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Kathy Ryan #3
Inside The Asylum
From “master of cosmic horror” (Library Journal) Mary SanGiovanni, comes the latest terrifying novel featuring occult specialist Kathy Ryan . . .
A mind is a terrible thing to destroy . . .
Kathy has been hired to assess the threat of patient Henry Banks, an inmate at the
Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane, the same hospital where her brother is housed. Her employers believe that Henry has the ability to open doors to other dimensions with his mind—making him one of the most dangerous men in modern history. Because unbeknownst to Kathy, her clients are affiliated with certain government organizations that investigate people like Henry—and the potential to weaponize such abilities.
What Kathy comes to understand in interviewing Henry, and in her unavoidable run-ins with her brother, is that Henry can indeed use his mind to create “Tulpas”—worlds, people, and creatures so vivid they come to actual life. But now they want life outside of Henry. And they'll stop at nothing to complete their emanicipation. It's up to Kathy—with her brother's help—to stop them, and if possible, to save Henry before the Tulpas take him over—and everything else around him.
Praise for the novels of Mary SanGiovanni
“SanGiovanni evokes a Lovecraftian sensibility in this action-filled story. . . . Scary, suspenseful, smart, and gory, the novel is also beautifully set and described.”
—Library Journal on Savage Woods
“A feast of both visceral and existential horror.” —F. Paul Wilson on Thrall
“Filled to the brim with mounting terror.” —Gary A. Braunbeck on The Hollower
“A fast-building, high-tension ride.” —James A. Moore on The Hollower
A mind is a terrible thing to destroy . . .
Kathy has been hired to assess the threat of patient Henry Banks, an inmate at the
Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane, the same hospital where her brother is housed. Her employers believe that Henry has the ability to open doors to other dimensions with his mind—making him one of the most dangerous men in modern history. Because unbeknownst to Kathy, her clients are affiliated with certain government organizations that investigate people like Henry—and the potential to weaponize such abilities.
What Kathy comes to understand in interviewing Henry, and in her unavoidable run-ins with her brother, is that Henry can indeed use his mind to create “Tulpas”—worlds, people, and creatures so vivid they come to actual life. But now they want life outside of Henry. And they'll stop at nothing to complete their emanicipation. It's up to Kathy—with her brother's help—to stop them, and if possible, to save Henry before the Tulpas take him over—and everything else around him.
Praise for the novels of Mary SanGiovanni
“SanGiovanni evokes a Lovecraftian sensibility in this action-filled story. . . . Scary, suspenseful, smart, and gory, the novel is also beautifully set and described.”
—Library Journal on Savage Woods
“A feast of both visceral and existential horror.” —F. Paul Wilson on Thrall
“Filled to the brim with mounting terror.” —Gary A. Braunbeck on The Hollower
“A fast-building, high-tension ride.” —James A. Moore on The Hollower
281 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 7, 2019
48 people are currently reading
379 people want to read
About the author
Mary SanGiovanni
81 books481 followersMary SanGiovanni is the author of over twenty books in horror and supernatural thrillers. Her fiction has appeared in periodicals and anthologies for the last decade. She has a Masters degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, Pittsburgh, where she studied under genre greats. She is currently a member of The Authors Guild, The International Thriller Writers, and Penn Writers, and was previously an Active member in the Horror Writers Association.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 1, 2019
INSIDE THE ASYLUM (A Kathy Ryan novel), by Mary SanGiovanni, is the third book I have read that features her recurring character, Kathy Ryan, a paranormal expert. This novel gives us more insight into Kathy's personal life than we have ever glimpsed before. Her no-nonsense, professional detachment isn't quite the same here, as the location she is called to--an Asylum for the criminally insane and dangerous--is also home to her older brother, Toby . . .
". . . the residents of Connecticut-Newly were dangerous . . . "
A man named Henry Banks had been there since waking up from a coma--a coma he'd been in ever since a gang of kids were found murdered in his basement.
". . . it wasn't like he'd come back from the dead. He'd just come back from . . . somewhere else."
The thing was, he brought some friends along with him.
Friends that he claimed committed those murders, to keep him safe.
Unfortunately, at the time of his trial, nobody could actually "see" these friends of his . . .
Since his awakening and incarceration at the Asylum, inexplicable things had been happening there--the kind of things that Kathy's bosses called her in for.
". . . He'd learned not to try to look outside at night. Shadows had shape . . . and moved in deliberate and predatory ways that shadows shouldn't . . . "
I really enjoyed the paranormal aspect of this story, although admittedly, I did find it a little confusing when it came to some of the heavier cult-like terms and theories.
". . . To protect against a monster, one had to know the monster . . . "
Kathy's brother, who seemed to have even more knowledge than Kathy, herself, about this particular case, was a fantastic addition. His own past--especially the parts he spent with his sister--were really intriguing. They helped give another glimpse into the past that led our main character into her "unique" vocation.
". . . Delusions, by their very definition, weren't really there. Henry's friends, on the other hand, most certainly seemed to be."
The Asylum--well, really any Asylum--is a setting that would be impossible NOT to find chilling even in the most innocent of stories. Taking it further with one housing the criminally insane is a sure win for a supernatural horror book. However, the humans are only a part of this particular danger, as fans of the author's previous Kathy Ryan novels will expect.
". . . They're undoing reality out there . . . "
If you are new to this character and her job vocation, you don't have to worry about missing any crucial information from other novels. Each is a complete stand-alone, with very little "known" about her as an actual "person" beyond her area of expertise.
Overall, I found this to be a very exciting paranormal novel that touched upon subjects that were new to me. While the occult explanations were occasionally a little too much for me to follow easily, the fast-pace, action, gore, atmosphere, and supporting characters, all combined to make this an entertaining and memorable book. I felt that this installment went into much more detail about Kathy Ryan's personal life and childhood, shedding some very interesting light on events that may have had a factor in setting her on this career path. While I loved the parts we learn abut there, it was executed in such a way that it left me eagerly waiting to learn more. This is a fantastic achievement for an author using a recurring character.
". . . It's a matter of survival. All living things just want to keep living."
INSIDE THE ASYLUM is now one of my favorite books by author Mary SanGiovanni yet.
Highly recommended!
". . . the residents of Connecticut-Newly were dangerous . . . "
A man named Henry Banks had been there since waking up from a coma--a coma he'd been in ever since a gang of kids were found murdered in his basement.
". . . it wasn't like he'd come back from the dead. He'd just come back from . . . somewhere else."
