The Devil's Sanctuary

The Devil's Sanctuary by Marie Hermanson

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Psychologists say that there are psychopaths everywhere. Next door? You boss? Maybe you married one?

Daniel and Max are twins. They were separated when they were young by their parents' divorce. They then grew up very differently from each other.

After a long absence, Max arranges for Daniel to leave his humdrum daily grind and visit him at a swank resort/rehab facility. When he arrives Max spins a story about his need to leave the fcility for a short while to arrange finances. Daniel agrees.

Things unwind for Daniel after that. The hospital is, in fact, more of a prison set up to research psychopaths. The residential population of the resort are composed of psychopathic personalities. Daniel desperately attempts to disclose the truth, but try as he might no one believes him because he is believed to be Max and Max is a habitual liar.

I found this to be a captivating page-turner. I enjoyed this book. It's not a great book. The first half of the book takes a bit too long to get into the story. Then, when the plot picks up speed, the pay-offs are just a bit too quick in coming, and, then, they come in by way of monologues. Honestly, I enjoyed having my suspicions confirmed, but it was just a bit too easy.

I came to this book by way of the “Sanctuary” (2020) mini-series on Hulu. The series is gender-swapped; Daniel and Max are now Siri and Helena. This change actually improves the story. A colony of psychopaths is incredibly dangerous, even more so for women, I'd imagine. The sense of tension is heightened in the TV series I think I will be scoring the show better than the book.

Have you ever read a book that makes you go what the fuck for most of it? But then you keep reading anyway?

This is one of those books.

It was... odd. But not in a bad way. It was very different from everything I read. The closest thing I can compare it to is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - but honestly, it's nothing like that book. I think I feel a resemblance because they're both thrillers that have been translated into English. (I also never made it through Larsson's book - it was boring to me).

Max and Daniel had a fucked up childhood. They were twins raised separately and, as a result, are very very different adults. They really don't have much of a relationship, but when Max writes and asks to see Daniel while in a clinic of some sort, Daniel goes. He's a good soul.

He's a naive soul.

Max convinces him (tricks him) into switching places with him at the clinic (Daniel often wonders is this some sort of rehab clinic?) but promises to come back in a few days.

You know where this is going right? (If not, go read the summary again.)

I just didn't understand why Daniel never figured out the kind of place he was in or what kind of person his brother really was. All the signs were there. All the signs.

In the end, I couldn't put it down. I stayed up late trying to figure out the secrets of the clinic and the town. I wanted to know if Daniel would get out and if Max would be caught. This is the kind of book where the ending is not at all predictable, and you don't see it coming until it happens.