Asylum

This was a very good book. I highly recommend it. The characters are developed really well .Therr are a lot of surprises.

Thank you to Sarah Hans, NetGalley, and Raw Dog Screaming Press for providing me with this ARC.

This book was a super quick read. I was completely engrossed in it, and when I looked down to see I was 78% of the way through, I felt sad. One part had me literally physically reacting and that so cool. Very little does that. A little bit of gore, some suspense, no ghosts or anything. I go into most books blind, so I was really thrown as I read this one. Character development was great and I was definitely left wanting to read more. Excellent job!

On the lam from the law, Ashleigh, her boyfriend Conner, and another couple, Kayla and Dean, camp out in an abandoned asylum. Tension rises between the members of the group as they detox from meth and discover the dangers of the asylum.

The story has all the great vibes of a slasher story with the isolation, unexplained happenings, and rising body count as sexy times ensue.

The drug use adds an extra layer of uncanniness as the characters try to separate reality from the effects of the meth from reality.

I loved Ashleigh’s character arc as she decides to get clean and view her abusive relationship with a fresh perspective.

While I found the ending satisfying and the story solidly built, I wanted more time with the cats, characters, and the wonderfully creepy and cool world Hans created.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Raw Dog Screaming Press for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.

Ashley her boyfriend Connor his friend Dean Dean‘s girlfriend Kaylee are all meth addicts Kaylee did have a job but due to Connor and Dean robbing a local quick stop they had to leave town and despite rumors of a wildcat call Perry roaming the hill where the asylum is Ashley talks them in to go in there to hide out. When they arrive at the asylum their goal is to get clean but first they have to finish smoking the last of their crystal meth . The first impressions of the asylum is the strong smell of cat urine and on the way up the hill they saw a fox ripped from limb to limb and they instantly know that isn’t the work of a bear or a coyote but something much bigger and much more fierce. It wasn’t until they start smoking the drugs they brought and everyone starts getting intimate with their partners that Ashley sees a shadow standing in the doorway when Connor turns he immediately thinks it is Dean despite the fact he was in another part of the asylum. Connor immediately starts beating on Dean this will not be the last strange thing to happen nor the last time Connor overreacts but when he and Ashley have a misunderstanding and she runs to the words to hide from him when she comes back she catches him with Kaylee in one thing leads to another and Connor is angry at Ashley again but he’s also torn between wanting her to just talk to him she has locked her self in one of the bathrooms but as he bangs on the door she hears what sounds like a body drop in when she is brave enough to open the door she sees him on the floor dying. This is when Ashley sees the bipedal feline staring at her once again from the doorway due to where he is standing Ashley cannot run and leave the asylum so her only choice is to jump out of the window two stories up and try her best to make it to the car they parked down the hill. Little does Ashley know her trip to the asylum is far from over and even though the book was good up until this point it gets really good after her long complicated treck to the sanctuary of the car. This is a great book it is a short story that I really feel deserves a sequel. I was not expecting the book to go where it did but OMG it was so refreshing for it not to be your typical haunted Asylum story. I really felt bad for Ashley and by the end I felt even worse. This is definitely a great horror story and another great book from this collection. I want to thank our DS publishing and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.