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Awakened

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Price range: £5.99 through £9.99

From debut author Laura Elliot comes a tense horror novel emboldened by the surreal happenings of a sleepless society, perfect for fans of 28 Days Later.

 

A year ago, funded by a benevolent but misguided billionaire a group of scientists developed a neural chip to allow us to turn off sleep. Used first by the military, those fitted with the chip developed hyped and strengthened metabolisms. Soon everyone had one. You could turn the chip off; until one day you couldn’t. Deprived of the sanity that sleep brings the world fell apart.

Now, marooned in the Tower of London, in a world silent except for the distant screams of the Sleepless, a small group of surviving scientists are struggling to find a cure. Thea Chares is one of them, and our narrator, consumed by guilt for her part in the experiment and haunted by what happened to her mother during her long illness.

And then one day two survivors, a man and a woman make their way into the Tower. But all is not as it appears. They bring with them the hope of a new start and the danger of a final ending. And Chares finds herself inexplicably drawn to the man, who will not tell her his name. Events spiral into a fever-dream of hallucination, violence, dark attraction, a shocking reveal and redemption. Of sorts.

Laura Elliott

Laura Elliott is a journalist and writer on disability and health issues. Laura has ME and this has informed her writing and her career. She has written articles on disability and politics for The Guardian, The Metro, iNews and ByLine Times. Her stories have appeared in Strix Magazine, STORGY and Cloister Fox, and creative non-fic and essays in Boudicca Press: Disturbing the Body anthology, Monstrous Regiment: So Hormonal.

Release Date

2025-06-10

Formats

Ebook, Paperback

EBook ISBN

10th June 2025 | 9781915998910 | epub | £4.99/$6.99/$7.99

Paperback ISBN

10th June 2025 | 9781915998903 | Trade paperback | £9.99/$18.99/$24.99
“Awakened is an utterly compulsive read. Merging the gothic vibes of Frankenstein or Dracula with the chilling horror of a zombie apocalypse and dystopian future, Awakened will keep you up late not just because of it’s unputdownable story, but through the questions it poses: what does it mean to be human? When does progress meet a line better not crossed? And is there a way back if it has been? Riveting, insightful and complex, this incredible debut is not to be missed. Just brace yourself for a few sleepless nights…”
– Amy Clarkin, author of What Walks These Halls, and Who Watches This Place“Awakened is a raw and unflinching dystopian horror story. Laura Elliott has crafted a deft fever dream and a deeply brilliant meditation on the very real terrors of capitalism, productivity, exploitation and healthcare. Fuelled by nightmares, this book is sure to leave you just as sleepless as me.”
– Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb“Stunning, surreal, and genre-defying, Awakened hooked me in from the first page and didn’t let go. Elliott is unflinching in the examination of the monstrous and what makes us human, while masterfully exploring ethical quandaries and the lengths we go to for the ones we love. This is a tale of both survival against the odds and of letting go – gripping, eerie, and beautifully told. A dystopian classic in the making.”
– Lyndsey Croal, author of Limelight & Other Stories and Dark Crescent“Hugely imaginative. Haunting and compelling, Awakened is a genuinely plausible apocalyptic tale”
– Lucie McKnight Hardy, author of Water Shall Refuse Them“Tense and timely, Awakened is a deft exploration of a dystopia where capitalistic interests have run rampant. With a well-developed cast of characters and a feeling of creeping dread that becomes a feverish nightmare, this gothic sci-fi tale will keep you awake at night.”
– MK Hardy, authors of The Needfire“Dreamlike from page one, Awakened is a speculative meditation on what it is to be human and what it means to be an animal. This is the quintessential soul of new horror, in which it is our bodies and humanities that become the uncanny force to be reckoned with.”
– Caroline Hardaker, author of Composite Creatures and Mothtown 

“There’s a profound ache running through Laura Elliott’s writing. Awakened is highly compelling speculative fiction, treading the meandering line between dream and nightmare.”

– Verity Holloway, author of Pseudotooth and The Others of Edenwell

“Awakened by Laura Elliott is true horror – deeply unsettling, this story about the last survivors in a world where technology has eradicated the need for sleep, sending most of the people in the world into a unbreakable feral rage, is a chilling and haunting read. Asking important questions about humanity, purpose and how we treat those we see as less than human, Elliott draws on horror staples such as zombies, vampires and Frankenstein’s monster to create something wholly unique – this has all the makings of a new classic.”
– Cailean Steed, author of Home

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