I definitely need a glass of wine after this read!
Rating: 5/5
The dead do talk ... if you’re brave enough to hear their sinister secrets.
In a thick forest sits a forgotten stone building, The Redwood Asylum. Once inside, the criminally insane, the darkly disturbed, and the eternally confused residents learn one thing very quickly: they are at the mercy of ruthless evil in many forms.
At twenty-six, Jessica Rosen starts a new job at Redwood in the hopes of forgetting an insidious past. She quickly realizes, however, that Redwood harbors malevolent secrets and beings in every chilly corner. On her second day adjusting to her job, the unstable man in 5B quickly latches onto Jessica in an unsettling way. When his rantings and warnings start to make sense, though, Jessica will be taken on a ride of secrets, murder, and dangerous beings. As she begins to uncover the horrifying truths behind the man’s past, the terrors of Redwood Asylum will follow her home and make her question her own sanity.
Can Jessica solve the secrets of the man in 5B in time to save herself, or will the terrors trap her in Redwood’s evil clutches forever?
I definitely need a glass of wine after this read!
I went into this one with basically no expectations, but I did have one hope! I recently read Detwiler’s Christmas horror, The Christmas Bell, and the additional short story, Rachel’s Story. They both mentioned The Redwood Asylum. So going into this, I hoped I would see a connection between the three stories. And oh, man! Was I not disappointed! The Redwood Asylum not only connected these three but also added additional details to the story I thought I knew! Now I have to rethink the ending of The Christmas Bell again! Though I’m not complaining.
We follow a nurse, Jessica new to the asylum. This asylum is hidden away in the middle of the woods. Not many know of its existence. And Jessica starts working there in her attempt to outrun her past. Immediately after starting, one of the residents latches onto Jessica asking her for help. Against the wishes of the other employees, Jessica starts digging around. She quickly discovers there are dark secrets that hide within all corners of the asylum. And shortly after, she starts questioning her own sanity.
Now I will say, this book is definitely read as a slow burn. I didn’t go through it nearly as fast as I expected too. I was constantly backtracking to previous scenes to check details when a new of information was brought to light. Even though doing this made my reading slower than I expected, it didn’t hinder how much I enjoyed this. I was charmed by the prologue as it describes the asylum, painting a picture of the horror we’ll face throughout the book. Not only do we see a description of the asylum but we get a glimpse of how it started. That prologue really sucked me in, I just had to know more.
Now I will say, this book is definitely read as a slow burn. I didn’t go through it nearly as fast as I expected too...
One aspect that I really enjoyed from this book was we would bounce between the main storyline to short snippets of the asylum’s past. Throughout the entire book, we’re told the stories of previous residents and workers at the asylum that would correlate directly with the main storyline. I’ll admit, I really enjoyed the book in its entirety but my favorite parts were these short snippets of the past.
I’ll admit, I really enjoyed the book in its entirety but my favorite parts were these short snippets of the past.
Based on the events that happened in the book it was easy for me to predict what could happen, but that didn’t make the book any less entertaining to read. As I said, I was fully sucked in and was completely captivated. Even though the ending was what I expected, it didn’t make it easy to accept. I definitely hoped for a different ending.
After the ending, I can hope that there will be more books connected to The Redwood Asylum. It’s clear that there are many more stories to be told. And I for one, certainly want to hear them all!
I think any horror lover would enjoy this one! I highly recommend it! Though, I would suggest reading The Christmas Bell followed by Rachel’s Story first! Not that you can’t read this one first, it won’t hinder the storyline at all! But from me having read the other two first then picking this one up, that order seems to be perfect!