Book Review and Giveaway: The Locked Ward

Some doors should never be opened.

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? (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Jami Denison:

Author Sarah Pekkanen is known for plucking women from their ordinary worlds and putting them into situations that could happen to almost anyone. In The Locked Ward, however, she throws her regular readers a curveball by starting her book in a psychiatric ward. What follows is more conspiracy thriller than domestic suspense. And no one can be trusted—not even the two protagonists.

Georgia Cartwright is in a mental ward, accused of bludgeoning her adoptive sister Annabelle to death. Terrified of jail, Georgia fakes being in a dissociative state, not allowing herself to speak or react to her surroundings. The only person she confides in is Mandy, her recently discovered fraternal twin. 

Bar owner Mandy always knew she was adopted, but she’s shocked to learn that she was separated from her twin. She agrees to follow the trail of breadcrumbs that Georgia has left for her to prove her sister’s innocence. The black sheep child of a wealthy family, Georgia has long been accused of tormenting Annabelle, the birth daughter of her adoptive parents. But Mandy learns there are many players around the Cartwright family—and some of these players start to show up in her own life. 

Pekkanen has created two characters who couldn’t be more different, yet their bond as twins is immediate. Georgia, who grew up in the lap of luxury even as the less favored daughter, is quick to trust Mandy, giving her the keys to her penthouse apartment and access to her clothes and cash. Mandy, while at first questioning of Georgia’s innocence, quickly becomes drawn into the web of lies that Georgia describes, pursuing people in the Cartwrights’ world and investigating their ties to Annabelle. Both women are in danger—Georgia from the other patients and some of the staff on the ward, and Mandy from the goons who encircle the Cartwrights and their close family friend, Senator Dawson, whose relationship with Annabelle might have been illicit. 

At the same time, neither character can be completely trusted. Pekkanen drops hints that both women might have dark sides by alluding to Annabelle and Georgia’s contentious relationship and Mandy’s thoughts of revenge. The possibility that they could turn on each other dangles like grapes just out of reach.

Although I really enjoyed the book, I found myself disappointed with the ending. The set-ups are stronger than the pay-offs, and motivations don’t make sense. Characters receive absolution without earning it. A sub-plot in Mandy’s past would have worked better had it tied into the present. 

Still, the book is fast-paced and absorbing enough that Pekkanen fans will enjoy the read. And the author left enough on the table (who are the twins’ real parents, for instance) that she could write a sequel to tie up those loose ends. I’d definitely read it. 

Melissa Amster:

Sarah Pekkanen has done it again: another unputdownable thriller! The Locked Ward definitely kept me intrigued and engaged the entire time. The narrative style for Georgia was so interesting and unique, making the reader feel like they were in her head. I also liked Mandy a lot and felt so worried for her. A lot unfolded and it was hard to decide who to trust.

I never would have been able to guess what really happened and I love that about a thriller. I kept wondering what the real story was and Georgia felt like an unreliable narrator at times, so that added to the intrigue. Most of the characters were unlikable, so it could have been any one of them! It was also creepy what was going on at the psychiatric hospital and I felt really bad for Georgia having to deal with that. 

My only concern is that the story ended a bit abruptly. There was a somewhat new situation that was unrelated to the mystery and more information was given right before the end of the book without tying it to anything that happened with Georgia, leaving us to ponder some completely new information. I felt this could have been left out and I would have been fine with how it ended otherwise. 

Side note: Mandy mentions two best friends from the past named Melissa and Beth. My sister's name is Beth. What are the odds?!? (Another fun fact: my sister's birthday is today!)

Be sure to pick this one up for a suspenseful night in, as you won't want to stop reading!

Movie casting suggestions:
Georgia: Elizabeth Gillies
Mandy: Georgia Flood
Scott: Josh Hutcherson
Colby: Austin Butler
Honey: Connie Britton
Senator Dawson: Dermot Mulroney

(Trigger warnings at the bottom of this post.)

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the book in exchange for an honest review. They have one copy to give away!

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends August 11th at midnight EST.

Also by Sarah Pekkanen:
House of Glass
Gone Tonight

You Are Not Alone (with Greer Hendricks)

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TW: Death of parents, death of sibling, stalking, predatory behavior, child abuse (emotional)