4 Awesome, Tension Filled Stars!A Visiting Professor, murdered. College Student, Tara Beckley, now in a Coma. An Insurance Investigator is positive that the Police have it all wrong. A Hit Man covering up the tracks. Is anyone safe? As Abby Kaplan, the Insurance Investigator discovers, the answer to that question is no. Lucky for her, she has agility, speed and intelligence on her side. The Hit Man Dax, however, never loses. Ever.“If She Wakes” by Michael Koryta is one heck of a thrilling ride d...

A college student, Tara Beckley, finds herself entangled in a sinister plot when her part-time job gives her the assignment of transporting a professor to a conference. The tension builds as they travel along and you just know something is just not quite right.  Wild ride ahead...Things go horribly wrong, some bad dudes are on the hunt for information and it turns into an action-packed, dodging bullets and run for your life ride. The beginning pieces of the puzzle start to emerge as the event

Many thanks to Little Brown for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review So much of the terrain is unknown, but none of it is unknowable.There is a critical difference in that. When I say this book went at breakneck speed, what I mean is it literally was so fast and twisty that, at one point, I literally snapped my head up and gasped so quickly that I headed my neck pop.This definitely isn't your average thriller even though it did have all the tropes of one. If She Wakes tak...

3.5 starsI was a big fan of this author’s Lincoln Perry series but it’s been a while so I was happy to get my hands on his latest stand alone. For me this was very much a book of 2 halves. I see you squinting at me so I’ll try to explain but first, the 411.“Nineteen minutes before her brain and body parted ways, Tara Beckley’s concern was the cold.”Got your attention? That’s the opening line & you may wonder if it might be a good idea not to get too attached to poor Tara. No worries. After a car...

Too bad this high octane thriller fizzles at the end like an evaporating mist.! -1. Write a stronger end, Mr. Koryta! 8 of 10 stars

Michael Koryta has grown to be one of my favorite suspense writers over the last few years. His novels are intricately woven with thrilling characters, plowing through a plot that just won't let go. If She Wakes does not disappoint. Tara Beckley is given the responsibility of welcoming a professor who's scheduled to give a speech at her college in Maine. One moment she's wondering why the professor is behaving so strangely, and the next, she's a prisoner in her own body. A fatal crash leaves her...

Brilliant thriller! Locked-in syndrome has been done before, but not like this.

I enjoyed this one.Surprisingly, my favorite character was Tara - and she was basically locked in her own body.Definitely some surprises throughout and it was nicely twisty.I was a little less enthralled with the reason behind everything, but the book kept my interest. I simply had to keep reading to find out how everything would end.A good read.

This wasn't a bad book, but I'm starting to feel that I'm just not 100% compatible with Michael Koryta's new books. This is a shame, because I'm an avid cheerleader of all his older works, and perhaps this makes me biased, but it's tough to engage with your standard mob thriller when you know an author can offer so much more than your run-of-the-mill gangster plot. This also felt a smidge too long, and if it had been shaved down a little to provide a snappy, faster paced reading experience, I ma...

If She Wakes by Michael is a psychological thrillerFirst, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Little, Brown and Company, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.My Synopsis: (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)Tara Beckley, a student at Hammel College, is currently escorting a rather tense Dr. Armandi Oltamu, back to the school so he can speak to the students on “batteries”. On the way,...

Tara Beckley is escorting a professor to speak at her university when tragedy strikes. A runaway van collides with Tara’s CR-V instantly killing the professor and sending Tara careening into a nearby river. A short time later, Tara awakens to discover she is fully conscious and aware but unable to communicate with the outside world – a victim of “locked-in syndrome”.Private Investigator Abby Kaplan has been hired by the university to look into the accident and remove any shred of liability on th...

Tara is tasked with one thing - get a VIP to his destination by a certain time. So why did that VIP die and she in a coma? Clearly something is afoot. The crappy thing about being in a coma, besides the obvious.... being trapped inside (locked-in syndrome) while your memories start to come back but no way to communicate or let anyone around her know she's actually in there. HELLOOOOO!Dax - young, scary and eerily calm... didn't quite fulfill the job he was assigned and now he has to clean up the...

4.5 stars, actually.To the best of my recollection, I've read only one other book by Michael Koryta (Rise the Dark in 2016, to which I gave 5 stars). And "Short Story," which he co-wrote with Karin Slaughter for the 2017 Matchup compilation was my favorite of the bunch. So it was that I was delighted to get an advance review copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley). In fact, I stayed delighted all the way through the nonstop action; when I got within shouting distance of the end, not...

Tara Beckley is a college student who committed to delivering Amandi Oltamu to his keynote presentation on campus. He asks her for the scenic tour on the way to campus and appears agitated and worried about something. At one point, they stop and Dr. Oltamu asks if he can take a picture of Tara. She sees that his phone is different from any other she's observed and, right after he snaps her photo and she locks the phone in her glove compartment at his request, he is killed by a car that rams into...

I've read several of Koryta's books in the past and they have really resonated with me.I almost gave up on this one about the 30% mark. It started off so slow and I had a tough time connecting to any of the characters. The story really started to pick up after a third of the way in and from then on it was non-stop. It jumped back and forth between Abby (the investigator) and Tara (the accident). I started to warm to the characters, but never really connected to any of them. But the story was int...

A tragic auto accident in a Maine college town has left a visiting professor dead, and his senior escort, Tara Beckley with locked in syndrome.....fully conscious, but unable to move.And in extreme danger.An accident that may not have been accidental, yet didn't go the way it should have.Someone is out to clean up the mess....and the bodies begin to drop....Koryta's latest is an engaging thriller that takes Murphy's Law for a breakneck ride, which the author masterfully keeps right at the edge o...

Disappointingly, especially because I did enjoy the writing, I just couldn't get into this story. At all. Too many side stories, and too many characters that I didn't care about. I'll have to look into other novels by Koryta because If She Wakes surely can't be his best work. If She Wakes begins with Tara Beckley, a senior in college, driving an important man to an event. A horrific accident occurs, which leaves the man dead and Tara in a coma with locked-in syndrome, seemingly brain dead to