An old sanatorium-turned-hotel in the middle of nowhere? An approaching blizzard? A mysterious killer in a gas mask? If you're thinking that these sound like the makings of a perfect thriller, you're 100% correct.
Welcome to Le Sommet, a luxurious, architectural masterpiece in the remote Swiss Alps.
Formerly known as Sanatorium du Plumachit, the building has been immaculately renovated into a five-star hotel.
The renovations were organized by Lucas Caron and his partner and longtime friend, Daniel Lemaitre.
Many were unhappy about the project, and it was even met with protests and threats from locals. However, Lucas and Daniel were determined to bring their vision to life.
After closing up the building late one evening, Daniel heads back to his car and is distracted by a metal bracelet on the ground near the wheel. The bracelet has some sort of engraving on it, but Daniel has little time to investigate it before he is attacked by a figure in all black, wearing a peculiar sort of gas mask. Where there should be a filter, instead there is nothing but a ribbed tube running from the mouth to where the nose should be.
"The effect is horrifying. Monstrous. Something scraped from the darkest depths of the unconscious mind."
Five years later, Detective Elin Warner and her partner, Will, are headed to Le Sommet to celebrate her brother's engagement.
Elin and her brother Isaac have had a strained relationship ever since the death of their other brother when they were kids. Recently, the death of their mother has made it worse.
Elin still struggles with the loss of their brother Sam, and has always believed that Isaac had something to do with his death. Isaac is selfish, manipulative, and has always needed to be the center of attention.
Elin is dreading their reunion.
Meanwhile, Adele Bourg is going about her daily routine as a housekeeper at the hotel, and notices a metal bracelet on the balcony of one of the rooms. Assuming it was left by a guest, Adele doesn't think much of it and goes on about her day.
As she leaves work that night, she is tripped by a gloved hand grabbing her ankle and pulling her into the snow. Looming over her is a dark figure in an odd-looking gas mask.
“She’s often thought about this, the risks of a crime in a remote location. How vulnerable people would be, how much damage could be inflicted in a short period of time."
Elin and Will both hope that their stay at Le Sommet will be a chance for Elin to unwind and recover. After a case gone wrong, she has been placed on leave from her job, and still struggles with trauma and guilt from how things went down.
Instead, Elin finds herself terrified before they even arrive. Le Sommet is so remote that there's only one road in or out, and it curves and weaves up the mountain with nothing to stop cars from going right off the edge.
They arrive safely, but Elin still feels uneasy. Maybe it's all the glass in the building, making her feel raw and exposed, or maybe it's the knowledge of what the hotel once was, but she just can't shake the feeling of foreboding.
“Her body is reacting to something here; something living, breathing, woven into the DNA of the building, as much a part of it as its walls and floors.”
After a brief greeting with Isaac and his fiancée, Laure, the four agree to meet for dinner later that evening. Elin and Will waited for almost two hours, but Isaac and Laure never showed.
Frustrated with Isaac and angry that she fell for yet another one of his games, Elin storms back to their room for the night. As she steps onto the balcony for some fresh air, she hears a voice from below. Peering over the edge, she realizes that it's Laure, talking on her phone. While Elin doesn't understand the French that Laure is speaking, the anger in her tone is unmistakable.
The next morning, Isaac approaches Elin and Will at breakfast. Elin is ready to berate him for the night before, but Isaac immediately takes the wind out of her sails: Laure is missing.
That same morning, a local skier is enjoying the slopes surrounding Le Sommet. On his way down the mountain, he notices something reflective atop the snow. It appears to be a metal bracelet, but when he stops to pick it up, the skeletal remains of a human arm come with it.
Below the bracelet, a watch is revealed, with a name engraved on the band: Daniel Lemaitre.
As Elin's detective instincts kick in, she tries to locate Laure and figure out what happened. However, she can't help but feel like Isaac is hiding something. While searching their room, she noticed him slip something into his pocket, and there's a splatter of what appears to be blood on the carpet.
"It makes sense now, her brother celebrating his engagement here. This place, like Isaac, is all about facades. Covering up what really lies beneath."
The search for Laure is brought to a reluctant halt when the hotel must perform a mandatory evacuation. With the huge amount of snowfall they've received, and more on the way, they're at major risk of an avalanche.
Shortly before the last bus is about to leave, taking the remaining staff and guests down the mountain, a body is found in the pool. Its hands and feet have been restrained, several fingers have been removed, and strapped to its face is a black gas mask with a rubber tube connecting the nose and mouth.
Nearby, a staff member discovers a glass display box containing the missing fingers, each encircled by a metal bracelet with a five-digit number engraved into it.
To make matters worse, the avalanche has struck, making the road to Le Sommet inaccessible for anyone to get in or out.
Elin, Will, Isaac, and the remaining guests and staff are trapped, with a dead body in the pool and a killer on the loose, and no way for police to get to them.
“But the terror remains, a terror unique to a situation like this. What's happened here, it isn't logical, rational, something that can be explained."
Is it Laure's body in the pool? What happened to Adele? Who killed Daniel? Is the history of Sanatorium du Plumachit more sinister than we've been led to believe?
I don't know what I expected the answers to be, but nothing could've prepared me for this wild ride. I kept thinking I had it figured out, but I was proven wrong over and over again, and the true identity of the killer was someone I never saw coming.
I'll be honest, though, the motive behind it didn't really add up for me. Some of the logic seemed flawed, but I guess maybe that was the point.
Then, when you've finally reached the end and found answers to all your burning questions, the epilogue opens up a whole new set of questions. I like having the story wrapped up nicely at the end, so that was a little disappointing to see.
There is a second book in the series called The Retreat, so I'm hoping those questions are answered there and that it isn't a completely unrelated story.
Either way, this was a thrilling read that kept me up past my bedtime because I just couldn't put it down, and I'll be delighted to check out more of Sarah Pearse's work in the future.
On an unrelated note, I really loved a particular quote that came up during the investigation of Laure's disappearance, where Elin discredits social media as a way of knowing what's going on in someone's life.
“The most easily manipulated? Social media. The extrovert colleague having a meal with her ‘squad’ could in fact be eating alone, reading a book. The artsy shot of the prize-winning book? Discarded after the first page.”
I'd love to know your thoughts if you've read The Sanatorium, or if you decide to based on this review. Please join me on Discord so we can talk about all things books!
'•.¸♡ Happy reading! ♡¸.•'