn't the best although she done ok. there were gaps where there shouldn't have been any etc.

Totally spoiled by the narrator!

Had to return..the narrator spoiled the whole book! Totally inappropriate choice, did not fit the characters in any way & made for an excruciating listen. Had to give up which was a shame as I liked the idea of the book..might actually read it rather than listen, what a shame!