Book Synopsis:
Very few people get to stay here. And some don’t get to leave …
Zoey doesn’t remember anything about last night. But she knows something went badly wrong. For she is no longer in New York. She’s woken up in the desert, in a white building she doesn’t recognise, and she’s alone.
When she discovers she’s been admitted to The Sanctuary, a discreet, mysterious, isolated refuge from normal life, to avoid jail, she is stunned. She knows she has secrets, troubles, but she thought she had everything under control. But as she spends more time with other residents, she begins to open up about what she’s running from. Until she realises that not everyone in The Sanctuary has her best interests at heart, and someone might even be a killer . . .
My Review:
Wow I absolutely loved this gripping, claustrophobic thriller which I managed to finish in a couple of days.
I was immediately pulled into the story and into the weird situation Zoey finds herself in. I think I’d have completely freaked out if I’d woken up in the desert with no memory of how I got there but, although obviously scared too, I loved how Zoey fought back and didn’t just accept her situation.
The setting of the desert in this book is brilliant and helps create a locked room environment which I always enjoy. The heat helps add to the claustrophobic atmosphere and I almost felt like I could feel it myself at times. There are only a few characters in this book so it was easy to remember them. Some I liked instantly and some made my skin crawl as I really wasn’t sure about them.
Overall, as you can probably tell, I absolutely loved this book. It quickly becomes clear that things aren’t as tranquil as they first appeared and I loved following Zoey as she tried to unravel all The Sanctuary’s secrets. There were lots of twists and the tension slowly increases until it becomes almost unbearable. I can’t wait to see what this author writes next!
Huge thanks to Jenny Platt for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Emma Haughton grew up in Sussex; after a stint au pairing in Paris and a couple of half-hearted attempts to backpack across Europe, she studied English at Oxford University then trained in journalism. During her career as a journalist, she wrote many articles for national newspapers, including regular pieces for the Times Travel section.
Following publication of her picture book, Rainy Day, Emma wrote three YA novels. Her first, Now You See Me, was an Amazon bestseller and nominated for the Carnegie and Amazing Book Awards. Better Left Buried, her second, was one of the best YA reads for 2015 in the Sunday Express. Her third YA novel, Cruel Heart Broken, was picked by The Bookseller as a top YA read for July 2016.
The Dark, Emma’s chilling new thriller for adults, was published by Hodder in August 2021.
Over The Rainbow Blog 