A decent book with a few twists that kept me interested.
The characters were interesting, not quite likeable to be honest though.
The setting was eerie and desolate and put me right in the middle of the plot, which wasn’t massively original but well written all the same.
I enjoyed this book.

A really excellent novel that kept me guessing till the end! I loved the imagery of the snowy backdrop of the plot and I felt like I was totally with Elin as she struggled with her memories of her brother Sam while being given the task of solving a major crime.
Beautiful setting, fantastic plot and a killer ending!

A slow burn of a suspense thriller which did not quite make the grade with me. A detective travels to Switzerland with her boyfriend to celebrate the engagement of her brother, both haunted by the loss of their sibling several years before. The Sanitorium of the title is a hotel in which the characters are snowed in and thereafter a series of brutal murders occurs. Unfortunately, the pace of the novel was too slow, the characters unbelievable but I liked the idea of the hotel and it's hidden secrets. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

A really unique but somewhat scary location for this story. In the middle of nowhere high in the Swiss mountains, the Sanatorium now a top class hotel has a gruesome past. A difficult but intriguing storyline, could be almost Scandi genre.

I was so creeped out by this by the end of the first chapter and was utterly and completely hooked by the sinister sanatorium. I'd say the tension and creepiness of the first half almost felt horror like to me, the second half moves more into classic isolated group with a serial killer amongst them territory. Both halves are brilliant, page turning reading.

I really enjoyed this uber-creepy thriller with a serial killer that will definitely have you wonder what you just saw out of the corner of your eye. Often novels that use the weather as an analogy for the plot can be quite trite but this once built up the pace and tension perfectly - the sense of isolation and fear, the oncoming avalanche, the fact that they were trapped in a remote location with a killer - and who was the killer? Just brilliant.

I am in too minds about this book, the abstract did not live up to the expectation for me. Yes I struggled but pushed on through, the who of the whodunnit when it came I found disappointing, and the why was so off base. Don't get me started on the Epilogue .... whoever is watching was not the person who pushed Elin into the plunge pool that was shown to be Laure by CCTV.

The Santatorium is a psychological thriller set in a hotel in the Swiss Alps .Elin is a British Detective on leave who is invited with her partner by her estranged brother to celebrate his Engagement.A snowstorm cuts them off ,people keep disappearing and bodies are found .The Swiss Police unable to attend because of the storm allow Erin to investigate for them . I am not sure how believeable that is ! The characters were interesting but some were not very likeable .The strange epiloque suggests there is more to come .Many thanks to the Publisher the Author and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review .

This was a case for me of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. I was drawn in by the beautifully atmospheric cover and the gothic description of the location. A mystery set in an old Sanatorium (now luxury hotel) high in the Swiss alps to which a funicular railway assists you get to the destination, and from where it might be impossible to leave? Fantastic.

But it doesn’t quite work for me. A few examples:

1. We know the building is made of glass because we’re told that early on. But then we’re repeatedly reminded of the fact, as though we might have amnesia: “it’s mostly made of glass” (loc 30), “glass is everywhere” (loc 244), “What about all this glass?” (loc 295) “More glass.” (loc 433), “Floor-to-ceiling glass wraps the pool on all sides” (loc 455);
2. Our Detective Elin has some seriously flawed judgment and also takes a while to leap to some pretty obvious conclusions. In one case, someone shows signs of having been restrained in a pool and is found wearing a gas mask but the penny only drops that this couldn’t have been an accident when sandbags are involved. I would not want this woman overseeing a murder investigation of anyone I cared about.
3. Again we are hit over the head as readers in being told that the possible killer must be strong. In another show of Elin’s dizzying talent as a Detective, after having already stated of the killer that “they’re stronger. Faster” (loc 2626) and “All I know is that they’re strong. Strong enough to easily hold me down” (loc 2728), it’s not until further on that Elin says she’s “Made one deduction, however small: the killer has to be strong, she thinks” (loc 3143) and it doesn’t even stop there! We’re told again at loc 3175 that the killer must be strong. I wanted to shout at the book at that point but I was too far in so persisted.
4. The denouement was utterly bizarre, with the description for why events had to happen taking up a significant part of the ending because it was so convoluted. It was also utterly hypocritical of the killer to have murdered people for the reasons they state, given their history.

