Carmen has a secret, and his name is Dr. Micah Worthy. Affairs aren’t permitted between staff members at St. Michael’s Asylum, but Carmen and her handsome young psychiatrist find a way to sneak in a kiss or two in empty storerooms when no one’s looking. It doesn’t take long for her suspicions to rise, however, as she gets to know some of the patients. Why are some kept locked in their rooms, … rooms, doped to the gills? And where are the two-dozen patients whose names appear on the med lists, but whom she’s never met? Moreover, what’s so forbidden about the ancient passages snaking beneath the two-hundred-year old monastery?
Something’s off in the asylum, and when nothing seems to add up, Carmen and Micah unite to uncover the truth.
When staff members learn she’s on to them, the threats begin. Can Carmen report her findings before she ends up in the icy Atlantic?
Set on the rugged Maine coast in the dead of winter, The Asylum is an intriguing story of romance and danger, filled with characters you’ll love and breathless action that’ll keep you up way past your bedtime.
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So, what’s REALLY going on at the asylum?
The Asylum, a Carmen Garcia novel, by award-winning, best-selling author Aaron Paul Lazar, is fast-paced mystery suspense that will have you hooked right from the start.
Framed by a jealous ex-girlfriend of the boss’ son, whom she’s been dating, Carmen Garcia has just lost her job when her mother’s boyfriend Rocco suggests applying where he works in the interim until something better comes along.
Named the Seabreeze, the asylum, previously a crumbling Victorian monstrosity, is a treatment facility where wealthy patients are supposedly being cared for in luxury.
Her interview with Dr. Worthy goes relatively well, and he introduces her to his nephew, Dr. Micah (Worthy), and although their attraction is mutual, they need to keep their budding relationship under wraps.
She’s been warned to follow orders without asking questions, but the longer Carmen works at the asylum, the more she thinks there’s something not quite right — some patients are heavily sedated, and some have mysteriously disappeared.
When her mother’s boyfriend Rocco goes missing, will Carmen and Micah discover the truth about the asylum?
A well-plotted mystery-suspense plot with a touch of romance, something this author seems to have an affinity for, and well-developed characters with warmth and emotion.
I highly recommend this story to readers of any genre, but most particularly romantic suspense. And it’s an easy read – one that will keep you turning the pages until the very end. When I first picked up this book, I’d intended to only read a couple of chapters before bedtime, so don’t start reading this story unless you’re willing to sacrifice a night of sleep.
Excellent story!!
Aaron Paul Lazar
I’m a huge fan of Aaron Paul Lazar’s LeGarde Mysteries Series, so I knew I was in for a great story from this author. What I didn’t know was what to expect when I got my chops into The Asylum: a Carmen Garcia novel (Bittersweet Hollow Book 4), yet here I am hooked again.
What a super, surreal read.
Set in Maine in the dead of winter, Carmen is set up to be disgraced by her boyfriend. The boyfriend happens to be her boss’s grandson, both of them total jerks, and the devious woman who assists the boyfriend helps get Carmen fired from a terrible job I know I’d never like.
A sardine packaging factory. Really?
How will things improve for Carmen in the future after she’s forced to give up her apartment and move back home with her mom, sisters and a bunch of nieces and nephews?
Her mom’s boyfriend Rocco suggests Carmen seek employment at St. Michael’s Asylum as an underling, but warns her the job is not only unsavory, but the people who own the facility are not the good guys they promote themselves to be.
During her interview, Carmen meets her boss’s nephew Micah, and the two hit it off, but do the powers that be sabotage their budding romance?
If you’re the kind of reader thriving on a fantastic yarn filled with mystery, phenomenal plot twists involving fraud and drug abuse, with a dose of budding romance, a tale that makes you actually THINK you know who the bad guys really are, The Asylum should be the next book on your TBR list.
Make this read a priority. Five golden stars awarded for The Asylum, for keeping this reader engaged and always guessing.
When I’m rooting for a character like Carmen from the first page, there is no way to wrestle the book away from me. That was my experience reading The Asylum. Aaron Paul Lazar is a genius at pacing and weaving a gripping story.
I loved everything from the romance, and especially the suspense, to the mood he created at the Asylum.
Carmen is spunky and you know, in spite of being bullied, that she will rise to the occasion and I couldn’t wait to turn the pages to witness it for myself.
Thank you for this brilliant story, Aaron!
This book should come with a warning: Do not read at night if you need a good night’s sleep!
Superb premise for a book. This grips you from the start and doesn’t let go. the plot, character development, and dialogue are riveting. An antique asylum where things aren’t quite what they seem to be.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Romance, mystery, thriller – it has it all!
“Carmen Garcia’s life as she knew it ended at ten past nine on Friday morning.”
And with that opening line, I was hooked by this fascinating thriller crafted by Mr. Lazar with all the ingredients you’d look for in a page-turner guaranteed to keep you up late into the night.
Right from the start, Carmen is thrown under the bus and is forced to a path to survive. The decision to pick up the first opportunity that lands in her lap takes Carmen from the proverbial pot into the frying pan.
