§ Sharon Mensing, retired educational leader, lives, reads, and enjoys the outdoors in Arizona.Find it on: Goodreads. I hope that in future books, Pearse is able to diverge from her formula and give us more believable plots without sacrificing the intensity of her writing. Nonetheless, the book kept me up at night reading, inadvisably given its pace and content. In the moment, as I was reading, I was willing to forgive this because of the high level of tension I was experiencing. She rises from near death to bring the villain to justice more than once, each time feeling a rush of adrenaline that somehow makes her superhuman. The physical feats that Elin manages in order to bring the plot to conclusion are well-nigh impossible. Suspension of disbelief is absolutely necessary for this book. The aforementioned storm is so powerfully described that it is nearly impossible to put the book down during the extended scene at the end of the book. Pearse transports the reader to the island and the retreat, and the descriptions of the landscape add to the ominous tone of much of the book. The people in the book are complex enough to seem real. Her boyfriend, the architect who designed the retreat, is unsupportive, but has his reasons.

Her new partner is a good balance for her, providing stability and sensitivity at the same time. We feel Elin's self-doubt and anxiety during the investigation and are immersed in her relationships. There is a strong psychological component to this book, and Pearse's skill with characterization supports that. As threats escalate, more guests are found dead, and tales of horrific events at an old school on the site add a creepy element to the investigation. A death of one of the family occurs, and Elin, the main character of THE SANATORIUM, suppresses her insecurities about returning to duty to investigate. A family of adults is having a comped reunion there, based on the social media status of one of their members. In THE RETREAT, the isolated setting is a new eco-retreat on an island off the coast of England.

That said, she sure can write a page-turner and entering the world of either of the books will leave the reader completely wrung out. Pearse seems to be adhering to a bit of a formula – an isolated closed room sort of plot set in a newly opened resort and including a gothic twist.

This is one of the rare cases, however, when having read the first detracts from the second. She has proven this again in THE RETREAT. After her first novel, THE SANATORIUM, there was no doubt but that Pearse can write amazingly compelling scenes of storms and destruction, along with an eerie subplot.

The retreat sarah pearse book review