It was a quick read and I did finish it. I still love the setting and I always love books by this publisher so it was surprising how poorly this landed for me.

Many thanks to Sarah Pearse, the publishers and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What an amazing book to read at this time of year!!! So glad I was accepted to read this wonderfully thrilling and run up the stairs story

For fans of Steve Cavanagh and anyone who enjoys sleeping with one eye open

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. The cover and description made me think it would be a tense, spooky read. Unfortunately I was pretty bored and frustrated throughout. It takes a long time to get going, and I did not like the main character Elin. She treats everyone terribly, always thinks the worst of everyone and does not ever learn a single lesson. She's also, frankly, a terrible detective, I would be gutted if I was stranded somewhere with a bunch of murders happening and she was in charge.
A lot of other people have rated it highly and enjoyed it, so I guess this one was just not for me.

A thriller set in a hotel in the Swiss Alps. I found it very atmospheric however it was a bit slow and it didn't really get going until around halfway through. The characters are interesting and once it got going was really gripping.

An atmospheric and chilling thriller set high in the alps at a newly renovated luxury hotel which used to be a sanatorium.
Elin Warner and her boyfriend Will have been invited to join Elin’s brother Isaac and his fiancé Laure for their engagement party. Elin has been estranged from her brother for years and she is hoping that they may be able to resolve their issues. Elin is on a break from her job as as a police officer following an incident where she could have lost her life and is hoping if she can move on from all her personal issues she might return to work.
The disappearance of Laure soon after their arrival and the onset of severe weather soon leads to a catastrophic series of events which imperil more than one person.
On the edge of your seat stuff- kept me hooked.

Elin Warner and her boyfriend Will have been invited to celebrate her estranged brothers’ engagement to his fiancé Laure in an isolated hotel high up in the Swiss Alps called Le Sommet. The journey to the hotel is quite hard to get to and not only that the weather is also turning for the worst. There is a threat of an Avalanche.
Elin does not happy with the situation but, she wants to be there for her brother Isaac. After been off on leave from her job as a Police detective and hasn’t decided if she wants to return to her job.
As they both arrive the Hotel although it has guests is not 100 percent refurbished from the Sanatorium that it used to be. It still has that clinical feel and a creepy feel to it that Elin is not completely happy with and when people start disappearing and a body are found. Elin Takes it on herself to investigate.
Thank you, Random House Transworld publishers, for a copy of The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse.
I really liked the premise of this story and the atmospheric description of the story it is set. I found it a unique storyline. But for me I found this story quite slow. I didn’t think it kicked in until about 40% of the book which I was losing interest by then. I thought there was too much backstory of Elin with her PTSD and not enough of what was going on in the Hotel and the disappearances and the murders. Great idea but for me personally I didn’t think it delivered. But it maybe for you

Heavy snowfall in the Swiss Alps. Elin and Will travel from the UK to attend Isaac and Laure's engagement party at a luxury hotel high up in the mountains. While the snow is getting thicker by the hour and the landscape turns more eerie, people go missing.
The threat of an avalanche keeps the guests locked in and the police have no way to come up the mountain.
Elin, being a detective back home, takes control and starts investigating as best she can. Missing turns into murdered and everyone becomes a suspect.

The Sanatorium is a top notch thriller with a good creepfactor, combined with fears from the past. It has good dialogue and believable characters, each with their own story and secret. Some unexpected twists at the very end. A gripping read.

Thank you Netgalley and Transworld Digital / Bantam Press for the ARC.

A couple of words that spring to mind about this book are atmospheric and claustrophobic.

Elin and her boyfriend Will travel to a very remote hotel in the Swiss alps to celebrate her estranged brother Issac’s engagement. Issac’s fiancé goes missing and then a snow storm sets in stranding them in the hotel. Issac’s fiancé isn’t the first person to go missing and she won’t be the last....

