Escape from Asylum (Asylum #0.5)

Escape from Asylum (Asylum #0.5)
Age Range
12+
Release Date
June 14, 2016
ISBN
9780062424426
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In this terrifying prequel novel to the New York Times bestselling Asylum series, a teen is wrongfully committed to the Brookline psychiatric hospital and must find a way out—before he becomes the next victim of the evil warden’s experiments. With the page-turning suspense and unsettling found photographs from real asylums that led Publishers Weekly to call Asylum “a strong YA debut,” Escape from Asylum is perfect for fans of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

The nightmare is just beginning.

Ricky Desmond has been through this all before. If he could just get through to his mother, he could convince her that he doesn’t belong at Brookline. From the man who thinks he can fly to the woman who killed her husband, the other patients are nothing like him; all he did was lose his temper just a little bit, just the once. But when Ricky is selected by the sinister Warden Crawford for a very special program—a program that the warden claims will not cure him but perfect him—Ricky realizes that he may not be able to wait for his mom a second longer. With the help of a sympathetic nurse and a fellow patient, Ricky needs to escape now.

Set long before Dan, Abby, and Jordan ever walked the hallways of the Brookline asylum—back when it was still a functioning psych ward and not a dorm—Escape from Asylum is a mind-bending and scary installment in the Asylum series that can stand on its own for new readers or provide missing puzzle pieces for series fans.

In this terrifying prequel novel to the New York Times bestselling Asylum series, a teen is wrongfully committed to the Brookline psychiatric hospital and must find a way out—before he becomes the next victim of the evil warden’s experiments. With the page-turning suspense and unsettling found photographs from real asylums that led Publishers Weekly to call Asylum “a strong YA debut,” Escape from Asylum is perfect for fans of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

The nightmare is just beginning.

Ricky Desmond has been through this all before. If he could just get through to his mother, he could convince her that he doesn’t belong at Brookline. From the man who thinks he can fly to the woman who killed her husband, the other patients are nothing like him; all he did was lose his temper just a little bit, just the once. But when Ricky is selected by the sinister Warden Crawford for a very special program—a program that the warden claims will not cure him but perfect him—Ricky realizes that he may not be able to wait for his mom a second longer. With the help of a sympathetic nurse and a fellow patient, Ricky needs to escape now.

Set long before Dan, Abby, and Jordan ever walked the hallways of the Brookline asylum—back when it was still a functioning psych ward and not a dorm—Escape from Asylum is a mind-bending and scary installment in the Asylum series that can stand on its own for new readers or provide missing puzzle pieces for series fans.

Editor reviews

2 reviews
Spooky tale that will haunt you for days
Overall rating
 
3.7
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Ricky Desmond has been through a number of mental health facilities. It always ends with him getting bored, calling his mother, and then ending up transferring somewhere else. When his mother’s significant other puts his foot down, Ricky is sent to the Brookline psychiatric hospital for losing his temper. Soon, Ricky notices that Brookline isn’t like the other places he’s been to. Here, people are terrified of Warden Crawford, and everyone is encouraged to put their heads down and live under the radar as much as possible. When the Warden picks Ricky as his special new patient, Ricky is in more danger than he has ever known, and it will take the help of a few friends (and maybe a few ghosts) to get away.

Though I haven’t read the Asylum series, this prequel, ESCAPE FROM ASYLUM, is easy to read on its own. The combination of horror writing and creepy pictures Roux is known for make this a story not to read in the dark, as we follow Ricky’s terrifying encounters with the Warden. The tone is spine-chilling throughout, leaving you both eager to turn the page to find out what happens next but also scared to do so.

While Ricky is a solid character on his own, arrogant, cheeky, and genuine, the side characters, Kay and Nurse Ash, are a welcome addition to the story. Both are tough and often as frustrated as Ricky, though the idea of escaping seems much less feasible to them than Ricky. Even so, they band together, and their touching connections bring hope, even when all seems lost. The banter and sweet romantic tension between Kay and Ricky provides a few nice swoons and breaks from the scares.

Fans of American Horror Story and things that go bump in the night will devour the latest from Madeleine Roux. Ricky’s unforgettable journey will haunt you for days.
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