The thing was, he brought some friends along with him.
Friends that he claimed committed those murders, to keep him safe.
Unfortunately, at the time of his trial, nobody could actually "see" these friends of his . . .
Since his awakening and incarceration at the Asylum, inexplicable things had been happening there--the kind of things that Kathy's bosses called her in for.
". . . He'd learned not to try to look outside at night. Shadows had shape . . . and moved in deliberate and predatory ways that shadows shouldn't . . . "
I really enjoyed the paranormal aspect of this story, although admittedly, I did find it a little confusing when it came to some of the heavier cult-like terms and theories.
". . . To protect against a monster, one had to know the monster . . . "
Kathy's brother, who seemed to have even more knowledge than Kathy, herself, about this particular case, was a fantastic addition. His own past--especially the parts he spent with his sister--were really intriguing. They helped give another glimpse into the past that led our main character into her "unique" vocation.
". . . Delusions, by their very definition, weren't really there. Henry's friends, on the other hand, most certainly seemed to be."
The Asylum--well, really any Asylum--is a setting that would be impossible NOT to find chilling even in the most innocent of stories. Taking it further with one housing the criminally insane is a sure win for a supernatural horror book. However, the humans are only a part of this particular danger, as fans of the author's previous Kathy Ryan novels will expect.
". . . They're undoing reality out there . . . "
If you are new to this character and her job vocation, you don't have to worry about missing any crucial information from other novels. Each is a complete stand-alone, with very little "known" about her as an actual "person" beyond her area of expertise.
Overall, I found this to be a very exciting paranormal novel that touched upon subjects that were new to me. While the occult explanations were occasionally a little too much for me to follow easily, the fast-pace, action, gore, atmosphere, and supporting characters, all combined to make this an entertaining and memorable book. I felt that this installment went into much more detail about Kathy Ryan's personal life and childhood, shedding some very interesting light on events that may have had a factor in setting her on this career path. While I loved the parts we learn abut there, it was executed in such a way that it left me eagerly waiting to learn more. This is a fantastic achievement for an author using a recurring character.
". . . It's a matter of survival. All living things just want to keep living."
INSIDE THE ASYLUM is now one of my favorite books by author Mary SanGiovanni yet.
Highly recommended!
April 27, 2019
Something is breaking loose in the Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane.
Stalking the halls after dark, brutally murdering inmates within their locked rooms.
The inmates know who is responsible, but no one believes them.
Occult investigator Kathy Ryan interviews an inmate about his connections to a deadly cult, she learns about the killings....and when she reports what she heard, she finds herself investigating the suspect, inmate Henry Banks.
Because Henry is innocent.
Henry doesn't kill.
But his imaginary friends do.
And now they're getting ready to break free of Henry.....and break out into the real world.
Leaving Kathy to face an invasion from a place that doesn't exist by creatures that shouldn't exist before they find the secret to becoming in the real world.....and the only person who may know how to stop it is her brother.....who is one of the inmates.
A terrific, fast paced novel of terror where the monsters of the human mind collide with Lovecraftian things that shred minds and reality.....to breed things that will blow your mind out of your ears.
Highly recommended.
Expected publication: May 7th, 2019 by Kensington Publishing Corporation.
This was an eARC from Netgalley and Kensington Publishing Corporation.
Stalking the halls after dark, brutally murdering inmates within their locked rooms.
The inmates know who is responsible, but no one believes them.
Occult investigator Kathy Ryan interviews an inmate about his connections to a deadly cult, she learns about the killings....and when she reports what she heard, she finds herself investigating the suspect, inmate Henry Banks.
Because Henry is innocent.
Henry doesn't kill.
But his imaginary friends do.
And now they're getting ready to break free of Henry.....and break out into the real world.
Leaving Kathy to face an invasion from a place that doesn't exist by creatures that shouldn't exist before they find the secret to becoming in the real world.....and the only person who may know how to stop it is her brother.....who is one of the inmates.
A terrific, fast paced novel of terror where the monsters of the human mind collide with Lovecraftian things that shred minds and reality.....to breed things that will blow your mind out of your ears.
Highly recommended.
Expected publication: May 7th, 2019 by Kensington Publishing Corporation.
This was an eARC from Netgalley and Kensington Publishing Corporation.
April 24, 2019
What happens when your imaginary friends are no longer satisfied living in the world you created? What if they want to live in yours instead?
When Kathy Ryan interviews a patient at Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane she learns about Henry’s friends. The staff dismiss them as hallucinations but Kathy thinks otherwise.
Henry only survived the horrific abuse of his childhood with the help of Maisie, Orrin, Edgar and the Others. Henry’s friends’ lives started in his imagination and they lived in Ayteilu, the world he created. Unlike your normal garden variety imaginary friends, Henry’s have seriously levelled up.
They’re tulpas, “sentient and more or less autonomous beings brought about by the use of the mind.” If, like me, you haven’t heard of these before, Google can tell you all about them. While I found the entire phenomenon fascinating and Mary SanGiovanni takes this concept much further than I hope is ever possible, I cannot stress this enough: Do NOT try this at home!!!
Kathy’s investigation forces her to interact with her brother, Toby, another Connecticut-Newlyn patient. Awkward! And suitably creepy. I was eager to learn more about Kathy’s history after reading my first Kathy Ryan book, Behind the Door, and my wish was certainly granted in this book. I can handle all the book blood spatter and gore an author throws at me, but this part of the story was genuinely horrifying. It answered my questions from the previous book and was so well done. I hesitate to say that I loved it but it felt right, given what I already knew of Kathy, and it caused a visceral reaction in me.
While I had so much fun reading about Kathy’s previous investigation in Zarepath (my review is here), this investigation blew me away. I loved the setting, the characters (especially Ernie), the action, the interaction between characters and the imaginative ways Henry’s friends interact with our world.
You do not want to be cast as a character in one of Mary SanGiovanni’s novels. If you actually make it out of the book alive (chances are you won’t and your death will be suitably gruesome) you will not be unchanged by the experience. Nightmares, severe trauma and a massive therapy bill will be amongst your prizes for surviving.
If you are squeamish, this book is not for you. If, however, you love the kind of horror that spills enough blood to make The Shining’s river feel more like a trickle
I wasn’t a fan of the derogatory terms used regarding mental illness in this book by the main character, police officers and some of the staff at the asylum, including but the majority of the offenders die, so there’s that. Content warnings include .
