The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
Le Sommet has always been a sinister place, partially hidden by forest and shrouded by menacing peaks. The previously abandoned sanatorium has recently been transformed into a five-star minimalist hotel, ending years of troublesome rumours.
The last place Elin Warner wants to be is a towering, remote retreat in the Swiss Mountains. But, Elin has taken a break from her work as a detective, so she really has no excuse not to accept her estranged brother Isaac’s and his fiancée Laure’s invitation to celebrate their engagement at the hotel.
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
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Elin arrives in the middle of a potentially dangerous storm and immediately feels uneasy; there’s something about the motel that worries her. Laure is missing when they wake up the next morning, so Elin needs to trust her gut if they want to find her. The more time Laure is missing, the more anxious the other guests become because the storm has cut off all access to the hotel.
Elin is under pressure to locate Laure, but nobody is aware that a second woman has vanished. And only she could have forewarned them of the peril they are all in.
The author, Sarah Pearce, visited the Swiss Mountains and the sleepy hamlet of Crans Montana after completing her studies in English language and creative writing at the University of Warwick. The result is an explosive thriller that unfolds in this ominous, frightening location. The reader is drawn into the intricately crafted narrative and the foreboding surroundings, which are reminiscent of the best thriller/horror works by genre masters. The main character in this amazing book and the main reason to read this excellent mystery is “Le Sommet,” an opulent hotel that was once a sanatorium housing tuberculosis patients.
The building’s imposing structure and sparse decoration, which aims to “create a narrative,” a sort of connection between the luxurious, opulent present and its dark past, serve as the ideal setting for the story, which is told from the perspectives of several different characters, strengthening and quickening the narrative tempo.
Several credible, three-dimensional primary characters populate The Sanatorium, and the gradual disclosure of their shared history throughout the book explains the strained relationships and uncomfortable encounters that take up the majority of the book’s first half. Each of the main characters is rife with long-buried secrets that loom over them and pose a threat to the surface, upsetting their daily routines.
Pearce’s prose is compelling because she has a knack for weaving a brilliant, natural narrative with a scary, creepy atmosphere. This shows that an author doesn’t need to have a lot of writing expertise to create an engaging fictional world. The novel’s amazing descriptions transport the reader to the setting of the action, and the conversation is similarly believable and credible, making the interactions between the key characters seem natural.
A gas mask-wearing intruder kills Daniel Lemaitre, the architect responsible for “Le Sommet,” at the start of the narrative. Next, we read about young English couple Elin and Will travelling to Switzerland and the remote resort to attend Elin’s brother Isaac’s engagement party. Although there are many things that remain unspoken between them, Elin and Isaac’s reunion is not a happy one after a long absence. The connection between Elin and Laure, Isaac’s fiancée, is similarly problematic because they were once great friends.
Although she is currently on an extended leave from work, Isaac will ask her for assistance when Laure unexpectedly disappears the night before Elin and Will arrive because his sister is a detective, and she accepts the task. Elin will instinctively know that the discovery of Daniel Lemaitre’s body the morning following Laure’s disappearance cannot be a coincidence and that there must be some connection between the two incidents.
Being insecure, asthmatic, mildly depressed, prone to panic attacks, and bearing a lot of prior traumas make Elin one of the most interesting female heroines in contemporary crime fiction. Her mother recently passed away from cancer, and when Elin was a young child, Sam perished in a sad accident for no apparent reason. Elin became a police officer as a result of Sam’s passing because she spent her entire life trying to understand why her brother died so suddenly. Elin is extraordinarily perceptive due to her sensitivity, and she immediately senses that something is wrong with the hotel. This causes her to have a visceral reaction. She finds no solace in “Le Sommet’s” wide, empty spaces, the chamber that is crammed with vintage artifacts and medical supplies from the building’s days as a sanatorium, or the glass walls that make her feel constantly exposed. To solve this bizarre case, which grows stranger and stranger as the narrative goes on, she will need to recall her time as a police officer.
In this seductive thriller that reads like a Jo-Nesb-meets-Stephen-King tale, the book is full of twists and shocks that keep the reader turning the pages to find out what happens next. Lovers of Scandinavian crime fiction, especially those who admire the thrillers of Lars Kepler, Yrsa Sigurardóttir, and Johan Theorin, will adore The Sanatorium.
