BACK COVER BLURB: Doctor Peter Alexander is hired to be doctor at the Middleton Home for the Mentally Retarded in Jonesville, Florida and he finds out his training and reality conflict.
Set in 1957-1968 Florida he must survive a cruel nurse, patients and staff who are more same than sane.
Will Doctor Alexander survive? Will he maintain his sanity?
FIRST SENTENCE {INTRODUCTION}: The events in this novelette, set in a fictional town in Florida, are based on the historical records of physical and mental abuse that occurred at Penhurst Asylum in Pennsylvania, Letchworth Village in Rockland County, New York and Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, New York.
MEMORABLE MOMENT {PAGE 21}: At 7pm Doctor Alexander opened the rusted solid metal door to the basement of building B with a squeal of rust his heart jumped a beat as the door slammed shut. He looked down the dark corridor and he sees a light coming from under a black door.
SOURCE: Received from the author.
READ FOR: Not applicable.
MY THOUGHTS: Not particularly the best written of books and in need of an edit and yet Asylum is one of those books in which the author obviously has a real ardor for the subject - that of institutional abuse - at the heart of the book.
With a nurse that makes One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest's Nurse Ratched look like a pussy cat and and an ending that, though I kind of knew it was coming, still saw me covered in goosebumps, essentially the stuff of nightmares ... for those of us Brits of a certain age it put me in mind of one of those dramas that formed Tales Of The Unexpected (the British anthology series featuring tales of horror, mystery and suspense) that saw the teenage me watching the television from between my fingers.
For myself personally a tad too short. I'd be interested to know if there are plans to bring the Bad Memories series (which so far consists of two novelettes) together in one edition of horror, mystery and suspense.
10 comments:
This is such an interesting premise. There is something about asylums. They make such great settings for this kind of story.
I remember watching Tales of the Unexpected here in The U.S.! It was not that popular here but it still has a cult following.
I want to thank Tracy for the review. I feel that I need to mention that I suffer from Adult ADHD Disability of Written Expression and two others. The first 6k words were written for my FSU creative writing class and earned me a A-; the last 6k words were written after I completed the semester. Book one and book two happen in different eras and locations, so not sure how to combine then into one.
I like her comparison to "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Nurse Ratched" that was my goal. The ending I wanted to do something that I hope would shock readers. I also like her comparison to that British TV show. I just want to mention these things to the reader.
Thanks to the author for leaving a comment clarifying the two parts.
Tracy, have you read the first novelette? It sounds quite creepy and might be something to add to my TBR pile at some point, especially if I could get both in one volume. It would be perfect for the RIP Challenge (which begins today). I'm already lined out for this year, but maybe next....
Thanks for stopping by Douglas. Whist I am aware that the books are very different in some respects, given that Bad Memories sounds like it has a similar feel I had thought it might be interesting to put both books together in a collection of 'Chillers'.
No, Kelly I haven't read the first novelette but knowing what I know of the RIP Challenge and indeed Bad Memories, I agree, both books would be worth the consideration.
well... maybe but I confess that I didn't know about this one
Tracy,
I will add the book to my list. As the
premise sounds very interesting. As well
as that I appreciated the author's comment.
I,too remember watching 'Tales of the Unexpected'
when it was broadcast on Dutch television many
years ago.
Raven
I like that you are wanting more! That is a good sign for sure! Thanks for sharing. :)
~Jess
Terrific review, Tracy! I enjoyed reading the eerie memorable moment in Bad Memories #2: Asylum. I'm pleased to hear about your goosebumps, and that you found the book a tad too short.
Asylum sounds good, I like the setting. It's so scary to think of the abuse that occurred in these places especially back in the day where mental illness was not understood.
Thank you for the kind words I hope to please readers with books worthy of a fright or two. Book one of Bad Memories is a full length novel over 50k words. I would like too get more fans.
Just a heads up here, I have another psychological suspense series titled "A Kiss Before Strangling" the two books are about the same police detective and occur in the same era and characters. I am doing book three of this series and setting it in Panama City, Florida where I live.
My protagonist will be leaving Nebraska where book one and two are set to escape the cold, snow and serial killers, but he will face more psychological challenges.
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