The Locked Ward Book Review: A Thriller by Sarah Pekkanen
Sarah Pekkanen has become one of my favorite authors of psychological thrillers. I’ve read some of her books that she has written on her own, as well as some of the books that she’s written with Greer Hendricks. I’m always captivated by the book description and just have to know more. In today’s blog post, I’ll be sharing my The Locked Ward book review.
The Locked Ward is mysterious in so many different ways. Main character Mandy is thrust into a world that she never even knew existed after receiving contact from the twin sister she didn’t know she had. It’s a fascinating thriller that is fast paced for good reason. If this is your first time reading a Sarah Pekkanen book, I’d say this is a good place to start.
Keep reading for my honest review! And if you enjoy psychological thrillers, you can read more of my thriller discussions here.
What is The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen about?
Was it…
Bitter, all-consuming jealousy?
Pathological sibling rivalry?
Pure insanity?
Whatever the cause—and everyone has a theory—it’s the Crime of the Decade when glamorous Georgia Cartwright, who was adopted as a newborn, is accused of killing the biological daughter of her wealthy, Southern family.
Georgia is locked in a psychiatric institution where the most violent offenders are held while she awaits trial. The only words she whispers when her estranged twin sister Amanda visits are, “I didn’t do it. You’ve got to get me out of here.”
Amanda doesn’t trust Georgia, but she can’t abandon her in a place so eerie and menacing that it seems to exist in another dimension. Is Georgia the victim of a powerful family that’s so depraved murder is the least of their crimes? Or is Amanda being led down a path of madness into the web of a master manipulator?
Nothing is as it seems in Sarah Pekkanen’s The Locked Ward, a shocking psychological thriller about the complex bonds of sisterhood—and what happens when they are stretched to the breaking point.
Some doors in the Locked Ward should never be opened. (from Amazon.com)
My Initial Thoughts
This story starts in a kind of weird way. Mandy is contacted by a lawyer who says that her twin sister is in a psychiatric hospital and needs her help. Mandy was adopted as a baby and grew up as an only child so this is very bizarre. But her curiosity gets the best of her and she goes to visit Georgia Cartwright at her locked ward, to at least listen to what she has to say.
I can’t even imagine how scared I would be if that happened to me. I appreciate that Georgia gave Mandy some of her DNA and told her to run a DNA test to confirm it. It would have been too unbelievable if she had just taken Georgia for her word, especially since Georgia is in the hospital for supposedly killing her sister Annabelle (the biological daughter of her adopted parents).
Once it’s confirmed that the two of them are twins, the real mystery begins. Because Georgia has been accused of killing her sister Annabelle and she needs Mandy’s help to clear her name. But then there’s the overarching mystery of how the two of them were separated in the first place, and who their birth parents are.
Mental Illness is So Complicated
And that’s why setting a thriller novel in a mental health unit is so interesting. Georgia seems like she has it completely together. So it seems believable that she was framed. But as her stories from her childhood are revealed, things don’t seem so cut and dry any more. This is a twisty thriller that will lead you in many different directions. At the start of the book I thought I understood everything. But in the end, I knew nothing at all. That’s what makes a good book!
This Book Kept Me Guessing
There were so many times that I thought I had everything figured out, but I didn’t. But to be honest, that’s usually how it is for me when it comes to thrillers and mysteries. It’s very easy to lead my astray. Lol.
Part of what made this story fun was Mandy’s investigation. Which Georgia in the mental hospital, she’s the only one who can help her twin sister find out the truth. She’s the only one of Georgia’s family members who she can turn to.
So while Georgia directs her quietly from afar, Mandy takes her keys and starts diving into her life. She goes to her penthouse apartment and
It was kind of weird when Mandy was first staying at Georgia’s apartment. She seemed to love it there so much that I thought she was going to Single White Female her sister. Lol. But either I have an overactive imagination or that was just a red herring.
Is The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen worth reading?
Yes, this is a mystery that grabs your attention right away. It’s very mysterious and there’s a lot going on which makes it a very fun thriller to read. I’ve enjoyed a lot of books by Sarah Pekkanen in the past. She’s written some thrillers with Greer Hendricks before that I’ve read for the blog and really enjoyed. Some of them include The Golden Couple, The Wife Between Us, and You Are Not Alone. This is my first time reading a thriller that Sarah Pekkanen has published on her own and I thought it was really good. It’s a quick read that really absorbs you.
My Main Critique
This story is told from two points of view. And personally, I felt that I enjoyed Mandy’s chapters more than I did Georgia’s. There was just something weird about Georgia’s perspective. I don’t know. I might be wrong, but I think Georgia’s chapters were written in second person? Which isn’t something I’ve seen a lot. But given the plot and the tense atmosphere it just didn’t work for me. It made me distrustful of Georgia and it made me rush through her chapters so I could get on with the story.
In Conclusion
The Locked Ward is a fascinating story that had me on the edge of my seat. There was a sense of urgency in the story because Georgia wanted to get out of the locked psychiatric ward as quickly as possible and I didn’t want to put the book down. I just had to find out what would happen next. So now that I’ve finished this one, my next book is going to be House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen. It’s been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read for a few months now.
I hope you enjoyed my The Locked Ward book review. It surprised me up until the final page, and if you enjoy thriller novels I think it will keep you guessing too.
