Sanctum

Sanctum by Sue Rovens

Release date May 23, 2023

Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Pace: 4/5
Suspense/mystery: 5/5
Overall Enjoyment: 4.5/5

“The floating dog. The scrawled messages. The corpse-like hands reaching into the world of the living.”

Wow! What a book. I was not sure exactly how the author was going to pull all of this off and still show how small town America can have homophobic citizens. While I had some issues with confusion throughout the book and felt like the writing was awkward and rushed in some places, I still was able to keep up until the end. I felt like I gave the correct stars and did so based on the authors writing ability. There was mystery and suspense that truly kept me enthralled and trying to figure out what the end was going to provide. The ending was certainly all worth the wait.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

4.5 stars rounded to 5

Fast paced and engaging. Modern and relevant. I thought this book did a great job of capturing the homophobia that is prevalent in much of small-town America.

There were a few places where the writing felt strained—awkward and/or overly dramatic phrasing. But overall, it held my attention and kept me interested.

Add an Alma have been married for over 40 years and have been happy for all of them but when Ed gets bored in his retirement and becomes a real estate agent for Kane Mills Realty he is super excited and has no clue how this new job is going to affect his life. His first clients are Joe and Emily moving to Chicago due to being transferred by Joe’s job but they first have to sell their home the only problem is they’ve been having problems for one thing they called in a plumber who found a creepy doll with a note in the tan that says the damn live here not to mention the living moving group he found in the bathroom they also have a bad stench coming from the kitchen but when Ed called in workers it seems like it’s been fixed. What Ed doesn’t know is Kane Mills is a reality company but it also has a more supernatural business side that they keep secret. Unfortunately at his other problems as well his wife Alma cannot get over that he wants to represent a lesbian couple , I mean what will the church lady say? This causes a big rift between Ed and Alma and Ed doesn’t know what to do about it. Can Ed fix his marriage and sell his first property or will he even live to do either? This book was way better than I honestly thought it was going to be a really enjoyed the spot I mean who doesn’t love a book where the dog levitates? I had no idea where this book was going but totally enjoyed where it went. This is a book I highly recommend if you love horror the new love this book I certainly did. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

What a strange horror story. Although it had one of the best opening chapters I have read in quite sometime. That alone made this a worthwhile read.

Thank you to Books Go Social and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Sanctum is a quick horror/thriller novel

Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis:
Ed is a retired man who decides to get into the relator business as a hobby. Ed gets his license and gets a job with Cain Mills and his first Clients, Emily and Ronnie. Emily and Ronnie start to notice weird things happening at their home. Ed's marriage begins to fall apart. The real estate office is weird, and nothing makes sense, and no one is willing to give straightforward answers.

What I liked:
- Sanctum is a quick and easy read. This is a great book for people that want to begin reading books in the genre
- I liked that there was more than one storyline because you see Emily and Ronnie and their experience, Ed and his wife, and Ed with the real estate office.
- This book held my attention the entire time, and I was not expecting the ending.
What I didn't like:
- I thought that the pacing of the novel was not consistent.
- I also thought Alma was really exaggerating the issue she has about Ed's clients being gay. I feel like after 40 years of marriage the topic would have arisen.

3.5 Stars. Thank you to Net Galley for this copy of Sue Rovens “Sanctum”. An entertaining quick read. The twist in this book made me want to know more about what Ed got himself into when he agreed to become a realtor in his small town for a cryptic real estate company. I enjoyed the supernatural element beyond the typical haunted house story that felt original. I couldn’t get enough.

Sanctum
by Sue Rovens
Great story. It kept me reading all day. Very relevant today. A man defies his wife and her religious circle to sell a gay couple's home. He was right in the wrong in all the ways life should be.

This was such a fun read! It is unique and interesting. The characters were great. I will definitely be checking out more books by this author! 10/10 highly recommend! Special Thank You to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a suspenseful thriller following Ed, a recently retired workman who after months of boredom decides to return to work, this time as a real estate agent.
He is elated when he gets his first clients, couple Ronnie and Emily, hoping to sell their house.
However the closer they get to selling the house, the more and more they begin to notice that everything is not right in the house…
I found this a great read, it was very short and face paced and while it wasn’t too scary it still had its moments. I would recommend this to any horror lovers! It also includes great representation!

Sanctum is a fairly short and quick read. The pacing was pretty good, it has a great premise and creep factor without being scary.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the copy in exchange for the review.

This is a quick and enjoyable read. It had three different story threads that Rovens did well in winding them together so we were able to get a much more fleshed out version of events that we wouldn’t have necessarily gotten if we’d just followed only Ed or only Emily and Ronnie. The twist was unexpected and kept me entranced. The only things I didn’t really like were the pacing felt a little off at times and I felt like Alma became a bit too much with her issues with Ed’s clients. Other then that I really enjoyed this overall.