While this story ends in a way that could be a satisfying conclusion to the series I really hope there’s more to come. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lyrical Underground, an imprint of Kensington Books, for the opportunity to read this book. Five blood soaked stars from me!
When Kathy Ryan interviews a patient at Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane she learns about Henry’s friends. The staff dismiss them as hallucinations but Kathy thinks otherwise.
Henry only survived the horrific abuse of his childhood with the help of Maisie, Orrin, Edgar and the Others. Henry’s friends’ lives started in his imagination and they lived in Ayteilu, the world he created. Unlike your normal garden variety imaginary friends, Henry’s have seriously levelled up.
They’re tulpas, “sentient and more or less autonomous beings brought about by the use of the mind.” If, like me, you haven’t heard of these before, Google can tell you all about them. While I found the entire phenomenon fascinating and Mary SanGiovanni takes this concept much further than I hope is ever possible, I cannot stress this enough: Do NOT try this at home!!!
Kathy’s investigation forces her to interact with her brother, Toby, another Connecticut-Newlyn patient. Awkward! And suitably creepy. I was eager to learn more about Kathy’s history after reading my first Kathy Ryan book, Behind the Door, and my wish was certainly granted in this book. I can handle all the book blood spatter and gore an author throws at me, but this part of the story was genuinely horrifying. It answered my questions from the previous book and was so well done. I hesitate to say that I loved it but it felt right, given what I already knew of Kathy, and it caused a visceral reaction in me.
While I had so much fun reading about Kathy’s previous investigation in Zarepath (my review is here), this investigation blew me away. I loved the setting, the characters (especially Ernie), the action, the interaction between characters and the imaginative ways Henry’s friends interact with our world.
You do not want to be cast as a character in one of Mary SanGiovanni’s novels. If you actually make it out of the book alive (chances are you won’t and your death will be suitably gruesome) you will not be unchanged by the experience. Nightmares, severe trauma and a massive therapy bill will be amongst your prizes for surviving.
If you are squeamish, this book is not for you. If, however, you love the kind of horror that spills enough blood to make The Shining’s river feel more like a trickle
and you want to jump up and down with perverse glee when a horror story character’s insides become their outsides, then this is definitely right up your alley. If you’re not convinced yet, you will also come face to (sort of) face with such awesomeness as a rampaging vending machine and flying lawn mowers!
I wasn’t a fan of the derogatory terms used regarding mental illness in this book by the main character, police officers and some of the staff at the asylum, including but the majority of the offenders die, so there’s that. Content warnings include .
While this story ends in a way that could be a satisfying conclusion to the series I really hope there’s more to come. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lyrical Underground, an imprint of Kensington Books, for the opportunity to read this book. Five blood soaked stars from me!
August 19, 2020
My review of INSIDE THE ASYLUM can be found at High Fever Books.
Occult specialist Kathy Ryan returns for her third outing in Mary SanGiovanni’s latest, Inside the Asylum. And yes, I know, the publisher consider this to be the second official Ryan novel, despite her being introduced and playing a central role in 2016’s Chills. As far as I’m concerned, this is book three. And whooboy, do things ever get crazy!
Things are starting to bleed over from the other side, warping our reality, and at the center of it all is Henry Banks, an inmate at the Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Henry has a special gift, and a rich imagination, which is now causing all sorts of problems for the hospital. Inmates who know of Henry’s friends — his special friends, that is, the ones the doctors and staff think are imaginary — are being brutally murdered, but that’s just the start of it. Henry’s friends are tulpas, and they want not only to be free, they want to be alive, and the stronger they get the more Henry’s imagined world crosses over with ours.
Readers who have been following Ryan since the beginning, that is to say since Chills, will likely recognize the Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane as the institution that houses her serial killer/cultist brother, Toby. In fact, it was this particular aspect that had me most interested in Inside the Asylum. I’ve been wanting to know more about and see more of the Ryan’s sibling rivalry, and the more personal elements of Kathy’s history and her relationship to Toby are some of this book’s strongest elements.
SanGiovanni is certainly no slouch when it comes to the supernatural either. Henry’s tulpas are both highly intriguing and fantastical, but at some points it did get to be a bit much for my tastes. As Henry’s dream world enmeshes with our own, SanGiovanni describes simple everyday object changing into demonic beasties, and it reminded me a bit too much of the climax to Michael Bay’s first Transformers movie, when a shard of the AllSpark started changing random electronics into psychotic robots. We even get a familiar riff of this with a demonic soda machine! SanGiovanni goes a step further, though, giving us an evil rake, a monstrous couch, and a sentient, walking end table. Some of this stuff got to be a little too fantastical for me, even in a story about duplicitous, murderous invisible friends. It’s also a blessedly minor bit of silliness in a story that otherwise plays it straight. When it comes to the killer occult elements and the blending of worlds, SanGiovanni presents a number of terrific flourishes, particularly in the book’s latter half when Inside the Asylum grows into a siege story.
Where Inside the Asylum really shines, though, is its characters and their interactions. Beyond Kathy and Toby, we get a vivid portrait of Henry and the traumas he’s suffered. His tulpas are a direct response to the trials he’s faced in his young life and a reaction to his outsider status, and ultimately he shares much the same goal as his creations, which is to simply be allowed to exist. A certain romanticism is at play there, and even if it does eventually go completely awry you can’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for Henry and the psychological damage that’s led him to all this. Toby, too, reveals some hidden depths and his interactions with Kathy shows there’s room for further exploration given the man’s uniquely twisted emotional filters and psychological wiring.
Kathy and her unusual career have plenty of future potential as well, and I’m looking forward to exploring more horrors with her as the guide. This is a series that has some wonderfully strong legs to it, and with some of the seeds being planted here, I can’t help but hope SanGiovanni and Kensington are able to get a few more books’ worth of mileage out of it all. There’s still plenty more stories to be told and all sorts of crazy worlds to explore, on this side of the door and beyond.
[Note: I received an advance reading copy of this title from the publisher, Kensington Books.]
Occult specialist Kathy Ryan returns for her third outing in Mary SanGiovanni’s latest, Inside the Asylum. And yes, I know, the publisher consider this to be the second official Ryan novel, despite her being introduced and playing a central role in 2016’s Chills. As far as I’m concerned, this is book three. And whooboy, do things ever get crazy!
