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The Asylum [Paperback]

Johan Theorin (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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Book Description

Publication Date: 14 Mar 2013

'We don't talk about sick or healthy people at St Patricia's. Words such as hysteric, lunatic and psychopath... They are no longer used. Because who amongst us can say that we are always healthy?'

An underground passage leads from the Dell nursery to Saint Patricia's asylum. Only the children enter, leaving their minders behind. On the other side are their parents - some of the most dangerous psychopaths in the country.

Jan has just started working at the nursery. He is a loner with many secrets and one goal. He must get inside the asylum . . .

What is his connection with one of the inmates, a famous singer?

What really happened when a boy in his care went missing nine years ago?

Who can we trust when everyone has something to hide?

Frequently Bought Together

The Asylum + The Lost Boy (Patrick Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 7) + The Ghost Riders of Ordebec: A Commissaire Adamsberg novel
Price For All Three: £26.23

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Product details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Doubleday (14 Mar 2013)
  • Language: Unknown
  • ISBN-10: 0857521403
  • ISBN-13: 978-0857521408
  • Product Dimensions: 15.3 x 3 x 23.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 16,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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› Visit Amazon's Johan Theorin Page
Johan Theorin
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Review

"The Swedish master of slow-build terror returns...truly skin-clawing tension." (Metro 20130314)

"The Swedes seem to be cornering the market in creepy crime fiction, and this chiller will appeal to fans of Stieg Larsson ... A compelling and scary psychological thriller" (Sunday Mirror )

Book Description

A chilling Swedish psychological crime novel set between a nursery and a mental asylum, full of sinister intentions, hidden identities and dangerous secrets.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars You'd be mad not to... 18 Mar 2013
By Bibliobeck
Format:Kindle Edition
A wonderful read populated with an assortment of mad men and women, loners, plotters, secret-hiders and manipulators. And those are just the characters outside of the asylum. Jan Hauger starts his new job at the nursery side of St Patricia's Hospital aka St Psychos as a nursery teacher. The kids love him and he seems very fond of them, but like most of the adult characters in the book he carries a dark secret. A sally port is used to relay the children of the nursery back and forth underground from nursery to asylum where they spend time with their parents who are inmates. The asylum is secured with cameras, alarms and security guards who prevent the inmates escaping, but our protagonist is desperate to get in, not out. Descriptions of the dark corridors and underground rooms of the asylum are surreal and malevolvent. The characters Jan meets all have their own agendas to help or inhibit him and no-one is quite what they seem.

As the story unfolds, we by turns feel sorrow, horror and empathy for Jan. His terrible past crime is almost justified and as past and present collide, another terrible deed looks set to take place. It's not a case of all's well that ends well either as the reader is taken on dark and dangerous journey into the mind of a madman and his devoted side-kick.

Definitely a book I recommend for a thrilling read and I will certainly be looking for more by this author.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars "That way madness lies..." 13 Mar 2013
By FictionFan TOP 100 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
A slow-burn psychological thriller, the book starts with loner Jan Hauger applying to work in the pre-school that is attached to St Patricia's psychiatric hospital, known to locals as St Psycho's. From the beginning we know that Jan has reasons of his own for wanting to be close to the asylum - reasons that the author slowly reveals as he lets us see inside Jan's head. St Patricia's holds some of the most dangerous criminals in Sweden but security isn't as tight as those in charge think. As Jan gets to know his colleagues he finds that, like himself, many of them have a fascination with what goes on inside...

The book is told in the third person but very much from Jan's perspective. Cutting between present and past, we gradually discover what events in Jan's troubled past have led him here. The other characters can accept him at face value as a pleasant young man who loves and is loved by the children in his care. But the reader knows that there are darker aspects to his personality and hidden incidents in his past. There is some moral ambiguity here - as we find out about his history, it is easy for the reader to empathise with Jan despite, rather than because of, his past actions and current intentions.

Theorin writes well and the translation by Marlaine Delargy is seamless; it's easy to forget that this is a translation at all. The plot is well constructed and has some original aspects to it. However, the story is told very slowly and somehow that stopped the tension building as much as might have been expected given the subject matter. Jan is a believable character, a troubled soul who finds it difficult to make connections with the people around him. But the premise that so many of the characters connected with the hospital had ulterior motives for being there meant that in the end I found some elements of the story unconvincing - it seemed to rely too heavily on unlikely coincidences and circumstances.

Overall, though, I enjoyed the psychological aspects of the book and found Jan's character interesting enough to make me want to know the outcome. And the end, when it finally came, was worth waiting for - morally ambiguous like much of the book and no less satisfying for that. Despite my criticisms, I found this a good read on the whole and will certainly look out for more of this author's work. Recommended.

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Asylum--Johan Theorin 24 Mar 2013
By Simon Clarke TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This gripping psychological thriller represents a departure for its author.
His first three novels were set on the Swedish island of Oland.'The Asylum'
is based on the mainland and features Jan,a male in his late twenties,with
an extremely troubled past,and a desire to make children's lives better.
He is a pre-school carer,and obtains a temporary job in a pre-school attached
to a secure psychiatric hospital housing some dangerous criminal patients.
Jan thinks that an ex-singer he met in his childhood,and is obsessed with,
is in the asylum,and he is intent on navigating the secret passages and breaching
the security in order to speak with her.
The novel takes us to and fro from the present situation and Jan's disturbing past,
as it builds up the suspense and works towards its denouement.
This is a brave ,sometimes troubling,skillfully written thriller.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars What a disappointment
I have enjoyed Theorin's books before but this is really strange. Totally implausible from start to finish, I found it hard to read to the end
Published 5 days ago by doglover
4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping and frightening tale
An excellent read and lived up to Theorin's previous novels which I have read. A complex plot which held me in it thrall from beginning to end. It is a darkly frightening book.
Published 6 days ago by MarieS
5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping
Keeps you gripped from page one. Didn't expect the twist in the tale. Lots of great writing coming from our European friends.
Published 11 days ago by Kathleen Harper
2.0 out of 5 stars Not believable enough for me
I found parts of this book dealing with the day to day workings of a pre-school quite boring and it was difficult for me to relate at all to the main characters. Read more
Published 21 days ago by CSM
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing.
This novel started off fabulously; a real and tangible anti hero was created with a seemingly distasteful and therefore intriguing past. Read more
Published 1 month ago by D. B. Train
2.0 out of 5 stars Ok but not great
After reading Johan Theorin's earlier novels I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately this story lacks the subtlety of his earlier work.
Published 1 month ago by SarahLM
5.0 out of 5 stars Really good book
Loved all of it lot's of twists and turns good but sad end. The creepy asylum was perfect background.
Fantastic
Published 1 month ago by jackie
4.0 out of 5 stars Another Scandi mystery
I consume these so good to find another author to choose from to add to my growing collection of mysteries and procedurals
Published 1 month ago by Bookend
5.0 out of 5 stars It is very good book indeed. It is quite completely different from...
The Asylum was a bestseller in Nordic countries and while I read it and it was damn good back and he tried to his best of it.
Published 1 month ago by Danske Bank
5.0 out of 5 stars A fab new Theorin offering
I loved Theorin's first trilogy and felt that this novel, although less gripping, was more complex and satisfying to read. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Holly1982
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