The Sanatorium Audiobook By Sarah Pearse cover art

The Sanatorium

Reese's Book Club (A Novel)

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The Sanatorium

By: Sarah Pearse
Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
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About this listen

Reese's Book Club Pick | A New York Times best seller!

“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)

Sarah Pearse's next book, The Retreat, is forthcoming.

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....

©2021 Sarah Pearse (P)2021 Penguin Audio
Mystery Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Exciting Scary
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Critic reviews

“CHILLING! The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse is an eerie, atmospheric novel that had me completely on the edge of my seat. Let’s set the mood.... You’re in a remote location - at a hotel - and there’s a snowstorm. The winds are howling, the snow is pelting in every direction, there’s a missing person, and a dead body shows up!” (Reese Witherspoon)

“When guests at a five-star resort in the Alps disappear mid-blizzard, vacation’s over for detective Elin Warner. It’s The Shining but with a full house.” (People)

“Creepy, deeply claustrophobic, mind-numbing, teasing, twists and turns galore, this book is a towering example of a masterful hand at work. If only Hitchcock were still around to film it.” (David Baldacci)

What listeners say about The Sanatorium

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Just alright

The story kept me engaged for the most part, but the main character just didn’t sit right with me. The ending was such a let down. It felt like she should have been able to solve it early on in the book where a very obvious hint was left and adding in the mystery about her brother seemed unnecessary. Not bad but I not great either.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Good story, unlikable heroine

The story is intriguing and incorporates past events very well. But honestly, I wanted to reach in and slap the heroine several times. She can be very whiney, immature and just down right unlikeable. I kinda wanted the bad guy to shut her up a couple of times

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Great story and narration

Great book, Elizabeth Knowelden does a great job of sucking you in to the story. Really well done, would recommend.

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Mar-Got

This book taught me I’ve been pronouncing Margot wrong this entire time. I had no idea.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good, just starts off slow

It starts off a bit slow but overall is good! I wasn’t super thrilled by the ending but still a good listen and keeps you interested once it gets going!

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Good book but frustrating

Being a detective, it was hard to believe the situations she would get herself into. The detective appeared weak to be a heroine.

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Meh

I wanted to like this one but it fell flat with the excessive descriptors and the unlikeable main character. There were a ton of subplots that the author was trying to tie together but it didn’t work and had your scratching your head. The resolution was a huge let down. Also the 11th hour plot twist in the epilogue had me rolling my eyes. Skip this one.

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Busted Ending

Book Review

The Sanatorium
By: Sarah Pearse
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction
⭐⭐⭐ / 5 Stars

Premise:

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.

Elin Warner has taken time off from her job as a detective, and when her estranged brother Isaac calls to tell her that he and his fiancée, Laure, are inviting her & her boyfriend Will 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. They then wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing. Now Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her.

Soon other guest appear missing, deep family secrets are brought to the surface and they have a killer on the loose. Is anyone safe at this old Sanatorium nearly renovated hotel?

Review:

Very interesting beginning and middle. I am sad and disappointed to say that the ending IMO was a bust. I of course won't give anything away. You'll have to find out for yourself. This story really had potential and I don't understand why the ending was what it ended up being. Plus, there was an epilogue that made it seem like there was going to be a squeal? Idk. It was just so odd. I can't say anymore. Read it so I can talk to you about it lol

"She's clearly oblivious to him just like she was oblivious to him in the hotel, oblivious to what happened at the plunge pool and of what exactly what hand it was at the small of her back pressing, pushing. He doesn't mind the animated suits him. There's no hurry is there? He's found it's best to wait until someone's relaxed has let down their guard that’s the sweet spot. Isn't it? That tiny space between happiness and fear." - Sarah Pearse, The Sanatorium

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

An enjoyable read with some issues at the end

Overall I did enjoy this book. It had very similar tones to One by One by Ruth Ware. My biggest gripe might the narrator chosen for this book. She is a good narrator, but the main character is supposed to be a strong female detective, but whether it be the text or the narrator's meek voice, she comes across as frail and scared instead of someone simply struggling with past trauma (personal and word). And that bothered me. The book was a little gruesome and kept me guessing, but in the end, the reveal left me scratching my head. This all was done because of that? All the theatrics and bloodshed simply did not make sense. So that was disappointing. I felt this book could have really gone somewhere with this, but failed. That's why only 3 stars.

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When you think you know who did it, " No way!"

The book kept you thinking and trying to figure it out. One of the best mysteres I have read!

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