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  • The Sanatorium

  • Reese's Book Club (A Novel)
  • Written by: Sarah Pearse
  • Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
  • Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (399 ratings)

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The Sanatorium cover art

The Sanatorium

Written by: Sarah Pearse
Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
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Publisher's Summary

Reese's Book Club Pick | A New York Times best seller!

“An eerie, atmospheric novel that had me completely on the edge of my seat.” (Reese Witherspoon)

“This spine-tingling, atmospheric thriller has it all…and twists you’ll never see coming.” (Richard Osman, New York Times bestselling author of The Thursday Murder Club)

Sarah Pearse's next book, The Retreat, is forthcoming.

You won't want to leave...until you can't.

Half-hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.

An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge - there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

Elin is under pressure to find Laure, 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 are all in....

©2021 Sarah Pearse (P)2021 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

“CHILLING! The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse is an eerie, atmospheric novel that had me completely on the edge of my seat. Let’s set the mood.... You’re in a remote location - at a hotel - and there’s a snowstorm. The winds are howling, the snow is pelting in every direction, there’s a missing person, and a dead body shows up!” (Reese Witherspoon)

“When guests at a five-star resort in the Alps disappear mid-blizzard, vacation’s over for detective Elin Warner. It’s The Shining but with a full house.” (People)

“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.” (David Baldacci)

What listeners say about The Sanatorium

Average Customer Ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

weak storyline

The narrator was great, book was blah at best. I struggled to get into it and it was suspenseful to begin, then just become dull after a while.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A bit too predictable

Listened to this book because it was a Book Club Pick. Sorry, but I struggled to finish it. Felt it just went on and on and just ended up being a bit too predictable and cliché. Even the main character felt annoying to me. I know it was not a true story but still I found it hard hearing the descriptions of multilation and torture. Not on a level with Agatha Christie.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

couldn't stop listening

loved the setting for this story. could relate to the characters. slightly creepy and slowly who dun-it. liked this book alot.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Well read, but main character development was weak

The premise of the story was interesting; however, the development and decision making of the main character was irrational and contradictory at times - it made it difficult to enjoy listening to the character. Also - there were some were some weaknesses in the plot - some leaps and bounds were made to bridge conclusions. Overall, it was a decent read.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

the sanatorium

a typical who done it book by a "distraught " police woman the ending is easily guessed

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Thrilling

Loved this. At times I was annoyed by the main character but the story caught me from chapter three and I had to listen as much as possible until I finished. Great narration.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Performance was great, story not so much.

My first audible book, and I must say I enjoyed the format, and for a dark and creepy book, it was perfect. The story itself was good for about the first half, and then it started to fall apart. The book is much too long so it loses momentum considerably until i'm thinking "figure this out already." I did skip a bit. The ending was a disappointment. After all the build-up it was totally no surprise. I didn't care for the protagonist or any of the characters for that matter. I will try another book in this format because I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Couldn't stop listening!

The story was well written with details that kept me interested. I wasn't able to predict what was happening which made the story ever changing and kept me on edge to learn what was going to happen.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Light read.

Great setting however historical information was weak.
For a mystery there were too many holes and the character development was lacking.
There was no real surprises at the end... I had guessed the whodunit half way through.
Considering it was a Reese pick I was disappointed.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story - performance ok

In fairness there are few narrators that don’t take some acclimating to. Usually it is voices of the opposite sex or a particular character’s voice. Having said that, it would be hard to call this narrator’s American accent anything but amateurish. As a Canadian, I didn’t take it personally:) it was distracting though. Other than that the performance was lovely and the story was both clever and well written. I enjoyed it very much

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