I loved the idea behind The Sanatorium, featuring an old sanatorium converted into a luxury hotel, now isolated in a storm. I would have liked to read more about the original features of the building, with its history incorporated more into the plot of the book - the details in the reveal felt very added on at the end. Not a great fan of the main character - she seemed a bit clueless for a UK police officer, doing everything on her own, heading into obvious danger, though admittedly she was very much off duty and her mind was on other things. The book definitely left me wanting to know more about old sanatoriums, and some scenes were highly atmospheric and creepy. The epilogue was very intriguing, so I assume that there's more to come featuring the main character.

The Sanatorium has one of the most interesting setups for a thriller that I've seen in a long time: a hotel which used to be a sanatorium, located in an isolated part of Switzerland. The snowy, isolated hotel scenario gave me The Hunting Party vibes and the creepy hotel with lots of giant windows gave me The Glass Hotel vibes - both books which I adored. So if you pick this up solely because of the atmosphere and the interesting scenario, then I think this will be a hit for you!

Unfortunately, this is the only positive thing I have to say about this book. I really could not get myself to care about the main character - and I spent a lot of time self-analyzing whether I disliked her or do I see myself in her too much and it frustrates me to see my flaws on someone else. Nope, it was her. The way she is always mumbling, her voice wobbling or going shrill, her face going red and her constant jumping to conclusions instead of analyzing things critically drove me nuts. She is a cop, trained as a cop and supposed to have an analytical mind (she wanted to be an engineer originally, if I'm not wrong), and although I understand a lot of her behavior comes from suffering from PTSD, I still could not help but feel incredibly frustrated with her. I don't mind an unlikable character, but it did not feel to me that her personality and her line of work matched at all and I was wondering if the point of the book was just going to be that she changed her career entirely at some point.

The writing did not quite work for me either. It seemed me amateurish and it definitely did the showing AND telling to the reader. I wish the author had left more space for the reader to figure things out themselves. Every. Thing. Was spelled out. Also drove me nuts.

Finally, the mystery itself, the resolution and the twists did not much work for me. I will not get into details because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who would like to pick this up.

I lot of people I know are interested in reading this, and I will definitely be reading other reviews, because I am very disappointed, and I wonder if it's because I've been reading so much literary fiction lately that it has skewed my expectations for how I enjoy books, but I am inclined to think rather that it's simply a case of The Sanatorium not being for me. Still, this being a debut novel, I enjoyed the ideas the author had (I love the spooky, Gothic vibes) and the discussions that the book brings to the front at the end of the book, shining a light on a topic that I can't talk about here because spoilers, but I actually really enjoyed reading that part of the book, when it touched on real world history-based issues.

An absolutely gripping atmospheric read, set in the chilly, snowy mountainous Swiss Alps. Architects Lucas Caron and Daniel Lemaitre have converted an old TB sanatorium into an exclusive hotel known as Le Somme, although Daniel disappeared before the renovations began but the building work went ahead. Lucas and Cecile his sister are managing it.

Elin Warner is a police officer suffering from PTSD which she developed after a case she was working on as an officer went wrong. After having a year off she now has to decide whether to return to the job or not, her recovery hasn’t been helped by the recent loss of her mother, add to that the fact she has never recovered from the loss of her brother Sam as a child. Elin’s brother Isaac has invited her to Le Sommet, and as she hasn’t seen him for some time and the fact he is now her only family member left she decides to go.

Isaac is getting engaged to Laure who is a Swiss National. Elin and her boyfriend Will arrive in Le Sommet to celebrate her brothers engagement. But Elin feels uncomfortable in the hotel, the remoteness and the minimalist decor, along with artefacts on display from when the hotel was a sanatorium gives Elin a sense of foreboding. But things get worse when Laure disappears, followed by a body found in the area.

As Isaac starts to fall apart Elin feels she needs to use her police investigative skills to try and find out what is happening. Just to make things worse the weather conditions deteriorate with snow blizzards, and a high risk of avalanches. The hotel has been advised to evacuate the guests and staff, but before they even get a chance the hotel is cut off completely from the outside world. Elin finds herself under pressure to find a clever killer with no help from the outside world. Not helped by the fact the guests and staff are becoming more and more scared because of deaths with a similar MO have occurred.

This is one gripping, thrilling, tense atmospheric read, having you sitting on the edge of your seat. Totally engrossing from start to finish as Elin battles her demons as she tries to find the murderer, but also wonders if she can go back to her old job. Does she still have what it takes to be a police officer. Although as the case moves on Elins confidence grows, at times making some decisions which could put herself and others at risk. But if you like a creepy, atmospheric read then I recommend you grab a copy of this.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #Bantampress for an eARC of this in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

This book was not what I was expecting.
From the cover it looks like you are going to get a creepy ghost story but it was not.
It was instead a thriller set in a very isolated location, where the elements proved as much of a challenge to the main protagonist as the icy weather conditions. That said, it did deal with ghosts of some sort, ghosts of the past, something the main character has to deal with throughout this tale, as well as ghosts of the buildings past. I felt that the building itself, a recently renovated sanatorium, now a modern sleek hotel, was an additional character slowly revealing its secrets as the tale was told. It reminded me a bit of 'The Overlook Hotel' from The Shining.
However, after enjoying the suspenseful nature of the story throughout, I did find the ending to be a little disappointing after all the previous build up.
The sort of epilogue also confused the heck out of me, but it seems to leave room for a sequel, or at least another book featuring the main character.

