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The Chamber
When Detective Jacob Sterling is called to investigate a heinous murder at Traverse City Mental Hospital, nothing is as it seems.
Not only are the renowned Doctor Elliot Turner and his staff less than cooperative, but they're hiding a secret even more sinister than the crime.
Sterling's departed wife having been committed there only adds to the mystery as he uncovers a reality beyond imagination.
Not only are the renowned Doctor Elliot Turner and his staff less than cooperative, but they're hiding a secret even more sinister than the crime.
Sterling's departed wife having been committed there only adds to the mystery as he uncovers a reality beyond imagination.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
3 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Hawke
5 books55 followersChristopher Hawke has helped thousands of writers from all over the world hone their craft and get noticed. His domestic and international workshops have been featured in numerous publications, including the Sun Sentinel in South Florida, where he has led weekly critique groups for over a decade.
Mr. Hawke’s writing is represented by The Evan Marshall Agency, and his book The Craft of Writing hit #1 and maintained a Top 10 status on Amazon for years.
Besides co-running CommunityAuthors.com, an author services company, he works one-on-one with a select group of writers from various countries as a writing coach. His client roster includes well-known names, in addition to aspiring authors.
His other titles include Unnatural Truth, a highly acclaimed psychological thriller and Altered Selves, a redemptive dystopian novel.
Mr. Hawke’s writing is represented by The Evan Marshall Agency, and his book The Craft of Writing hit #1 and maintained a Top 10 status on Amazon for years.
Besides co-running CommunityAuthors.com, an author services company, he works one-on-one with a select group of writers from various countries as a writing coach. His client roster includes well-known names, in addition to aspiring authors.
His other titles include Unnatural Truth, a highly acclaimed psychological thriller and Altered Selves, a redemptive dystopian novel.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 1, 2022
I read this book twice, such a unique twist, the main character has a psychological journey that made me cringe, right to the ending. The crazy characters are strangely relatable, humorous, yet intimidating. Its a great story and plot that makes you re-examine just what people you might underestimate, and maybe yourself, are capable of.
September 1, 2022
I was able to read an advanced copy of this book and I absolutely loved it. The author creates amazing atmosphere and was intrigued throughout. It read like a movie to me!
August 22, 2022
This is a well written and gripping story that pulls you into a darker mystery, that leaves you wanting to know more. Highly recommend.
July 29, 2022
I was hooked from page one and couldn't put it down! I highly recommend this thriller!
October 21, 2022
Christopher Hawke has crafted a gut-punch of a novel that's part detective, part noir, part Gothic, tinged with horror, and dripping with ambiguity. The characters come for you, right off the page, each with their own quirks and definitions--the double identity detective with a 1940s eye for detail, the hospital doctor with a questionable agenda--in an absorbing game of cat-and-mouse that piles one surprise on top of another. The Chamber and its environs are characters in themselves, always the mark of good writing; the plot spins its way through a funhouse of twists and turns and finally resolves itself in a killer of a closing line: "You can't get closer than being in someone's mind." Do you hear voices? Are they in your head or are they real? You decide.
January 21, 2024
The Chamber is a thrilling mystery deeply imbedded into a swirling hallucinogenic nightmare of a sanitarium leaving the reader gasping for what is real and what is imagined. Detective Jacob Sterling goes undercover to solve a murder at the same place he had committed his wife years earlier. When Doctor Elliot Turner sends him into The Chamber for treatment of his supposed psychosis, the very facts of existence began to shift and transform leading to a thrilling climax where nothing is as it seems.
October 12, 2022
This is a cross between a horror story and a mystery, dark and brooding with lots of surprises. Will the detective determine who carried out a grisly murder in a psychiatric institution? Does the slightly deranged doctor conducting novel experiments on the patients have anything to do with it? Will any of them ever get out? You'll have to read it to find out!
November 11, 2022
A gripping psychological thriller that kept me guessing all the way to end. I did not see the ending coming. Yet it also managed to be touching and profound. So glad I found this one.
September 20, 2022
Christopher Hawke’s The Chamber, is a great book! What’s not to love when a detective finds himself in an institution caught between “normal” and not so much? Jacob Sterling turns our idea of what is sane on end, when he is sucked into the vortex of Traverse City Mental Hospital, swirls around with fellow residents, and ultimately finds his footing in a totally unexpected way. Christopher Hawke pulls the reader through this man’s journey so artfully that you hardly blink before you’ve entered a new reality. The verbal sparring between this ensemble group creates some of my favorite dialogue ever! Just read it!
