The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse – Book Review

PUBLISHERS BLURB 

An imposing, isolated hotel, high up in the Swiss Alps, is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But she’s taken time off from her job as a detective, so when she receives an invitation out of the blue to celebrate her estranged brother’s recent engagement, she has no choice but to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge. Though it’s beautiful, something about the hotel, recently converted from an abandoned sanatorium, makes her nervous – as does her brother, Isaac.

And when they wake the following morning to discover his fiancée Laure has vanished without a trace, Elin’s unease grows. With the storm cutting off access to and from the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

But no-one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she’s the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they’re all in…

MY REVIEW 

Set in the Swiss Alps, Elin and her boyfriend Will are staying in the newly opened and luxury hotel, Le Sommet. Isolated, this hotel has been converted from an old sanatorium. It has an eerie feel to it which sets Elin on edge.

Elin’s brother Issac works there and has just got engaged to Laure. Then one night Laure goes missing. Issac is frantic but Elin believes he knows more than he is saying due to events in their past.

Then a body is found.

Now in the midst of a snowstorm and an avalanche has blocked the road, the police are unable to reach them and so Elin, a police officer in the UK begins an investigation. All the while dealing with PTSD and problems of her own,

This really is a chilling, psychological thriller with a sense of tension and foreboding from the very start. The descriptions of the hotel alone give it a real sense of an almost claustrophobic menace and the cold seems to seep off the very pages.

The characters are well rounded and engaging, with its twisty, clever plot this really is unputdownable. Any fan of psychological thrillers is going to love this, a definite must read. Just brilliant and I loved every minute.

Thank you to Random Things Tours for the opportunity to be part of this blog tour, for the promotional material and an ARC of The Sanatorium.

PREORDER HERE :  https://amzn.to/3iO4kAB

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sarah Pearse lives by the sea in South Devon with her husband and two daughters. She studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Warwick and worked in Brand PR for a variety of household brands. After moving to Switzerland in her twenties, she spent every spare moment exploring the mountains and still has a home in the Swiss Alpine town of Crans Montana, the dramatic setting that inspired her novel. Sarah has always been drawn to the dark and creepy – remote spaces and abandoned places – so when she read an article in a local Swiss magazine about the history of sanatoriums in the area, she knew she’d found the spark of the idea for her debut novel, The Sanatorium. Her short fiction has been published in a wide variety of magazines and has been shortlisted for several prizes.

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