INTRODUCTION

Everyone's in danger.
Anyone could be next.

An imposing, isolated hotel, high up in the Swiss Alps, is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But she’s taken time off from her job as a detective, so when she receives an invitation out of the blue to celebrate her estranged brother’s recent engagement, she has no choice but to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge. Though it’s beautiful, something about the hotel, recently converted from an abandoned sanatorium, makes her nervous – as does her brother, Isaac.

And when they wake the following morning to discover his fiancée Laure has vanished without a trace, Elin’s unease grows. With the storm cutting off access to and from the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

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’re all in . . .

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Photo: Rosie Parsons Photography

AUTHOR

Sarah Pearse

Sarah Pearse lives by the sea in South Devon with her husband and two daughters. She studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Warwick and worked in Brand PR for a variety of household brands. After moving to Switzerland in her twenties, she spent every spare moment exploring the mountains in the Swiss Alpine town of Crans Montana, the dramatic setting that inspired her novel. Sarah has always been drawn to the dark and creepy – remote spaces and abandoned places – so when she read an article in a local Swiss magazine about the history of sanatoriums in the area, she knew she’d found the spark of the idea for her debut novel, The Sanatorium. Her short fiction has been published in a wide variety of magazines and has been shortlisted for several prizes.

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    REVIEWS

    The Sanatorium

    “The Sanatorium is an absolutely splendid Gothic thriller—gracious in its nods to the classic locked-room mystery, yet bold enough to burst out of that room through the window. Pearse writes prose fresh and crisp as Swiss Alp powder, and her characters fascinate even as their numbers dwindle.”

    —A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

    “Sarah Pearse’s The Sanatorium is a knockout. Mesmerizing, lyrical prose contrasts starkly with the dark story events in this debut thriller set at a remote luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps. Tense, claustrophobic, with a horrific connection between past and present that is utterly unpredictable—I loved this book!” 

    —Karen Dionne, #1 international bestselling author of The Wicked Sister

    “It's hard to believe this is a debut novel, given how masterfully Sarah Pearse writes. The setting is starkly chilling, the characters are smart and vulnerable, and as you turn the pages, the slow creep of claustrophobia sets in. . . . Highly recommended.”  

    —Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of The Wife Between Us

    “Pearse’s The Sanatorium will keep you checking over your shoulder. This spine-tingling, atmospheric thriller has it all: an eerie Alpine setting, sharp prose, and twists you’ll never see coming. A must-read.”

    —Richard Osman, international bestselling author of The Thursday Murder Club

    “The Sanatorium is definitely a debut novel to watch out for. What a chilling read! One of the creepiest thrillers I’ve ever read. So atmospheric, clever and compulsive. LOVED it!”

    —Claire Douglas, bestselling author of Last Seen Alive

    “A superb debut offering an astonishingly creepy and isolated backdrop, great characters, tension and twists. Hugely atmospheric with enough menace to keep you looking over your shoulder!”

    —Sam Carrington, bestselling author of I Dare You

    “An incredible debut. .  . Clever, creepy and utterly compelling.”

     

    —Samantha King, author of The Perfect Family

    “An atmospheric thriller with the perfect claustrophobic setting. This is equal parts creepy, suspenseful and gruesome—everything you could want in a novel for this genre. This is a sure-fire hit guaranteed to keep you seeing shadows in the snow on those freezing winter nights. I loved it.” 

    —C.J. Skuse, author of Sweetpea

    “Pearse’s engrossing debut boasts a highly atmospheric setting . . . Readers will applaud as Elin, for all her anxieties, emerges as a competent sleuth. This dark tale of family dynamics is sure to please suspense fans.” 

    — Publishers Weekly

    “The perfect claustrophobic setting packed with mystery and edge-of-your-seat tension.” 

    —Natasha Preston, New York Times bestselling author of The Cellar


    “Dark, suspenseful and downright chilling, Pearse’s debut, The Sanatorium, is a triumph. Vividly set against the backdrop of the Swiss Alps, it had me on the edge of my seat from the first page. Pearse’s writing is sublime. Pearse has a big future ahead of her.”

    —Sally Hepworth, bestselling author of The Mother-in-Law

    “A spine-tingling setting, an unnerving cast of characters and so many incredibly creepy moments . . . this is not one to read before bed!”

    —Elizabeth Kay, author of Seven Lies

    “A superbly atmospheric crime debut. Deliciously creepy and clever, it’s everything you could want in a thriller. Very highly recommended!”

     

    —Simon Lelic, author of The Search Party

    “I loved it—such a wonderful sense of location, and the tension is knife edge-sharp. I was up at 5:30 in the mornings to read it.” 

     

    —Michelle Adams, author of If You Knew My Sister

    Reader Quotes

    *****
    "Thrilling, chilling - a tingles down my spine type of read."

    *****
    "Imagine a universe where Agatha Christie and Stephen King collaborated on a book."

    *****
    "Sarah Pearse wastes no time in ramping up the tension and is clearly destined to be a master of this genre."

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    Events

    Press contact & Events

    Keep in touch by using the contact form below or join Sarah at one of her up coming events. If you’d like to get in touch with either the UK or USA Publicity Manager, please use the details below.

    UK Publicity

    Thomas Hill

    Publicity Manager, Transworld, Penguin Random House UK
    thill@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk

    US Publicity

    Ben Petrone

    Viking Books,
    Penguin Random House
    bpetrone@penguinrandomhouse.com

    CONTACT

    Get in touch or say hello!

    For any general enquiries, please contact Sarah’s agent, Charlotte Seymour. at Andrew Nurnberg Associates: cseymour@nurnberg.co.uk For any other comments or messages, send them using the form below.