Anna O

LoveReading Says

At one point, Professor Ben Prince, the protagonist of Matthew Blake’s Anna O debut comments on “the twisted horrors of the human mind”, and in many ways that’s what lies at the heart of this murder mystery thriller. Undeniably page-turning as it sees Ben, a forensic sleep psychologist, utilise new techniques to wake a woman accused of murder from her four-year sleep so she can stand trial, it’s incredibly entertaining, and outrageously twisty. 

Anna Ogilvy (AKA Anna O) is the accused in question — “Sleeping Beauty, a figure of myth and reality”, while Ben is the Prince tasked with waking her. He works for a private sleep clinic on Harley Street. And, while the case comes with close scrutiny from the government, “Anna O is the holy grail for all sleep experts.

Ever since it happened, over four years ago now, she has been the one mystery to beat them all.” Adding to the case’s allure Anna O’s namesake was the first patient of psychoanalysis, treated by Freud.

When Ben manages to wake Anna, all hell breaks loose in a thrilling story of deception, betrayal and revenge. With the narrative playing out in the dangerous here-and-now, and through Anna’s notebooks, Ben embarks on an obsessive search for the truth. Then, just when you’ve kind-of recovered from one set of twisted revelations - bam! What an ending.

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
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