As she becomes acclimated to her new position at the asylum, she soon realizes that something is wrong. While faced with the unsettling occurrences among the patients, she also finds herself falling for Dr. Micah. Soon enough, losing her job is the least of her worries as she attempts to uncover what is taking place behind the scenes.
I don’t like to give anything away (you need to read the book) I can tell you the perfect combination of romance and suspense coupled with Mr. Lazar’s gift for pacing is a treat to read. I highly recommend The Asylum to anyone who loves romantic suspense.
Awesome suspense and sins of avarice….
I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this story from start to finish. I chose to read along as I listened to the audiobook and it was a great experience. This story combines romance, intrigue, and a delightful array of genuine, likeable characters (and some truly villainous ones) with an unremittingly suspenseful plot that keeps you hooked until the very end. There is no foul language, no graphic violence, and no explicit sex scenes to offend anyone, but the despicable deeds inspired by pure greed set against the creepy mystique of the asylum are more than enough to keep you enthralled right up to the satisfying conclusion of this story. The narrator did an excellent job of distinguishing the varied cast of characters by giving each a unique sound and cadence although, speaking as a native Texan, some of the southern characters did speak a bit too slowly (but maybe it just seemed that way because the suspense was so well-crafted that I was just anxious to know what would happen next). I highly recommend this book/audiobook to anyone enjoying a suspenseful, engrossing, diversionary read.
The Asylum sucks the reader in from the first sentence: “Carmen Garcia’s life as she knew it ended at ten past nine on Friday morning.”
Already the question is posed: who is Carmen Garcia, and what or who caused this life-changing consequence?
With a writing style filled with offhand but intriguingly active verbs—hefted, slapped, strutted and more—prickly dialogue and evocative description, we know from page one that this is not going to be a static story by any means. And with a work colleague of Carmen’s named Dixie LaJolie, it’s more than apparent that this thriller is going to be hugely colorful, in language and in atmosphere.
Aaron Paul Lazar spins a good tale and is very prolific at it, too. His Amazon page goes on for three pages. This in of itself is impressive, but in addition he clearly is committed to massaging every word of his novels to keep the reader sucked in. That is one of the prerequisites of thriller writing, and Lazar has it down to a science.
He introduces us to Carmen sympathetically from the start, and to Dixie in definitely antagonist terms, which is desirable in this genre, for which many say that the villain is the most important character. Lazar’s descriptions elucidate the over-the-top traits that makes these personages so fascinating to watch: “Dixie…had the body of a porn star, and flaunted it for the world to see. She used her accent like an aphrodisiac…” Plus, she treats Carmen like a third-world refugee. Right from the outset, we hate Dixie—and can’t wait to see how she gets her comeuppance, preferably from Carmen.
Small-town Maine is a perfect setting for a thriller—we all know how effectively Stephen King made use of it—and the ‘”Castle” by any other name is a psychiatric facility that the reader senses right from the beginning will be a menacing place, and scary as all get-out. But when the suspense is intermingled with a steamy, protracted love story, the reader is totally hooked.
Asylum reads very quickly, and it takes the reader no time to become absorbed in the story and its characters. Readers will be engaged. Writers will admire, and perhaps envy, the ease with which Lazar narrates his tale.
This review is for the audio book.
I really enjoyed this book it was the first book in the series that I have listened to but it won’t be the last. It kept me on my toes as I was never sure what was going to happen and who to trust. This is book four but I still enjoyed it even though I hadn’t listened to the previous books.
Carnen is fired from her job after being set up. Worried about paying the rent she jumps at the first job she is offered. Working in the asylum isn’t just cleaning up after patients all day long especially when the patient seem to be in trouble and more is going on than there looks. After being warned off investigating she turns to her mums boyfriend and a new love for help. But when he goes missing things get deadly and Carmen wonders if she has made the biggest mistake of her life.
Gwendolyn is one of my favourite narrators and this book proves why, as she does any excellent job with the story.
Wonderful characters, thrilling story, Great ending
Set against wintery Maine coast locations, The Asylum is a gipping mystery written in Aaron Paul Lazar’s signature style, contrasting the goodness of the main characters with the evil of the others.
Carmen Garcia starts a job at a The Seabreeze after losing her pervious job. She is told that “They pay pretty good, even though it’s not the nicest place in the world to work.” The description of the asylum foretells the dangers she is going to face there: “Previously a crumbling Victorian monstrosity, The Seabreeze was set back on a rolling hillside overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.”
Carmen is attracted to Dr. Micah Worthy, but their love must be kept under wraps, because it would be frowned upon by his uncle, who runs the asylum. Warned to follow orders without asking questions, Carmen soon becomes convinced that something is very wrong in this place. Some patient are being overdosed, others are subdued, and some, listed in secret lists, are entirely missing. Rocco, her mother’s boyfriend who works at the asylum, disappears without a trace.
Will Carmen and Micah find Rocco, and expose the criminal activities in the asylum, or will they be captured trying? Gripping chase scenes scenes all woven together with warm family scenes to create a wonderful read.
Highly recommended. Five stars.