Sleep with the Lights On

By: Maggie Shayne

Narrated by: Janet Darling

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Through the eyes of a killer...

Rachel de Luca has found incredible success writing self-help books. But her own blindness and the fact that her troubled brother has gone missing have convinced her that positive thinking is nothing but bull. Her cynicism wavers when a cornea transplant restores her sight. The new eyes seem to give her new life, until they prove too good to be true and she starts seeing terrifying visions of brutal murders-crimes she soon learns are all too real.

Detective Mason Brown's own brother recently died, leaving behind a horrific secret. In atonement, Mason donated his brother's organs, though he's kept the fact quiet. Now he wants to help Rachel find her brother, but when he discovers the shocking connection between her visions and his own brother, he suddenly has to do everything in his power to save her from a predator who is somehow still hunting from beyond the grave.

©2013 Maggie Shayne (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Great Snarky main character.

The protagonist is snarky, intuitive and haunted. I would classify this as a thriller, police procedural with paranormal elements. Those paranormal elements are what propel the story and it’s very bloody murder investigation. Is evil a taint that can be transferred from one human to another? Does evil have it’s own voice and agenda?

Original, well written

I do not typically like serial killer plots, but this book has an interesting premise. A blind self-help writer regains her eyesight with a cornea transplant. She is not believed when she claims that the transplanted tissue carries the essence of its donor, giving her visions and nightmares that she believes are true memories of her donor. Her life becomes messily tangled with a detective who is horrified to discover what became of 13 missing men and is suspicious of the writer who knows too much.

Typically, I would have had problems with the scientific implausibility of such as premise, but I quickly got over that hurdle. The plot introduces a few good twists early on. The protagonist's sarcastic comments and the hypocrisy of her life attitude and her self-help books provide a depth that is clever and entertaining. I couldn't help but like her.

I was expecting a romance, but this book is light on romance. The author's skilled writing kept me engaged so I did not miss that aspect.

It took me an hour or two to get comfortable with the performer's style. She does a good job, but has a different way of speaking that was initially distracting for me.

Overall, it's worth the credit and your time.

An ok story line but a bit predictable

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was an ok time but overall the story was a bit shallow.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

it seemed like it was left open for a book 2.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

narrator was fine however I would have picked a rougher voice. The narrator sounded a bit too polished for the character's personality however it really is a preference thing.

Could you see Sleep with the Lights On being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

a lifetime movie only with B actors

Will scare you senseless

So so good twists and turns never knowing the bad guy is and love the sarcastic wit

Excellent

Absolutely love this series. Read them all a few years ago, now listening while I work. The narrator is great with all the voices, especially Angela and Myrtle, and she’s a good narrator in that she doesn’t try to make her voice go deep for the men’s voices; I hate it when narrators do that! The only thing is I don’t think the voice was right for Rachel, too old sounding for a beautiful 30yo. The story has great suspense and is interesting and a little spooky, and this first book has the beginning bud of a sweet romance. Perfect

Great book, even better listening to it.

Read the book and I enjoyed it. The picture in my head of the main character was on a pedestal but I went ahead and got the audio and listened to the book and absolutely enjoyed it even more. The voice actor or narrator was superb. She has a great voice and made the characters even funnier. It’s a great listen.

Really good

I enjoyed this book,it had some new ideas and twist and turns. I really liked the narrator. Credit well spent.yi certainly try other books by this author.

Thoroughly Unlikeable Main Character

Has Sleep with the Lights On turned you off from other books in this genre?

No...but it isn't a Romantic Suspense per se...just has elements. More straight suspense.

Any additional comments?

This book had a good plot - however the first distraction for me was the constant 1st and 3rd person narratives jumping back and forth. I dislike 1st person as I prefer more than one character perspective in a book. While this one had 3rd person narrative - it was annoying jumping back and forth and drew me out of the story every time. My biggest gripe was the main character. I found her mean and fake. I tried to like her - but how do you respect someone who admits they have made a fortune writing "crap" that she doesn't even believe herself. No apologies - just sheer arrogance. She spent her career covering that not only is she not the "Queen of Nice" but basically, she is a b***h. Evidently this is a trait her friends and family find endearing for reasons that escape my understanding. I found her to be a narcissistic jerk. Not to mention...too stupid to live - which in my opinion is the greater of the personalty faults. She continually put herself in danger....this trait is a crutch authors use to advance a plot that is the final nail in the book coffin for me. Lousy and and lazy writing in my opinion when you can't write a character with intelligence and yet have suspense. Suspense shouldn't be manufactured out of a character doing something really, really stupid in order to get the story to the climax of the book. Yikes - really annoying. So...done with this author.