While You Sleep

A PACY, CHILLING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO STOP READING!

‘Intensely atmospheric’ Mail on Sunday

A house full of secrets…
The McBride house lies on a remote Scottish island, isolated and abandoned. A century ago, a young widow and her son died mysteriously there. Last year a local boy, visiting for a dare, disappeared without a trace.

A woman alone at night…
For Zoe Adams, the house offers an escape from her failing marriage. But when night falls, her peaceful retreat is disrupted—scratches at the door, strange voices—and Zoe is convinced she is being watched.

A threat that lurks in the shadows…
The locals tell Zoe the incidents are merely echoes of the house’s dark past. Zoe is sure the danger is all too real—but can she uncover the truth before she is silenced?

Reviews

‘Creepy, clever, atmospheric, a fabulous Gothic thriller’ Kate Mosse

‘Atmospheric, spellbinding – as haunting as the best of Du Maurier, as psychologically astute as Kate Atkinson. Read it and shiver’ A. J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

‘A contemporary, edgy and, at times, terrifying tale’ Daily Mail

‘Fast-paced, psychologically astute and intensely atmospheric, this is a real page-turner that builds to a gripping dénouement’ Mail on Sunday

‘Alarmingly unnerving…deliciously gothic’ Observer

‘Creepy psychological thriller about secrets’ Sun

‘Pure edge-of-the-seat stuff: a fantastically entertaining, yet deeply unsettling read’ Julie Myerson

‘Forget sleep – this broodingly creepy gothic tale of love, lust and loss on a remote Scottish island kept me awake most of the night, partly from fear, but mostly because I couldn't put it down’ Fiona Neill, bestselling author of The Betrayals

‘The isolated setting, unreliable narrator, and menacing cast of characters all come together for a genuinely terrifying read!’ Amy Engel, bestselling author of The Roanoke Girls

‘A sumptuously written contemporary Gothic thriller…at turns chilling, poignant, and sensuous’ Gregg Hurwitz, bestselling author of Orphan X

‘While You Sleep makes for utterly riveting bedtime reading. Steph has taken familiar ingredients and made something fresh and frankly terrifying from them. I loved it’ Andrew Taylor, bestselling author of The Ashes of London

‘Sexy, scary and gripping’ Cass Green, bestselling author of In a Cottage In a Wood

‘A genuinely terrifying, unsettlingly erotic blend of supernatural and physical peril’ Irish Times

‘Merritt…lifts this bone-chiller far above the usual ghost story’ Good Housekeeping

‘Atmospheric’ Sunday Times Culture Magazine

‘A spine-chilling Gothic suspense novel’ Red Magazine

‘Hits a midpoint between Broadchurch and Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’ Guardian

‘A witty psychological ghost story’ Guardian Review

About the author

No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author and journalist Stephanie Merritt has worked as a critic and feature writer for a variety of newspapers and magazines, as well as radio and television. Writing as S. J. Parris, she is the fastest growing historical crime writer in the UK, with her series of thrillers set in Tudor England selling over half a million copies. She currently writes for the Observer and the Guardian, and lives in Surrey with her son.