Things are starting to bleed over from the other side, warping our reality, and at the center of it all is Henry Banks, an inmate at the Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Henry has a special gift, and a rich imagination, which is now causing all sorts of problems for the hospital. Inmates who know of Henry’s friends — his special friends, that is, the ones the doctors and staff think are imaginary — are being brutally murdered, but that’s just the start of it. Henry’s friends are tulpas, and they want not only to be free, they want to be alive, and the stronger they get the more Henry’s imagined world crosses over with ours.
Readers who have been following Ryan since the beginning, that is to say since Chills, will likely recognize the Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane as the institution that houses her serial killer/cultist brother, Toby. In fact, it was this particular aspect that had me most interested in Inside the Asylum. I’ve been wanting to know more about and see more of the Ryan’s sibling rivalry, and the more personal elements of Kathy’s history and her relationship to Toby are some of this book’s strongest elements.
SanGiovanni is certainly no slouch when it comes to the supernatural either. Henry’s tulpas are both highly intriguing and fantastical, but at some points it did get to be a bit much for my tastes. As Henry’s dream world enmeshes with our own, SanGiovanni describes simple everyday object changing into demonic beasties, and it reminded me a bit too much of the climax to Michael Bay’s first Transformers movie, when a shard of the AllSpark started changing random electronics into psychotic robots. We even get a familiar riff of this with a demonic soda machine! SanGiovanni goes a step further, though, giving us an evil rake, a monstrous couch, and a sentient, walking end table. Some of this stuff got to be a little too fantastical for me, even in a story about duplicitous, murderous invisible friends. It’s also a blessedly minor bit of silliness in a story that otherwise plays it straight. When it comes to the killer occult elements and the blending of worlds, SanGiovanni presents a number of terrific flourishes, particularly in the book’s latter half when Inside the Asylum grows into a siege story.
Where Inside the Asylum really shines, though, is its characters and their interactions. Beyond Kathy and Toby, we get a vivid portrait of Henry and the traumas he’s suffered. His tulpas are a direct response to the trials he’s faced in his young life and a reaction to his outsider status, and ultimately he shares much the same goal as his creations, which is to simply be allowed to exist. A certain romanticism is at play there, and even if it does eventually go completely awry you can’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for Henry and the psychological damage that’s led him to all this. Toby, too, reveals some hidden depths and his interactions with Kathy shows there’s room for further exploration given the man’s uniquely twisted emotional filters and psychological wiring.
Kathy and her unusual career have plenty of future potential as well, and I’m looking forward to exploring more horrors with her as the guide. This is a series that has some wonderfully strong legs to it, and with some of the seeds being planted here, I can’t help but hope SanGiovanni and Kensington are able to get a few more books’ worth of mileage out of it all. There’s still plenty more stories to be told and all sorts of crazy worlds to explore, on this side of the door and beyond.
[Note: I received an advance reading copy of this title from the publisher, Kensington Books.]
April 30, 2019
The Kathy Ryan series by Mary SanGiovanni has fast become one of my favorites.
You should know that you can absolutely read this book without reading the others in the series. Although some of the characters and storylines tie together, the books work as standalones.
Inside the Asylum is a scary read. It’s edgy and has some scenes that have you looking over your shoulder.
As always, though, I simply love what SanGiovanni does with her characters. Human or…not…each character has so much depth. She doesn’t do paper cutout villains. Oh, her villains are definitely evil and do unforgivable things, but she reminds you that there’s a fleeting glimpse of something more under the surface. In fact, she makes you feel so uncomfortable because you find yourself feeling just a tiny bit of sympathy or liking for them.
I liked what she did with the Tulpas. Honestly, Tulpas have never been my favorite baddies. Cold as it sounds, I’ve always kind of thought: Kill the person dreaming them up and you’re done! But the author makes her Tulpas bigger, scarier, and a lot harder to get rid of.
Looking forward to the next book in the series!
*ARC Provided via Net Galley
You should know that you can absolutely read this book without reading the others in the series. Although some of the characters and storylines tie together, the books work as standalones.
Inside the Asylum is a scary read. It’s edgy and has some scenes that have you looking over your shoulder.
As always, though, I simply love what SanGiovanni does with her characters. Human or…not…each character has so much depth. She doesn’t do paper cutout villains. Oh, her villains are definitely evil and do unforgivable things, but she reminds you that there’s a fleeting glimpse of something more under the surface. In fact, she makes you feel so uncomfortable because you find yourself feeling just a tiny bit of sympathy or liking for them.
I liked what she did with the Tulpas. Honestly, Tulpas have never been my favorite baddies. Cold as it sounds, I’ve always kind of thought: Kill the person dreaming them up and you’re done! But the author makes her Tulpas bigger, scarier, and a lot harder to get rid of.
Looking forward to the next book in the series!
*ARC Provided via Net Galley
May 9, 2019
Inside the Asylum by Mary SanGiovanni is the third in the Kathy Ryan series. She is an Occult Security Consultant, who was originally introduced in the book “Chills” (which some don’t count), and then returned in “Behind the Door”. Now we see her again, so I’m going with this is the third book. However, they all could be read as stand-alone novels – so far, anyway.
First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Kensington Books/Lyrical Underground, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Series Background: (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books)
Kathy Ryan is called by police forces across the country when strange things are found. She is one of the leading experts in occult practices, ancient grimoires, devil worship, blood sacrifices, and rites to archaic gods and monsters. The reason behind her expertise is not well-known, but most agree that it has something to do with the scar that runs down her face. Her brother, once a member of a cult, and now in a mental hospital, is responsible for that scar.
My Synopsis: (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
A visit to the state-run Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane on behalf of one of her clients makes Kathy a little uncomfortable. She has been to the facility before, but doesn’t like it. Her brother is one of the “inmates”, and her memories of him are not pleasant. However, this visit is not about him….initially at least.
What Kathy finds, is Henry Banks. As a child, Henry created a whole world in his head, complete with entities who protected him from the real-life abuse he suffered. As a man, he is locked up in a mental hospital for murder, and he insists he is innocent. His “friends” killed the teenagers, not him. Kathy fears that may be true. For Henry Banks has developed the ability to create “Tulpas”, creatures so vivid in his mind, that they actually come to life. Unfortunately, now they are loose in the Hospital, and they want to stay free.
Kathy will have to trust her brother in order to stop the Tulpas from taking over.
My Opinions:
I am enjoying this series. First up, it is not for everyone. Part supernatural, part true horror, Mary SanGiovanni doesn’t shirk away from the gore, so be warned. Her writing is excellent, so you can almost see the blood spurt, and you want to step back.