This is another great snowy mystery. There are plenty excellent isolated thrillers to choose from and this read is
no exception. I really enjoyed the setting - a renovated 'SANATORIUM' now a modern sleek sophisticated hotel, with a dark hidden past.
I would describe this more of a murder mystery than a thriller, as I didn't feel although the main character was in any danger herself. But that didn't make the read any less compelling.
However, one thing that did increasingly annoy me was the main character. She suffered from extreme nervousness and anxiety however for most of the book it felt although thats all she was - that her personality WAS her anxiety. But that all seemed to disappear the second half of the book when the mystery started. It was although the main character was two different people.
But overall the book held my attention from beginning to end, it had a compelling mystery and interesting setting.

This is a bit of a who done it, set in a snow locked hotel with a sordid history in the alps.

Elin is visiting her estranged brother and fiancee (an old school friend of hers) for their engagement party with her boyfriend. As she arrives a snow storm hits the resort, closing it down to the point of them evacuating the hotel. It doesn’t get any better from there, a member of staff goes missing, then her future sister in law, Laure, also disappears.

Elin is a hard character to feel much for, she is very guarded and not warm in any way. Her life has been plagued by an event that happened when she was just 10. She is detective but has been taking some time out cos of PTSD, but her time out ends when she finds herself at this hotel with people disappearing and with dead bodies appearing, she finds herself in charge of finding out who was behind it.

The premise of this book was strong and in parts gave you hope and promise, sadly though, it just never came through and delivered. I found the style quite slow and repetitive and the ending was a let down too. This was an underwhelming 2.5/5 rounded up to a 3 for me. Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for this advance copy.

The Sanitorium is.... well, let's be honest, if you haven't heard about this book by now then you've been living under a rock because this has been doing some serious rounds in the book community. The hype around this closed in type thriller is crazy. However, unfortunately, it just didn't live up to that hype for me. I didn't really like or connect to any of the characters and so I didn't care if they lived or died. And that for me was the downfall of the whole book because the plot was actually great. The pacing was a little slow but not a major problem. It all came down to my indifference about the characters. I was really disappointed in the fact that I just didn't click with this book as I had really high hopes for it. I think from the cover and the synopsis I was expecting something quite creepy and atmospheric but it just came across as a modern generic 'whodunnit' story that just happened to be set in an old sanatorium. From looking at other readers' reviews it definitely is causing a lot of mixed opinions and so it's one of those books that you just have to try yourself and see what you think.

Having seen some reviews about this already, I expected it to be amazing. However, whilst I enjoyed it, it personally didn’t live up to the hype that it got for me.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Well it seems as if I have read a completely different book than most people if the reviews are anything to go by! Just goes to show that everyone loves different things and you should make your own mind up.
I really really enjoyed this book. It had a creepy atmosphere and was quite fast paced - at one point I wondered if it was going down the supernatural route because of how creepy it was all made to sound, but it didn't.
As I have worked out by now, I struggle with remembering people's names if a book has too many characters, but strangely, although this book did have quite a few characters I found it easy to know instantly who the character was.
Would recommend - solid 4 stars for me.

The Sanatorium was a novel that made me feel extremely claustrophobic as I read it. I can only say it was due to the amount of snow that caused a different type of isolation to what most of world has become accustomed to and a brilliant storyline that was full of threat and red herrings . All held together by a slightly unreliable narrator.

The location was fascinating, I have visited Switzerland but never experienced the weather in the book, thankfully. I can’t imagine how terrifying it must feel stranded due to weather and also be at risk where you are forced to stay. I felt that the design of the hotel would have just added to the fear. It definitely wouldn’t be somewhere I would choose to stay, even though it did also sound stunning.

Elin was a character that took me a while to like and understand. She had PTSD caused by a case that had possibly ended her career and was still suffering years after the death of her younger brother. I did feel initially that her backstory took precedence over her life in modern day but when she started to investigate I felt I got to like and know her more. She was much more complex than many other police officers I have read about though and I still feel there is a lot to learn.

She wasn’t the only character who had issues, her brother and the people she met whilst during their enforced stay all seemed to have a past that they kept hidden. Her partner appeared to be the only one who seemed balanced and his character was one I did have misgivings about and I don’t really understand why. There just seemed to be something that wasn’t quite right.

The epilogue suggests that there will be a follow up to this excellent debut novel, I’m looking forward to reading it.