A great fast paced novel which had me hooked from the first couple of pages. There were so many secrets to uncover through out the book, not all related to the person in the creepy mask, that I was never bored. I guessed some and didn’t guess others, which to me is a sign of a decent thriller.

Sarah really captures the isolation of the hotel and I found how she writes Will really helps show Elin’s self esteem and anxiety issues. As the novel progresses it’s nice to see the confidence grow.

The last few pages threw me a little and I can’t wait for too see what happens next in Elin’s story.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a suspense novel and have to say I did enjoy this one!

There was a lot of mystery and the setting was quite atmospheric as the main storyline took part in a hotel that had previously been a Sanatorium. Of course it was going to be creepy!

I did find that the characters were a bit wishy washy at times. One of the lead roles is Elin who is a police officer on extended leave and I did question at times how good an officer she actually is with some of her monologue and actions.

Overall, it was a quick read as I had to find out who was behind it all and at times I did have to stop to catch my breath as there was a lot of build up and tension.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. #TheSanatorium

I was really looking forward to this - a thriller in a spooky setting... but it just misses the mark on so many levels. We follow Elin. She's on leave from the English Police following an incident where she took off on her own instead of waiting for back up and it didn't end well. She's going to the engagement party of her brother at a fancy posh hotel in Switzerland that used to be a sanatorium. She doesn't want to go and is convinced her brother was responsible for the death of their younger brother many years ago. On arrival, the hotel is in a very isolated location, the weather is bad and a body is discovered- just as an avalanche cuts off the hotel from the outside world. As the body count rises, its a race against time to find the person responsible as the police aren't coming - no one is coming and no one, including the killer, is leaving.

The point of this story being set in a sanatorium is pretty much lost till about 2/3rds of the way through... it felt like a real missed opportunity. It just didn't feel spooky. It could have been set in any isolated location. Travelling to Switzerland for your brothers engagement when you think he's a murderer also felt pointless. Why you'd decide thats a good time to see if he slips up after waiting all those years I don't know... the biggest gripe I think I have is Elin was essentially off work for not waiting for back up... a lesson she clearly hasn't learned anything from as she's running about all over the place on her own here. I found myself thinking 'surely she isn't going to go off on her own having weighed up the consequences?' But she does. Over and over again. Having found a dead body and going back to the hotel room with her significant other, Elin gets upset - his solution is to tell her to gave something to eat then leaves her while he does some work!!... its this type of situation that stopped me getting drawn in... it wasn't realistic and was actually pretty annoying.

There were lots of twists and turns before we get to the real killer... it made me think Elin was such a crap detective. She gets it wrong every time. The ending us very scooby doo... we get a long explanation that doesn't really make a lot of sense and the reader could never have guessed.... it also took away from the sanatorium setting. There is an epilogue that I didn't understand.

I think overall, this feels like a missed opportunity. We get a detective who isn't very good at detecting in a situation that could have been spooky but wasn't... There is a focus on the death of Elin's brother than was resolved in two sentences that could have happened at any point. We're told Elin is emotionally closed off but the consequence if that is she's not very likable. So much happens here that is such a stretch if the imagination that it takes away from everything else and really stole my enjoyment - including the explanation of why the finale ends up at a swimming pool. To enjoy this you need to be able to just go with it, believe its credible. But I'm not that type of reader, couldn't do it so didn't really enjoy it.

I was given a copy if this book by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Really interesting plot and I thought I would love this book. Not sure what was missing but it didn't grab me as I expected. Loved the snowy backdrop and the sinister history of the sanatorium but the characters were lacking and even the damaged main character didn't have me rooting for her. Intriguing twist when I thought it was wrapped up though!

The Sanatorium is such a tense read, set in a mountain top flashy hotel, people start going missing.
I felt claustrophobic just reading this novel, I could almost feel the cold and wind at my chest.
Definitely the most original book I’ve read this year.