August 31, 2023
Originally reviewed on Cyn's Workshop
The Chamber has a compelling premise that can draw in any reader. However, for this particular reader, it was a struggle.
Unfortunate
I wanted to like this book. I know the author; I am friends with them on social media, so I was elated when they gave me the book for free. The premise reminded me of Denise Lehane’s Shutter Island, so I was intrigued.
Unfortunately, I could not get into this book.
The Chamber was, unfortunately, a DNF for me. I know many readers do not like to leave reviews for books they DNF or feel it’s unfair, and I agree to a point. Do I feel it fair to review a book without finishing it and grasping its scope? It’s complicated. On the one hand, I agree, but I also think readers should be allowed to express why they were turned off from a book and why they didn’t DNF a book.
For me, the storytelling just didn’t flow. I liked the opening chapter. The fact that a heinous murder occurred at an asylum suggests that the doctor had something to do with it alongside a patient under his care.
There is a lot of intrigue there, but as the story progresses, I got bored. And I tried. I picked up this book twice, took a weekend break, figuring I was tired, and restarted the book fresh on Monday. I could not get into it.
The transitions from the cop to the asylum, again, didn’t flow together. And none of the characters were engaging. There was something lackluster about them. I simply couldn’t connect to them, which added to my struggle to stay engaged in the story. There was a stiffness in their personalities, and they lacked any sort of charisma. Usually, I like dark, broody characters, but something was missing, some depth that failed the characters.
I also found it hard to believe that since Detective Jacob Sterling’s wife was a recent former patient at this asylum, no one recognized him or even thought he was familiar. His wife was a patient there. At least one person would have to recognize him, so his being chosen to go undercover there without the assistance of someone in the hospital was unbelievable. Someone would know, someone would recognize him. And his whole attitude while being there was, again, not inspiring any reaction from me as a reader.
Final Thoughts
I really wanted to like The Chamber, but, unfortunately, when I’m sitting there struggling to read a book when it is difficult to hold my attention not once but twice, it is time to add it to the DNF pile.
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Tumblr | Spotify Podcast | YouTube | BookBub | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn
The Chamber takes readers deep into an asylum to solve a gruesome murder and challenge everyone’s sanity.
The Chamber has a compelling premise that can draw in any reader. However, for this particular reader, it was a struggle.
Unfortunate
I wanted to like this book. I know the author; I am friends with them on social media, so I was elated when they gave me the book for free. The premise reminded me of Denise Lehane’s Shutter Island, so I was intrigued.
Unfortunately, I could not get into this book.
The Chamber was, unfortunately, a DNF for me. I know many readers do not like to leave reviews for books they DNF or feel it’s unfair, and I agree to a point. Do I feel it fair to review a book without finishing it and grasping its scope? It’s complicated. On the one hand, I agree, but I also think readers should be allowed to express why they were turned off from a book and why they didn’t DNF a book.
For me, the storytelling just didn’t flow. I liked the opening chapter. The fact that a heinous murder occurred at an asylum suggests that the doctor had something to do with it alongside a patient under his care.
There is a lot of intrigue there, but as the story progresses, I got bored. And I tried. I picked up this book twice, took a weekend break, figuring I was tired, and restarted the book fresh on Monday. I could not get into it.
The transitions from the cop to the asylum, again, didn’t flow together. And none of the characters were engaging. There was something lackluster about them. I simply couldn’t connect to them, which added to my struggle to stay engaged in the story. There was a stiffness in their personalities, and they lacked any sort of charisma. Usually, I like dark, broody characters, but something was missing, some depth that failed the characters.
I also found it hard to believe that since Detective Jacob Sterling’s wife was a recent former patient at this asylum, no one recognized him or even thought he was familiar. His wife was a patient there. At least one person would have to recognize him, so his being chosen to go undercover there without the assistance of someone in the hospital was unbelievable. Someone would know, someone would recognize him. And his whole attitude while being there was, again, not inspiring any reaction from me as a reader.
Final Thoughts
I really wanted to like The Chamber, but, unfortunately, when I’m sitting there struggling to read a book when it is difficult to hold my attention not once but twice, it is time to add it to the DNF pile.
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Tumblr | Spotify Podcast | YouTube | BookBub | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews