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The sleep room [text (large print)] / F. R. Tallis.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: CharnwoodPublication details: Leicester : Charnwood ; Thorpe, 2014, c2013.Edition: Large print editionDescription: 323 pages (large print) ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781444818833 (hbk.)
  • 144481883X
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Summary: "When promising psychiatrist James Richardson is offered the job opportunity of a lifetime, he is thrilled and doesn't look back. One of his tasks is to manage a controversial project - a pioneering therapy in which extremely disturbed patients are kept asleep for months. As Richardson settles into his new life, he begins to sense something uncanny about the sleeping patients - six women, forsaken by society. Why is the trainee nurse so on edge when she spends the night alone with them? And what can it mean when, one night, all the sleepers start dreaming at the same time? It's not long before Richardson finds himself questioning everything he knows about the human mind as he attempts to uncover the shocking secrets of The Sleep Room..." --Publisher description.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Large Print Davis (Central) Library Large Print Large Print TAL 1 Available T00561853
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

When promising young psychiatrist James Richardson is offered the job opportunity of a lifetime, he is thrilled. Setting off to take up his post at Wyldehope Hall in deepest Suffolk, Richardson doesn't look back. One of his tasks is to manage a controversial project - a pioneering therapy in which extremely disturbed patients are kept asleep for months. As Richardson settles into his new life, he begins to sense something uncanny about the sleeping patients.

Originally published: Oxford: Pan Books, 2013.

"Where your nightmare begins..." --Cover.

"When promising psychiatrist James Richardson is offered the job opportunity of a lifetime, he is thrilled and doesn't look back. One of his tasks is to manage a controversial project - a pioneering therapy in which extremely disturbed patients are kept asleep for months. As Richardson settles into his new life, he begins to sense something uncanny about the sleeping patients - six women, forsaken by society. Why is the trainee nurse so on edge when she spends the night alone with them? And what can it mean when, one night, all the sleepers start dreaming at the same time? It's not long before Richardson finds himself questioning everything he knows about the human mind as he attempts to uncover the shocking secrets of The Sleep Room..." --Publisher description.

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Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Young psychiatrist James Richardson couldn't be happier to accept the highly regarded Dr. Hugh Maitland's job offer at the remote Wyldehope Hall on the English coast. James has always admired Dr. Maitland's work, and he's particularly intrigued by his experiments with sleep therapy. As the new arrival, James is puzzled as to why Maitland will not discuss the sleep patients' backgrounds, but he has plenty to distract him in the form of a romance with one of the nurses and some very strange occurrences that seem to be supernatural in nature. Soon what began as a promising opportunity for the young doctor begins to look like something more sinister, and James begins to suspect that the purpose of the Sleep Room isn't quite aboveboard. Verdict Edgar Award-nominated Tallis ("Max Liebermann" series) is in fine form in this gothic flavored chiller set in the 1950s. The remote, seaside village makes the perfect venue for this mystery with ghostly elements, which is punctuated by moments of violence made even more shocking by the old fashioned tone. The twist, when it comes, may not come as a complete surprise, but the journey is a very creepy, rewarding one.-Kristin Centorcelli, Denton, TX (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Hasn't everyone wondered, at some point in our lives, if the moment we were experiencing was real or an illusion? If we are the dreamer or the dream? That is the question posed in F.R. Tallis's The Sleep Room, a supernatural thriller that is for the most part cozily familiar, but with one chillingly unique element: the controversial psychological treatment at the heart of the novel. Being a clinical psychologist, Tallis excels at getting the medical details right, and this effortless expertise makes it easy to relax into the story. Before too long, however, the reader will notice something off-kilter about the narrator, though the meaning behind this subtle irregularity doesn't become apparent until the end. The novel, set in the post-WWII era, opens with James Richardson, a young doctor, applying for a position working with one of the leading psychiatrists in the U.K., Hugh Maitland. Maitland is a believer in pharmacological and shock treatments for individuals suffering from "diseases of the mind," rejecting psychotherapy. The job brings Richardson to Wyldehope Hall, Maitland's new treatment center in a remote part of Suffolk, where he will serve as the sole physician on staff. In the sleep room, Maitland is testing his theories for a new kind of narcosis treatment in which drugs are used to keep six female patients asleep for prolonged periods. Richardson finds these patients intriguing, but, mysteriously, Maitland will reveal nothing of the women's pasts to him. As Richardson acclimates to his work and idiosyncratic boss, increasingly bizarre and inexplicable events take place at Wyldehope, events that seem supernatural in nature. Richardson is unable to do much to investigate, however, until one of the nurses-a young trainee alone on the night shift in the sleep room-disappears while on duty and is later found dead. After this, Richardson begins to suspect that Maitland might be up to something the medical community might not approve of, something to do with British intelligence-or even the CIA. By the time Richardson decides to confront his employer, Maitland has ensnared Richardson in a few matters that could be twisted to cast doubt on the young doctor's competency. Too, by this time, Richardson makes a nasty discovery regarding his new love interest, nurse Jane Turner, turning his world upside down. Anyone familiar with ghost stories understands that, in the end, all that matters is whether a ghost has been sighted, leaving the author little room to maneuver. Like all good stories, ghostly or not, there is a twist at the end of The Sleep Room. It's a device that has been used before, and readers will have to decide for themselves whether it has been put to good use. The second measure of a good ghost story, however, is whether it delivers some wicked chills, and in that regard The Sleep Room, with its creepy narcosis treatment room, definitely succeeds. Alma Katsu is the author of The Taker and The Reckoning (both Gallery). (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

