The Sanatorium

Reese's Book Club (A Novel)

De: Sarah Pearse

Narrado por: Elizabeth Knowelden

REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK | An instant New York Times bestseller!

A page-turning thriller from the author of The Retreat.

“An eerie, atmospheric novel that had me completely on the edge of my seat.” —Reese Witherspoon

“This spine-tingling, atmospheric thriller has it all… and twists you’ll never see coming.” —Richard Osman, New York Times bestselling author of The Thursday Murder Club

You won't want to leave. . . until you can't.

Half-hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.

An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

Elin is under pressure to find Laure, 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 are all in. . .

If I ever encounter the word “flicker” again I will lose my mind!

The word “flicker” is used 800 times in this book to describe everything you can possibly image. By the time I got to the end I would start laughing every time the word was used. It was so distracting!

Also, the author over-describes everything - often saying the same thing over again using different words as if we’re stupid and need everything spelled out.

Worst of all, I don’t feel the story makes sense OR that the killer’s motives are in any way believable.

I saw this was a Reese’s book club recommendation which is why I bought it. Why, oh why did I waste so much time on this read?

The narration makes the bad story worse

The story started out interesting but then dragged and fell apart. The main character was annoying and made more so by the terrible narration. WHY DOES SHE WHISPER THROUGH THE WHOLE BOOK?? She’s just awful and does the same thing in another book I started. Ugh what a waste of a credit

Got annoying after awhile

I don’t know if this bugged anyone else but, I was one “isn’t it” “Wasn’t it” during her inner dialogue away from the edge. Lol

All over the place

I was so excited to start this book! I was on a very long snowy car ride with my partner and beyond pumped with a Reese book club seal. This book was not only extremely confusing to keep up on the characters and I really couldn't fall in love with the characters or the story. The story itself was not scary and I was not on the edge of my seat. I was halfway through the book with little of anything happening. I had to return the book halfway through because I couldn't listen any longer. This book just wasn't for me. Just too slow going and too confusing to keep up on all the characters.

It was ok!

I was excited to read this one based on other reviews but I felt like it just dragged on and on. I could never fully get into it.

It was ok

The story was ok, wouldn’t recommend as a must read but I did finish it. It was dragging on a bit and repetitive.

creepy tale!

“The Sanatorium” by Sarah Pearse is Reese Witherspoon’s February book choice. I chose to listen to the audio, narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden. Reese proclaims that it’s “an eerie, atmospheric novel” which, to me, seemed like a perfect audio. I am happy with my choice. Knowelden’s command of French provided the story with a European feel which is perfect since the story takes place in the Swiss Alps. I’m assuming there is French written in the novel, since Knowelden speaks French and speaks in character with a French accent.

The setting is a new minimalist hotel, nestled in the Swiss Alps. Previously, the building was a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients. It’s a creepy looking building that has garnered many rumors because of the questionable techniques used on TB patients. The protagonist, Elin Warner is invited there to celebrate her brother Isaac’s recent engagement. Of course, Elin and her boyfriend arrive during a nasty snow-storm. The creep factor is high from the beginning.

Adding to the creep factor is that Elin is a bit estranged from her brother. He didn’t attend their mother’s funeral because he said he was too busy. Plus, Elin feels her brother Isaac had involvement in her other brother’s death. Elin has unresolved issues in confronting Isaac about the details surrounding her younger brother’s death.

Isaac’s fiancé mysteriously goes missing the day after Elin’s arrival. Due to the snow-storm, roads are closed thereby isolating the hotel from civilization. A body is found near the hotel increasing the spook factor. Because of the storm, no authorities will be arriving to investigate the missing fiancé and the dead body.

Elin is a detective on leave for reasons not immediately provided to the reader, thereby allowing the reader to be a bit suspect of Elin’s reasonings. Suspense builds when another person goes missing. Meanwhile, the reader learns of procedures done to tuberculosis patients which adds more to sinister feel of the hotel.

Elin tries to sleuth her way in finding her brother’s fiancé and solving the mysteries of the dead body and the other missing person. Her sleuthing results in disturbing information of what historically occurred at the sanatorium.

This is a dark eerie story, full of twists and turns. It’s a great suspense story that captures your imagination. As I listened, I could “see” it happening as a black and white movie with organ music playing in the background. Reese always does a good job in finding satisfying reads.

Bedtime Story

A good nighttime distraction
that will help you drift
serenely off to la la land!

Excellent book

This book kept you on your toes and up late waiting for the next twist or turn. highly recommend!

Best accidental purchase

I purchased this by accident with my free credit. I was going to return it then thought why not. It started a little slow for me but then it began to get interesting. Once it picked up it was a really good mystery novel and it was hard to put down. Definitely loved the narrator and look forward to reading more titles from the author.