The characters in this series come alive on the page, and in your mind, whether you want them there or not. I love the relationship between Kathy and her brother. It is complicated, as all sibling relationships are, but more so since Toby is a psychopath, and can’t really feel emotions. They say love and hate are opposite, yet they are closer than you think.
This is a really fast-paced novel, with non-stop action, and at times you wonder if anyone will survive. Cheering for a character is treacherous.
Each book gets better, and I can’t wait to see what this author throws at us next!
For a more complete review of this book and others, please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
May 3, 2019
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I would classify this as a supernatural/fantasy thriller rather than horror. Although it takes place mainly inside an Asylum for the criminally insane, it is not creepy or scary—more entertaining and action packed, with dimension crossing monsters and formidable heroes with spell casting skills. I am more of a horror reader so I wasn’t a good target audience on this one but SanGiovani is a good writer (I have read and enjoyed other works by her) and she is good with characters and pacing and I enjoyed reading Inside the Asylum.
The reader will note that this is the 3rd in a series. I have only read this one but can say that I didn’t feel out of sync or confused and didn’t detect any spoilers for prior installments—which often happens when you jump into the river mid-stream.
I would recommend this book to friends who are into thrillers (and I bet that they will like it) but not as much to horror fans looking for something chilling and scary.
Three Stars.
I would classify this as a supernatural/fantasy thriller rather than horror. Although it takes place mainly inside an Asylum for the criminally insane, it is not creepy or scary—more entertaining and action packed, with dimension crossing monsters and formidable heroes with spell casting skills. I am more of a horror reader so I wasn’t a good target audience on this one but SanGiovani is a good writer (I have read and enjoyed other works by her) and she is good with characters and pacing and I enjoyed reading Inside the Asylum.
The reader will note that this is the 3rd in a series. I have only read this one but can say that I didn’t feel out of sync or confused and didn’t detect any spoilers for prior installments—which often happens when you jump into the river mid-stream.
I would recommend this book to friends who are into thrillers (and I bet that they will like it) but not as much to horror fans looking for something chilling and scary.
Three Stars.
April 22, 2019
Another Kathy Ryan Novel!
Kathy is back and this time she is sent to evaluate the strange behavior of an inmate at the Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Henry, the patient/inmate believes he can open doors to another dimension. A dimension of dark and evil things called Tulpas.
Kathy knows how serious this is. Some of the people she works for would love to have the ability that Henry has. To use as a weapon. She believes that Henry has not only created these things but has unleashed them already. Henry had a lot of reasons to want to crawl into his head and let the Tulpas handle the bad stuff, but now that they have had a taste of freedom and know what they are capable of, they want to be real. In any shape or form and they are deadly.
Kathy will have to work with the only person she knows who is an occult expert. Her brother. Oh, and yes he lives next to Henry in the Insane Asylum.
This was a fast-paced, edge of your seat, bite your fingernails down to nothing thrill ride of gore! And as soon as it was over I wanted more.
Great Job!
NetGalley/ May 7th 2019 by Kensington Publishing Corporation
Kathy is back and this time she is sent to evaluate the strange behavior of an inmate at the Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Henry, the patient/inmate believes he can open doors to another dimension. A dimension of dark and evil things called Tulpas.
Kathy knows how serious this is. Some of the people she works for would love to have the ability that Henry has. To use as a weapon. She believes that Henry has not only created these things but has unleashed them already. Henry had a lot of reasons to want to crawl into his head and let the Tulpas handle the bad stuff, but now that they have had a taste of freedom and know what they are capable of, they want to be real. In any shape or form and they are deadly.
Kathy will have to work with the only person she knows who is an occult expert. Her brother. Oh, and yes he lives next to Henry in the Insane Asylum.
This was a fast-paced, edge of your seat, bite your fingernails down to nothing thrill ride of gore! And as soon as it was over I wanted more.
Great Job!
NetGalley/ May 7th 2019 by Kensington Publishing Corporation
May 9, 2019
INSIDE THE ASYLUM is the third book in Mary SanGiovanni's "Kathy Ryan Series," after BEHIND THE DOOR and CHILLS. I marveled at the first two in the series: Kathy Ryan is an incredibly complex character, vulnerable yet tough, horribly abused in childhood so empathetic to other victims, wise in the ways of the Otherworld. Her foil is her horrible brother Toby, once her protector, then her assailant, a man who committed multiple brutal rape-murders and threatened the same to his sister.
In INSIDE THE ASYLUM, Kathy, who is a bit of a roving consultant on the occult, is called into the hospital for the criminally insane where her brother Toby is incarcerated. Another inmate, Henry Banks, who suffered an incredibly horrific childhood and adolescence at the hands of family members, long ago created for himself a fantasy realm into which to retreat; but Henry's imagination is so powerful that it has created "tulpas," entities which now are determined on living for themselves, not as illusionary "imaginary friends" anymore.
In INSIDE THE ASYLUM, Kathy, who is a bit of a roving consultant on the occult, is called into the hospital for the criminally insane where her brother Toby is incarcerated. Another inmate, Henry Banks, who suffered an incredibly horrific childhood and adolescence at the hands of family members, long ago created for himself a fantasy realm into which to retreat; but Henry's imagination is so powerful that it has created "tulpas," entities which now are determined on living for themselves, not as illusionary "imaginary friends" anymore.
May 13, 2019
A mind is a terrible thing to destroy . . .
Kathy has been hired to assess the threat of patient Henry Banks, an inmate at the
Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane, the same hospital where her brother is housed. Her employers believe that Henry has the ability to open doors to other dimensions with his mind—making him one of the most dangerous men in modern history. Because unbeknownst to Kathy, her clients are affiliated with certain government organizations that investigate people like Henry—and the potential to weaponize such abilities.
What Kathy comes to understand in interviewing Henry, and in her unavoidable run-ins with her brother, is that Henry can indeed use his mind to create “Tulpas”—worlds, people, and creatures so vivid they come to actual life. But now they want life outside of Henry. And they'll stop at nothing to complete their emancipation. It's up to Kathy—with her brother's help—to stop them, and if possible, to save Henry before the Tulpas take him over—and everything else around him.
WOW.... what an outstanding read this was!
Inside the Asylum by Mary SanGiovanni is the third in the Kathy Ryan series. She is an Occult Security Consultant, who was originally introduced in the book “Chills”.
Kathy Ryan is an incredibly complex character and I really like her.