For psychiatrist James Richardson, working for the renowned Dr. Hugh Maitland at Wyldehope Hall in Suffolk in the 1950s is a rare professional opportunity that is bound to enhance his future prospects. But his sense of foreboding begins to grow in the remote setting, particularly surrounding the sleep room, Maitland's controversial project in which six severely mentally ill women are treated by being kept asleep for months on end. As Richardson adjusts to his duties and establishes a romantic relationship with nurse Jane Turner, unexplained events, seemingly caused by a poltergeist, puzzle him and frighten a staff member and male patient, with disastrous consequences. At the same time, he observes that the dreams of the sleeping women are becoming synchronized, a situation that ultimately leads to tragedy. Clinical-psychologist Tallis, author of the Max Liebermann mysteries set in Freud's Vienna (written under the name of Frank Tallis), explores the mysteries of the human mind and the nature of reality so skillfully that his final twist can be easily accepted in this novel of psychological suspense that's firmly grounded in fact.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2010 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

A remote psychiatric hospital in the 1950s is the perfect setting for progressive treatments...and paranormal activity. Young psychiatrist James Richardson is excited to be hired by the celebrated Dr. Hugh Maitland to work at Wyldehope Hall, a psychiatric hospital in a remote part of Suffolk. Since he has no attachments, Richardson doesn't think that the isolation of the place will bother him, and he's looking forward to learning about Richardson's unique treatment, in which disturbed patients are kept asleep for long periods. But he finds several aspects of the place unsettling, beginning with the air of secrecy surrounding many procedures. The imperious Sister Jenkins runs day-to-day operations with an iron hand. Her polar opposite is Mary Williams, who's loath to ask for help even when she twists an ankle. Richardson passes the time by playing chess with delusional patient Mr. Chapman, who maintains that the nurses move his bed at night, and entering into a covert affair with nurse Jane Turner. One night after sex, he sees what he can only describe as a ghost passing over the bed. Jane laughs it off, but Richardson is spooked. Mary begins to act erratically then disappears. Richardson decides to leave Wyldehope, a choice confirmed by a long meeting with his predecessor, Palmer. But the offer of a promotion and his deepening feelings for Jane cause him to change his mind, an impulsive move he later deeply regrets. Layering several familiar elements expertly, Tallis (Death and the Maiden, 2012, etc.) creates a deliciously creepy mood of neogothic suspense.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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