I really loved the sanatorium I actually read it in 2 days, was a total binge read for me.
The hotel was very atmospheric for the plot of the story especially when you start going into details. A hotel in the middle of nowhere all snowy and icy, nothing quite like it!
I liked that the answer was not predictable but there were still clues through out and it wasn't who you thought it would be.
I'm really intrigued by the epilogue so I hope there is going to be a new book soon!

This was a well written story and I really enjoyed the setting in the Swiss Alps. A hotel that was formerly a sanatorium. A slow start but was full of twists and turns. A well written plot which I enjoyed and it kept me on the edge of my seat to the very end. I hope there will be a sequel.

I really enjoyed the setting of the book and thought the Sanatorium turned hotel was very atmospheric. The opening hooked me and immediately had me wondering - giving me goosebumps and chills. The Swiss Alps were beautifully portrayed in all their beauty, and also their danger.

Elin is a British police detective visiting the hotel to celebrate the engagement of her estranged brother Isaac and her ex best-friend Laure. There's an uncomfortable atmosphere, filled with secrets, as a terrible past is alluded to in multiple ways, leaving us wondering. Then very shortly after their arrival, Laure goes missing and some terrible things start to happen. The weather cuts them off from the police, just as things start to escalate...

She's a strong main character with a dark past that I enjoyed unraveling. She has PTSD from a traumatic event and I felt this was described well. The other characters were background noise; forgettable.

I did think the storyline was very contrived and after a strong opening, it turned into a bit of a predictable locked house mystery where people stumble around from room to room trying to figure out what happened, without the horror / thriller feel I was expecting from the setup.

I'm giving it three out of five stars. A mixed bag for me as the main meat of the book didn't really live up to the chills and foreboding of the setup, but still enjoyable. I'd read this author again.

I managed 20% of this one before giving up. I just didn’t bond at all with the characters or the story. In fact it made so little impression on me I didn’t really know what was going on.

This led you up the wrong path at times with the ending being a surprise to me. The story is very creepy in places and makes you think that something really bad is happening by something! It would make a brilliant film so I hope it is picked up. The descriptions are good with it making you realise how bad the snow gets out there as they are cut off from everything. With a police officer not on active duty can she solve these murders but at what cost? Who can she trust? I really loved this and recommend it by a big five stars.

I expected big things from this book based on the cover and the blurb. However I found the outcome to be poor.

The story is very unbelievable, I can't imagine anywhere where this is likely to be a realistic tale. All of the characters were lethargic and uninteresting. Elin the main character wasn't likable and at times very annoying in some of her decisions.

However I kept reading hoping the final twist would make it worth it, unfortunately this didn't happen, the reasons given by the killer seemed poor given the extremity of the crimes.

Then throughout the whole story was a background story of Elina younger brother which was finally explained with no explanation or relevance to the rest of the book.

Lucas Carson is a property developer who has developed the old sanatorium into a luxury hotel. Elin Warner and her partner Will arrive at the new hotel, where her brother Isaac and her old friend Laure work. Isaac and she have not spoken since her brother died. Worse still Isaac did not attend their mother’s funeral and she has struggled with this. She hasn’t worked as a police detective for a year and needs to decide whether she wants to return. She is anxious/edgy and needs to come to terms with everything. This trip should give her and Will some quality time.

However best laid plans change when a murder occurs at the hotel. Changes in the weather mean that the hotel needs to be evacuated, but not everyone gets to leave before there is a significant avalanche and the police cannot reach the hotel to investigate the murder.

Elin is given permission by the local police to make some tentative enquiries, preserve the scene and cohort the remaining visitors and staff so they can remain safe. But things get complicated and more murders occur…
This could have been a modern Agatha Christie, but I found my initial enjoyment of the book weaned as the story progressed. I was unconvinced by the Elin- Will relationship. There was no emotion or physical/romantic connection – they came across as a couple with no deep connection that needed to part. Elin with all her issues, irritated me. She was very ego-centric, kept taking too many unrealistic risks, jumped to too many conclusions and where the twists should have been intriguing and entertaining they irked. There were quite a lot of gaps in the story and I ended up feeling disappointed. Others may thoroughly enjoy it, but it missed the mark and wasn’t credible enough for me.

A good example of the well-trodden "trapped in a gilded prison" genre of thriller. In this case, a magnificent, sleek and menacing mountain hotel in the Swiss Alps. Sarah Pearse sets the scene well with a cast of characters supporting an emotionally damaged hero as they try to come to terms with personal tragedy, whilst being the only one equipped to investigate a series of gruesome murders seemingly connected to one or more of the protagonists. There are plenty of twists and turns, the odd red herring and a satisfyingly convoluted ending with the building itself playing a starring role. There are obviously echoes of Christie here which I like. The story moves at a pleasing pace with few frills padding it out. Darkly entertaining, definitely worth a look.

The premise was certainly compelling and there was a vivid sense of place but I just couldn't get hooked. Perhaps it was to do with the characters whom I couldn't really connect with but I was unable to finish this one.

I really enjoyed this book. I got really invested in the characters and they were well developed. There were lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing. It was really tense and creepy! I highly recommend this book.