In INSIDE THE ASYLUM, Kathy, who is a bit of a roving consultant on the occult, is called into the hospital for the criminally insane where her brother Toby is incarcerated.
While the book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone.
You should definitely google Tulpas before you read this as it will help you understand.
Action packed with twists and turns; definitely my type of read.
Very fast paced read and more thriller/fantasy than horror I think but still loved it.
Recommend reading and looking forward to more!!
Thanks to net galley for the ARC. This is my honest voluntary review.
Kathy has been hired to assess the threat of patient Henry Banks, an inmate at the
Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane, the same hospital where her brother is housed. Her employers believe that Henry has the ability to open doors to other dimensions with his mind—making him one of the most dangerous men in modern history. Because unbeknownst to Kathy, her clients are affiliated with certain government organizations that investigate people like Henry—and the potential to weaponize such abilities.
What Kathy comes to understand in interviewing Henry, and in her unavoidable run-ins with her brother, is that Henry can indeed use his mind to create “Tulpas”—worlds, people, and creatures so vivid they come to actual life. But now they want life outside of Henry. And they'll stop at nothing to complete their emancipation. It's up to Kathy—with her brother's help—to stop them, and if possible, to save Henry before the Tulpas take him over—and everything else around him.
WOW.... what an outstanding read this was!
Inside the Asylum by Mary SanGiovanni is the third in the Kathy Ryan series. She is an Occult Security Consultant, who was originally introduced in the book “Chills”.
Kathy Ryan is an incredibly complex character and I really like her.
In INSIDE THE ASYLUM, Kathy, who is a bit of a roving consultant on the occult, is called into the hospital for the criminally insane where her brother Toby is incarcerated.
While the book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone.
You should definitely google Tulpas before you read this as it will help you understand.
Action packed with twists and turns; definitely my type of read.
Very fast paced read and more thriller/fantasy than horror I think but still loved it.
Recommend reading and looking forward to more!!
Thanks to net galley for the ARC. This is my honest voluntary review.
May 14, 2019
Mary SanGiovanni's KATHY RYAN series has definitely joined my Must-Read list (which is not a long one) for a 3 reasons:
1. Kathy Ryan's character lineage doesn't lie in books but television - she is a direct descendant of Dana Scully (THE X-FILES), coming in after Olivia Dunham (FRINGE). This is the vibe that I've been getting - and enjoying - when I read about Kathy Ryan and the way she solves her cases and handles herself. She's definitely a heroine I root for whether she's battling literal monsters or the monsters of sexism.
2. In this third installment in the series, SanGiovanni continues to expand Ryan's storyverse when she could've just established a formula for her series by now. While it is still Lovecraftian in some ways, she expands it in unexpected directions. For example: focusing on Tulpas and the deadly otherworldly havoc they are capable of wreaking amps up the interest level because Tulpas don't usually make an appearance in Dark Fantasy or Horror.
3. SanGiovanni deals with violence against women (particularly rape, sexual assault, childhood abuse) with a deft hand - she doesn't glorify it but presents it in the way that it's supposed to be presented: as a crime with severe repercussions that affect both the aggressor and survivor. We see Kathy's father and brother as the monsters that they are but we are never encouraged to feel sorry for Kathy because, like so many survivors, she steers her own recovery and does her best to not let her wounds dictate her life.
If you're looking for a book series which expertly blends horror, detective work, and mystery with excellent character and relationship development while eschewing cheap thrills and gratuitous gore, read SanGiovanni's KATHY RYAN series.
1. Kathy Ryan's character lineage doesn't lie in books but television - she is a direct descendant of Dana Scully (THE X-FILES), coming in after Olivia Dunham (FRINGE). This is the vibe that I've been getting - and enjoying - when I read about Kathy Ryan and the way she solves her cases and handles herself. She's definitely a heroine I root for whether she's battling literal monsters or the monsters of sexism.
2. In this third installment in the series, SanGiovanni continues to expand Ryan's storyverse when she could've just established a formula for her series by now. While it is still Lovecraftian in some ways, she expands it in unexpected directions. For example: focusing on Tulpas and the deadly otherworldly havoc they are capable of wreaking amps up the interest level because Tulpas don't usually make an appearance in Dark Fantasy or Horror.
3. SanGiovanni deals with violence against women (particularly rape, sexual assault, childhood abuse) with a deft hand - she doesn't glorify it but presents it in the way that it's supposed to be presented: as a crime with severe repercussions that affect both the aggressor and survivor. We see Kathy's father and brother as the monsters that they are but we are never encouraged to feel sorry for Kathy because, like so many survivors, she steers her own recovery and does her best to not let her wounds dictate her life.
If you're looking for a book series which expertly blends horror, detective work, and mystery with excellent character and relationship development while eschewing cheap thrills and gratuitous gore, read SanGiovanni's KATHY RYAN series.
June 11, 2019
This story dives right in. Before we’re a third of the way into it, the hospital has been invaded and is becoming an alien landscape. A number of people die, some in gory ways, as the creatures of Ayteilu find ways to manifest in the real world. There’s a bit of whimsy to this volume, as some of those wraiths take bodies from everything from a lawnmower and a rake to a vending machine and a lamp, but it doesn’t undermine the horror at all.
Previous books in this world have been focused more on horrors from other existing worlds. To have an invasion that’s basically coming from one man’s mind is fascinating. He has some sort of natural talent for creating tulpas, and they’re surprisingly powerful. Especially once they get their hands on some of the occult knowledge that Toby and one of the other inmates possess. Toby takes on some nice depth in this installment. He’s still absolutely horrifying, and alien in his own way, but Kathy’s forced to take a more nuanced look at him as his knowledge becomes necessary to destroying the tulpas. The characters in here all have an excellent amount of personality and depth, and that’s hard to do with a character like Toby. I also appreciate that the black custodian wasn’t there to die early or be a mysterious source of wisdom–he was a real and important part of the events.
I’ve read a good handful of books by Mary SanGiovanni, and her Kathy Ryan novels are my favorites. I hope to see more!
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/06/r...
Previous books in this world have been focused more on horrors from other existing worlds. To have an invasion that’s basically coming from one man’s mind is fascinating. He has some sort of natural talent for creating tulpas, and they’re surprisingly powerful. Especially once they get their hands on some of the occult knowledge that Toby and one of the other inmates possess. Toby takes on some nice depth in this installment. He’s still absolutely horrifying, and alien in his own way, but Kathy’s forced to take a more nuanced look at him as his knowledge becomes necessary to destroying the tulpas. The characters in here all have an excellent amount of personality and depth, and that’s hard to do with a character like Toby. I also appreciate that the black custodian wasn’t there to die early or be a mysterious source of wisdom–he was a real and important part of the events.
