Helpful Score: 3
Many books are hyped as something entirely new in the mystery genre; this book is exactly that.
Set in a mental hospital in the 1970's, the primary plot line concerns the murder of a young nurse-trainee, and the repercussions of that time on one of the patients many years later. Seeing the events through the eyes of a schizophrenic is both eerie and compelling. The portrayal of life for patients in a mental hospital in that time period is painfully accurate and disturbing, their treatment basically a program of constantly adjusted medication cocktails and farcical group therapy sessions. The reader grows to know and sincerely care about the characters of several patients; the characters of the doctors are far less sympathetic.
The book succeeds on many levels: as compelling character study, genuinely puzzling mystery, page-turning thriller, and portrayal of fairly recent history. It's also occasionally reminiscent of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," but with less black humor and more edge-of-seat drama. If you're in the mood for a very different puzzler, give this book a try!
Set in a mental hospital in the 1970's, the primary plot line concerns the murder of a young nurse-trainee, and the repercussions of that time on one of the patients many years later. Seeing the events through the eyes of a schizophrenic is both eerie and compelling. The portrayal of life for patients in a mental hospital in that time period is painfully accurate and disturbing, their treatment basically a program of constantly adjusted medication cocktails and farcical group therapy sessions. The reader grows to know and sincerely care about the characters of several patients; the characters of the doctors are far less sympathetic.
The book succeeds on many levels: as compelling character study, genuinely puzzling mystery, page-turning thriller, and portrayal of fairly recent history. It's also occasionally reminiscent of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," but with less black humor and more edge-of-seat drama. If you're in the mood for a very different puzzler, give this book a try!
Helpful Score: 3
What a fabulous thriller! it had me from beginning to end, i couldn't put it down. The character development is great. Would highly recommend to anyone who likes this genre.
Helpful Score: 1
a crime is revisited through a mentally ill mans memories.
Helpful Score: 1
OH WOW. This book is so good, it makes up for the last fifteen bad books that I have read. I actually broke one of my cardinal rules and turned to the last page to just get some idea...lol
All it did was increase my angst and agitation of what was going to happen. Well-written, wonderful storyline, and excellent characterization. Ummmm.....why haven't you requested a copy of this book yet?
All it did was increase my angst and agitation of what was going to happen. Well-written, wonderful storyline, and excellent characterization. Ummmm.....why haven't you requested a copy of this book yet?
Helpful Score: 1
Strange and thought provoking. A good read.
Helpful Score: 1
Kept me on the edge of my seat!
Helpful Score: 1
A wonderful thriller as well as an intimate look into mental illness.
Helpful Score: 1
Very suspenseful. Good characters...stick with it. It's a slow starter.
Helpful Score: 1
Very interesting mystery/thriller from an asylum. Narrator is a patient in the institution and brings an interesting twist to the story.
Helpful Score: 1
I'm not really a mystery fan, but the character development in this book is excellent.
Excellent. I worked in a psych center for 10 years and this book nails it.
Helpful Score: 1
Really good mystery. When a nurse is found murdered in a mental hospital, the patients are the perfect scapegoat. Great characters too!
Mystery-Thriller about an unsolved murder in an insane asylum.
An enjoyable read full of interesting characters and an intriguing plot.
Great suspense read.
Great read!
Francis is committed to Western State when he becomes violent. While there, several gruesome murders take place and he's in a race against time with other patients and a prosecuter trying to find the murderer.
From the back of the book - It's been 20 years since Western State Hospital was closed down. Francis Petrel was barely out of his teens when his family committed him to the asylum for his erratic behavior. Now middle-aged, he leads an aimless life, perpetually medicated to quiet the chorus of voices in his head. But a reunion on the grounds of the shuttered institution stirs something deep in Francis's troubled mind; dark memories about the unsolved murder of a young nurse whose mutilated corpse was discovered late one night after lights-out. Who was her murderer? Now, like Francis's long buried recollections, the killer has resurfaced...with a vengeance
