Don't let the cover deceive you like it did me. This is a story about mental health with a light mystery. I thought this would be a gothic horror read and, instead, found a well told story about 2 boys who befriend a man in a mental health facility. Later in life they find the man from the institution set up an account for them and they decide to find out what's happened to him.

It was an interesting story, once I figured out what I was getting into. The story was not nearly as haunting as the cover but it was a good story. I liked how the boys, as adults, dove into mental health and pushed to find their old friend. It held my attention and was entertaining, just not quite what I thought it would be.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Simply amazing! Loved every second! It was immersive and scary. I really loved the characters and the story is one that just sticks with your amazing job

Riveting and engrossing, Asylum, unravels the mystery behind what happened there during the time Joe was a patient. And to make it even more interesting, years later as adults two of his friends, Nate and Adam, receive a letter from a lawyer regarding an inheritance from that long-missing patient, Joe.

A great read and a book I definitely recommend.

I love the premise for this book and it was well-executed! One of my favorite tropes is that of children seeing something they shouldn't that then haunts them as adults. The exceeded my expectations. It was thought out, immersive, and had a solid amount of suspense and creep factor.

This book captured my attention from the first page and never let up. I enjoyed the story immensely with likeable characters and the asylum being a very creepy backdrop. I look forward to the next book in this series.

This is a great suspense story, I really enjoyed it. Nat and Adam are nice characters, but not only them. It is a sad story when you think about it, so many people suffered, and for what? Sad.
Thank you Netgalley for this opportunity.

I thought this was going to be more of a horror story but it fell into the murder mystery genre. I didn't dislike that - I just felt a bit confused until I realised. It was a good book, that kept me turning the pages, but I thought the description was slightly misleading.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A creepy eerie setting of a state psychiatric (lunatic) hospital no longer open but the stories in the wall wanting to be heard wanting their truth to come out. A story going back in time to the future trying to uncover the truth! Loved it!

Ten-year-old best friends, Nate Walker and Adam Murphy spent time by the river outside the grounds of the Lunatic Asylum as often as they could, but still that was only weekends and school holidays. Their friend Joe always spoke to them, treated them kindly, sketched them and intrigued them. Nate and Adam knew he wasn’t insane but didn’t know why he was in there. Then one day when they came back, Joe was no longer there.

Over twenty years later, ex-cop Nate, now a PI, was almost-divorced with a young daughter, while psychologist Adam was divorced – the two of them had just opened an office in Brisbane with Jessica as their joint receptionist. The contact from a solicitor regarding an inheritance was a shock to them both, and it started a chain of events stemming back to their boyhood and the River Park Lunatic Asylum, which had housed their good friend, Joseph O’Connell, along with many others.

As Nate and Adam’s investigation deepened, the horrific atrocities uncovered were terrible. But it seemed there was someone out there who didn’t want those secrets uncovered. And perhaps they would stop at nothing to keep it all hidden…

Asylum is the debut novel and 1st in the Asylum series by Aussie author Jack Adams and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found the main characters well-defined with plenty of depth and particularly liked Adam’s persona. Brisbane Australia is where this fictional asylum is situated. The mental health institutions of the mid to late 1900s are notorious for what was done within the four walls to the inmates – how they got away with it all is baffling. The second in the series – Stalker – is one I’m looking forward to very much. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and Atlas Productions for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

I very much enjoyed this book. it is very well written and I just couldn't put it down.
This was one book that I read in one day because I just couldn't stop reading.

I highly recommend this book.

I was expecting a horror story but it was more of a murder mystery. The story kept me engaged and guessing til the end.

This story follows Adam and Nate as they befriend Joe as children then as adults they try to solve the mystery of their friend. There are multiple twist that tie the story together nicely. I received an ARC of this and volunteered to review it.

I can't say I've read a great deal of Australian fiction. I thought this was a promising mystery story which switches between two time frames, from the perspective of two boys, Adam and Nate, who live near an Asylum and befriend Joe, an inmate and Adam and Nate as adults investigating into what happened to him. The characters from the asylum are respectfully portrayed and it becomes clear that some dreadful things have happened there, which are harrowing to read about. There are a couple of scenes set inside, but most of the investigation takes place elsewhere. I think I would have liked a bit more description of the place. The central story is good, although I didn't find it gripping. I think that I had a few issues which brought the rating down. This is only my opinion though.

Firstly, a couple of the characters and plot lines. I thought Adam's mother Winsome was a completely pointless addition who slowed the story down at times. I didn't care that his mother was famous, I wanted to know what was going on with the plot, not with a woman who wasn't even in the story! The PA might as well have worn a badge wearing 'love interest', I found her a disappointing stereotype from the arrival with her diet Coke, low fat cottage cheese and motivational statements. She was supposed to be sassy but just ended up gossiping about the famous mother. However, I found Danielle, the PI much more interesting.