I’ve read a good handful of books by Mary SanGiovanni, and her Kathy Ryan novels are my favorites. I hope to see more!
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/06/r...
October 31, 2019
First, it’s important to know that the first Kathy Ryan novel is CHILLS. BEHIND THE DOOR is actually book two, which makes INSIDE THE ASYLUM Kathy Ryan Book 3, and the forthcoming BEYOND THE GATE will be number 4.
Inside the asylum centers around the Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Patient/Inmate Henry Banks has some friends born in his mind, but unlike other imaginary friends, Maisie, Orrin, Edgar, The Viper, an a host of supernatural beings have taken on physical form, and they are all killers.
These beings are tulpas, thought forms given physicality by Henry’s powerful but abused mind. And they’re are taking over Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital. They have hatched a plan to free themselves from Henry’s damaged mind.
It will require Kathy Ryan’s full magical resources, a seasoned homicide investigator, the hospital custodian, and Kathy’s own psychopathic brother Toby, in order to stop the plan AND save Henry, who is, after all, an innocent abuse survivor.
As with her previous novel, BEHIND THE DOOR, Ms SanGiovanni has taken pains to show us that there is good in all people as well as evil. As far as I’m aware, no other author sympathizes with human monsters with such grace and clarity. INSIDE THE ASYLUM is a thrill-a-minute horror novel by one of the best in the business!
June 8, 2019
Inside the Asylum
by Mary SanGiovanni
Kensington Books
Lyrical Underground
General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 07 May 2019
I am reviewing a copy of Inside the Asylum through Kensington Books/Lyrical Underground and Netgalley:
Kathy has been hired to assess the threat of Henry Banks an inmate at the Connecticut-Newlyn hospital for the criminally insane, it is the same hospital that her brother is housed in. The people who employ her believe that Henry has the ability to open doors to other dimensions with his mind—making him one of the most dangerous men in modern history. Because her clients are affiliated with certain government organizations that investigate people like Henry- and the potential to weaponize such abilities.
Through interviewing Henry, and in unfavorable run-in’s with her brother she comes to realize that Henry can create Tulsa’s world’s and lives so vivid that they come to life. But these creations now want lives outside of Henry and they will not stop until they have created their emancipation.
I found Inside the Asylum to be worthy of three out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
by Mary SanGiovanni
Kensington Books
Lyrical Underground
General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 07 May 2019
I am reviewing a copy of Inside the Asylum through Kensington Books/Lyrical Underground and Netgalley:
Kathy has been hired to assess the threat of Henry Banks an inmate at the Connecticut-Newlyn hospital for the criminally insane, it is the same hospital that her brother is housed in. The people who employ her believe that Henry has the ability to open doors to other dimensions with his mind—making him one of the most dangerous men in modern history. Because her clients are affiliated with certain government organizations that investigate people like Henry- and the potential to weaponize such abilities.
Through interviewing Henry, and in unfavorable run-in’s with her brother she comes to realize that Henry can create Tulsa’s world’s and lives so vivid that they come to life. But these creations now want lives outside of Henry and they will not stop until they have created their emancipation.
I found Inside the Asylum to be worthy of three out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
November 15, 2019
A number of unexpected elements crop up in this nightmarish peek into a hospital for the criminally insane. A young man who had been terribly abused as a child invented friends who live in his head and occasionally behave badly. Now they want to live as real people and exude terror as they systematically take over the hospital.
Kathy Ryan is an investigator and has a serial-killer brother living there. As the killings continue, she leans on him to help deal with an eclectic assortment of creatures as well as the facility's custodian.
Even with some sentimental touches added in the form of siblings and friends, it was hard to relate to any of these characters. The setting was suitably bleak. The killings were not overly scary, just gruesome; felt like gremlins on the loose. The darker side of human nature is a focus of this story and this goal is certainly met. Weird little story that will please some horror fans, but is not for me.
Kathy Ryan is an investigator and has a serial-killer brother living there. As the killings continue, she leans on him to help deal with an eclectic assortment of creatures as well as the facility's custodian.
Even with some sentimental touches added in the form of siblings and friends, it was hard to relate to any of these characters. The setting was suitably bleak. The killings were not overly scary, just gruesome; felt like gremlins on the loose. The darker side of human nature is a focus of this story and this goal is certainly met. Weird little story that will please some horror fans, but is not for me.
June 7, 2019
Inside the Asylum is the newest book in the Kathy Ryan series. It is a standalone, but I'd definitely suggest reading the other books too, just to get a feel for Kathy and what she does. I first discovered her in Behind the Door, and I absolutely loved that book.
In this one, Kathy is called in to deal with some really strange happenings at a mental hospital. Not only is there a patient there who may have information about the cults she's been investigating, but other patients are dying because of him. Also, her brother is locked up there, so...yeah.
Henry, the patient in question, has powerful abilities. He can create worlds in his mind, and one of those worlds wants to become reality and take over our world. His "friends" are dangerous, as is this other world, and it's up to Kathy to stop this other dimension from bleeding over and becoming the new reality.
This story is dark and creepy, and I really enjoyed it. There's a lot going on, but it's all contained within the one location. When Henry's other world/dimension starts taking over, and the weird creatures start roaming the halls of the asylum, it's pretty crazy. I liked how they were all different, unique beings. It showed just how intense Henry's powers of the mind really were.
Kathy is definitely a fun character to read about and follow along with. She gets into some really scary, wild things, and that's what makes her a great character. She's unique.
If you're a fan of horror, supernatural elements, and/or stories involving other dimensions, you should give Inside the Asylum a whirl. You just might enjoy it.
4.5 stars!
In this one, Kathy is called in to deal with some really strange happenings at a mental hospital. Not only is there a patient there who may have information about the cults she's been investigating, but other patients are dying because of him. Also, her brother is locked up there, so...yeah.
Henry, the patient in question, has powerful abilities. He can create worlds in his mind, and one of those worlds wants to become reality and take over our world. His "friends" are dangerous, as is this other world, and it's up to Kathy to stop this other dimension from bleeding over and becoming the new reality.
