The Sanatorium

Published 2025-01-04

Pretty annoying. Sloppy writing and unconvincing dialogue with a plot not strong enough to make up for it. The protagonist’s (erstwhile detective Erin) inner monologue is so moronic (presumably for the purpose of clarifying points for the reader) it makes her seem like an idiot and destroys any sympathy I may (may) have had for her struggling character.

I read this because it was mentioned on a reddit thread of books with stunning twists, and the “twist” ended up being extremely unsatisfying: at the risk of a minor spoiler, the killer wasn’t the first suspect, or the second suspect, or the third suspect, but an unforseen fourth suspect!

And then there’s the epilogue! While the epilogue does contain a slightly intriguing (and mostly confusing) “twist”, it does nothing for the book — it’s just a setup for a second book!