Finally, the writing. It's readable but I didn't think that so much time needed to be spent on describing drinks orders and attracting waitress's attention and other little things that somewhat slowed the narrative down. If the characters are in the middle of a conversation, you don't need to stop to describe how one of them finished their wine and ordered another. Maybe this was trying for realism.

Overall, not a bad mystery, and I can see that this is probably the start of a series.

This story focuses on a woman that investigates the occult. She is looking in on a patient that claims he didn't murder the teenagers that broke into his home. Henry claims that his imaginary friends committed the murder. Henry has made up an imaginary world and characters that have managed to come into our world on their own, and they are determined to stay permanently. During the investigation, inmates are being murdered even though they are in their locked rooms alone. Eventually a battle ensues, and Henry must make a choice between his imaginary friends or the safely of the world. It is a page turner, and I had a hard time putting it down.

Set in Australia, Asylum is a mystery story involving two young friends - Adam and Nate and a man who lives at a nearby Asylum that they meet and become friends with - Joe. Years later, Adam and Nate receive an inheritance from Joe, which then leads to questions such as "What happened to Joe?" and 'What really went on at that asylum?"

When the story starts, the first several chapters are spent weaving between "Then" and "Now". Sometimes this type of storytelling can frustrate readers and you will want to get back to a certain timeline, or you find you don't want to leave a timeline. So it was very refreshing to find that in Asylum, I found the balance between the two to be perfectly executed. I can appreciate how much time the author must have spent trying to find this balance, because I am sure that it wasn't easy.

Eventually, the story says mainly in the 'Now' as the characters work their way through the mystery and hunt down all the clues. The main story itself is very compelling and interesting, but what really sells the book are the characters. All the characters and not just the main 2 are interesting and feel real. You can tell that a lot of time and effort was spent in developing backstories and personalities because of how casually the characters were able to converse about current and past events with each other. They all just felt natural and real, which I really appreciated. While all the conversations and personalities were well written, a small thing that didn't quite grab me were the romantic-ish relationships. I didn't quite pick up on who was liked or wasn't liked as the characters saw them.

I really enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend it to others to read. I will also add that I felt the end of the story was a bit rushed, or perhaps felt incomplete; however, I noticed that this is only the first book in a series so perhaps some of that is continued over into the next book - which I am looking forward to reading.

Was a really hard book to put down, I love how it was written it kept my interest. A few of the people seemed thrown in there a little bit and had little back story hard to remember who was who. The whole thing about the famous mom and the wedding really didnt have anything to do with the story so I felt that was alot for no reason. The whole relationship thing with Dan or Jessica didnt pan out, and wasnt enough tension and it didnt end up with anything except for Adam going with basically the random girl, and they didnt even go to the wedding they just went to a funeral. The ending was bland, it was like why did I read all of what seemed like a really well written book to end up with this.

Special thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Nate and Adam are lifelong friends who now partnered as a PI and psychologist. When they’re approached and informed that their old friend Joe has left them a substantial amount of money, the story really takes off.

Joe was a patient in the asylum that Nate and Adam would hang around as kids. They’d sit in a tree by the fence and talk to Joe who took a liking to them. Then one day Joe disappears and the boys continue their lives and forget about their friend. When they’re informed of the money that Joe left them, Nate and Adam are determined to figure out what happened to Joe. Readers follow Nate and Adam as they interview Joe’s family members, asylum staff, and previous residents of the now abandoned asylum.

Not a major page turner for me, and I was not a huge fan of the ending, but this was an overall quick read.

An intruiging story with a joyous adventurer feel. Sad in parts but dealt with sensitively. The descriptions of the location where very evocative.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Atlas Productions and the author, Jack Adams, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Asylum in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
OMG, I loved this book. I thought this was a fantastic read.
The storyline was well thought out and written with well developed characters. What I enjoyed the most was the unpredictability of where the story was going ( and the fact that the hospital I work for was mentioned by name. Hahaha.)
I was hooked from the start and had to finish reading it in one sitting.
I certainly can't wait for more from this author.
Well worth a read.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley!!

This is a mystery based on an inmate at the Lunatic Asylum named Joe who seems to "disappear."
Nathan & Adam were best friends as children and met Joe through the fence one day. They continued a friendship regardless to the fence separating them. And then Joe disappears. As adults, Nathan and Adam share a business office and decide to figure otu what has happened.

Great, intriguing read with an unique storyline.