Stay Awake

Liv Reese awakens in the back of a cab, unsure of her whereabouts or method of transportation. A stranger who now lives in her apartment answers the door as she is dropped off at her brownstone, forcing her to leave her alone. When she reaches for her phone to call for assistance, she finds that it is stolen and that a bloody knife has taken its place. At that moment, she notices that black ink has covered her hands and that it has left letters like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.

Liv was dating a new guy, living with her closest friend, and enjoying her career as a writer for a hip magazine two years ago. She's now bewildered and confused in a New York City that doesn't resemble her memories at all. She glances at the local news and is shocked to see stories about a murder scene where a message—the same message she has tattooed on her hands—has been written on a window using the victim's blood. How did she spend her evening? And why is she unable to recall anything from the previous two years? As Liv attempts to put the pieces of her life together, she finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn't remember committing. However, someone is aware of precisely what she did, and they will stop at nothing to totally erase her memory.

Inspired by the works of SJ Watson and Christopher Nolan, who wrote the beloved film Memento, Megan Goldin's Stay Awake is a gripping story that explores the themes of murder and memory.