The Sanatorium

The spine-tingling #1 Sunday Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

By: Sarah Pearse

Narrated by: Gemma Whelan

Brought to you by Penguin.

**ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD**
**AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER **
** AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER **
** A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK **

'The Sanatorium will keep you checking over your shoulder. This spine-tingling, atmospheric thriller has it all: an eerie Alpine setting, sharp prose, and twists you'll never see coming. A must-read.' RICHARD OSMAN

'An eerie, atmospheric novel that had me completely on the edge of my seat.' RESSE WITHERSPOON

'At first glance they're magnificent, yet the more she looks, the more she realizes how sinister the mountains appear: raw, jagged spikes. It's not hard to imagine, she thinks, looking out; this place somehow consuming someone, swallowing them whole.'

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 . . .

Order The Retreat (July 2022), the addictive new thriller from the global best-selling author of The Sanatorium.

© Sarah Pearse 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critic reviews

Pearse's The Sanatorium will keep you checking over your shoulder. This spine-tingling, atmospheric thriller has it all: an eerie Alpine setting, sharp prose, and twists you'll never see coming. A must-read.

Dark, suspenseful and downright chilling, The Sanatorium is a triumph. Vividly set against the backdrop of the Swiss Alps, it had me on the edge of my seat from the first page. Pearse's writing is sublime. What a talent! Pearse has a big future ahead of her.

The Sanatorium is an absolutely splendid Gothic thriller - gracious in its nods to the classic locked-room mystery, yet bold enough to burst out of that room through the window. Pearse writes prose fresh and crisp as Swiss Alp powder, and her characters fascinate even as their numbers dwindle.

The Sanatorium is definitely a debut novel to watch out for. Wow, what a chilling read! One of the creepiest thrillers I've ever read. So atmospheric, clever and compulsive. LOVED it!

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.

A seriously sinister setting, an incredible sense of place and a twisty, unpredictable plot combine to make an utterly terrifying read. I loved it.

A tense and seriously chilling page-turner.

What an incredible debut novel. Clever, creepy and utterly compelling.

I loved it - such a wonderful sense of location, and the tension is knife edge-sharp. I was up at 5.30 in the mornings to read it.

A superb debut offering an astonishingly creepy and isolated backdrop, great characters, tension and twists. Hugely atmospheric with enough menace to keep you looking over your shoulder!

not too bad

Great story, good narration, OK writing. But a good thriller that keeps you guessing even if the writing is a bit limited at times.

Good story with nail biting twist.

The story starts slow but picks up midway. Excellent who dunnit story with a disturbing background. Great narration.

Great Whodunnit

Loved this book….. excellent narration, great description…..,,,,the environment we are isolated in is both beautiful and terrifying, then add a killer to the mix….. great read.

Seriously?

She started writing a crime novel with no idea where it was going to lead.. lots of back filling later and…. A long tedious explanation about why the people were murdered… I still have no idea why “Lorhgh” was murdered. Perhaps it was due to the ridiculous pronunciation of her name.

Phew… what let down.