This
is a serialized book that takes place in a small New England town that is
overshadowed by an abandoned hospital called the Asylum that once treated the
mentally disturbed. The stories follow the distribution of artifacts from a
hidden room in the old hospital to various citizens of the town by a shadowy
figure, somehow bringing with them the mental miasmas of their original owners.
The result is murder, suicide, and insanity.
John
Saul has been a favorite author of mine for some time, mainly for his ability
to write stories around old legends. This is no exception. The Asylum is a
conglomerate of abandoned hospitals around the country. Its history
is a composite of old mental institutions around the world, including the often
torturous treatments that were used in the early 20th century to try
to help the mentally afflicted. Saul takes this setting, adds a doctor who has
sadistic tendencies, and injects a mystery surrounding the death of a young
girl. All of this combines under the author’s capable hand to make each and
every installment of the chronicles of this cursed town into a separate shocking
story of people fallen victim to an evil looking for vengeance. A great one for
all Saul fans.
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