This story is dark and creepy, and I really enjoyed it. There's a lot going on, but it's all contained within the one location. When Henry's other world/dimension starts taking over, and the weird creatures start roaming the halls of the asylum, it's pretty crazy. I liked how they were all different, unique beings. It showed just how intense Henry's powers of the mind really were.
Kathy is definitely a fun character to read about and follow along with. She gets into some really scary, wild things, and that's what makes her a great character. She's unique.
If you're a fan of horror, supernatural elements, and/or stories involving other dimensions, you should give Inside the Asylum a whirl. You just might enjoy it.
4.5 stars!
April 30, 2019
If you like me have never heard of tulpas, go ahead and google them. What you find will enhance the creepiness of this well written horror tale. Kathy, an occult investigator, is worried about her brother and also intrigued by the story of Henry, also an inmate at the Connecticut-Newlyn Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Is it possible that Henry's demons have escaped his mind and are in the halls killing the other inmates? Kathy's an interesting character and one worth following. No spoilers. This is outside my usual genres but I enjoyed it. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. Perfect for horror fans.
April 15, 2022
Learned A New Word...Tulpas
Henry has been a patient of a mental hospital for most of his life. He has friends that protect him. Problem is these friends kill for him...without him even realizing it. His doctors say their imaginary but corpses keep piling up.
But what happens if these so called "imaginary" friends want to be real? And what if they want to bring their "world" with them?
What happens to us humans and our world if that happens?
Great Story that offers cosmic horror on another scale!!
Henry has been a patient of a mental hospital for most of his life. He has friends that protect him. Problem is these friends kill for him...without him even realizing it. His doctors say their imaginary but corpses keep piling up.
But what happens if these so called "imaginary" friends want to be real? And what if they want to bring their "world" with them?
What happens to us humans and our world if that happens?
Great Story that offers cosmic horror on another scale!!
May 22, 2019
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Inside the Asylum by Mary SanGiovanni.
SanGiovanni is fast becoming a great horror writer. I put her in with Bentley - she creates a scary world in each of her novels.
This one is just as good and will keep you at the edge of your seat.
Great setting - an asylum with plenty of gore to spare.
Quick read. 3 stars.
SanGiovanni is fast becoming a great horror writer. I put her in with Bentley - she creates a scary world in each of her novels.
This one is just as good and will keep you at the edge of your seat.
Great setting - an asylum with plenty of gore to spare.
Quick read. 3 stars.
October 21, 2019
The 3rd Kathy Ryan book in the series is here, and it doesn’t disappoint. Mary SanGiovanni has crafted another great book. Set in the asylum where her brother is housed, Kathy is tasked with interviewing Henry who may be able to make horrible dreams come true. Can she help him before others get to him?
November 26, 2019
Full review to write when its not pushing midnight and I'm not sleep deprived (hopefully anyway) but in short a really intense read that was a solid 3.75 all around just a few little niggles but none that won't stop me reading the rest in this series!!!!
June 15, 2019
Very drawn out book. It felt like a bunch of facts thrown together rather than a story. I didn't feel connected to the book whatsoever.
December 8, 2019
Not as impressed with this book as i was with Behind the door. Just felt the story lines were very similar with just different backdrops.
May 13, 2020
I didn't really enjoy this book much.. I just couldn't get into it. Which is a shame because I really loved Behind The Door which is in the same series! Oh well ! You can't like everything!
August 4, 2022
Definitely not what I was expecting.
I also didn't know that this the 3rd book in a series.
It was well written, but the supernatural aspect took away something for me.
I also didn't know that this the 3rd book in a series.
It was well written, but the supernatural aspect took away something for me.
January 17, 2025
This just wasn’t what I was expecting.. at all.
July 19, 2019
This one was…ok. I don’t think the second book in this series is in danger of be dethroned as a favorite by this one. The characters this time didn’t really pull my interest, nor did the actual plot. The creatures were, again, a little cheesy and overall just not very much of this was enticing enough to be a “thriller.” I would describe this one as flat. That being said however, I do want to note, I went into this one with the highest hopes yet. The way the last book had ended with her brother and the fact that this was solely based in a psychiatric hospital (my personal favorite setting) and the one in which her brother himself is located, I expected a great deal more delving into that. I did like the parts of this that did focus more on the two of them and I can appreciate the actual flow of this particular novel, but overall, just a little let down. Even though it wasn’t the edge sitting, nail biting, plot twisting thriller I was hoping for, it was still enjoyable. I will comment on that fact that SanGiovanni can delve into the human psyche well and I did find those plot points very enjoyable. I don’t think her fear tactics are exactly my style which is why I may find the plot line surrounding her occult details to be a little less enticing. I do think she is a good writer, her plot is clear and she gives us things to dwell on regarding how we act and think, but overall I just don’t find her stories themselves to meet expectations.
June 21, 2019
This was a very sci-fi story for me. The plot was great? Relatable characters, really enjoyed this book.
December 17, 2020
I was glad this book read as a stand alone instead of a third place novel. Because I am brand spanking new to this series. While starting a series mid point hasn't always deterred me from wanting to review, it can certainly take some of the spark away when you have to pull back from the story to piece things together that would normally just flow.
I loved the idea that imaginary friends were not so nice. So many great horror stories start with the imaginary friends no longer being content to stay in the mind. And this fast paced book definitely held up to that
I love that the villain's where more then the cookie cutter villain's that you always see in the horror genre. These villain's were multi surfaced and real. It would be so easy to fall for their charade and understand why they do the bad things they do. It is also easy to spot them in real life which made the book an even edgier read.
I loved the idea that imaginary friends were not so nice. So many great horror stories start with the imaginary friends no longer being content to stay in the mind. And this fast paced book definitely held up to that
I love that the villain's where more then the cookie cutter villain's that you always see in the horror genre. These villain's were multi surfaced and real. It would be so easy to fall for their charade and understand why they do the bad things they do. It is also easy to spot them in real life which made the book an even edgier read.
November 3, 2021
Brimming with tension this book is a bit disturbing yet entertaining enough to keep you guessing until the very end.
Inside the Asylum is about Kathy who has been hired to evaluate the threat of a patient who is at the same hospital her brother is staying. The concern is that this patient has the ability to open doors to other dimensions which can be quite dangerous.
Exhilarating and tension build holding your attention until the very end.
Inside the Asylum is about Kathy who has been hired to evaluate the threat of a patient who is at the same hospital her brother is staying. The concern is that this patient has the ability to open doors to other dimensions which can be quite dangerous.
Exhilarating and tension build holding your attention until the very end.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews