I should feel safe here. I don’t.: The Hospital: A completely unputdownable psychological thriller with a breathtaking twist by Leslie Wolfe Book Tour with Giveaway

 

 

I should feel safe here. I don’t.

The Hospital

by Leslie Wolfe

Genre: Psychological Thriller 

I should feel safe here. I don’t.

I thought I had it all. The loving husband I married on a beach, sand between my toes. The career I fought for. The beautiful home tucked away between pines and mountains.

But my perfect life crumbled when my husband betrayed me. And then it started. Everywhere I went, someone was following me… But no one believed me. Were they right? Was I losing my mind?

Then, one day, I wake up with a searing pain in my head, and only the sound of sirens and distant conversations to pierce my confusion.

I’ve been attacked. I’m in the hospital.

It should be reassuring. But all I can think is: I’m trapped.

I must escape. But I know I can’t trust anyone, and I’ll do whatever it takes to save myself.

You will never see the twists coming in this jaw-on-the-floor gasp-out-loud rollercoaster from the no.1 bestselling author of The Surgeon. Fans of Freida McFadden, Lisa Jewell and Shari Lapena won’t be able to put it down!

Chapter One

Where am I? The question rushes through my mind as my consciousness returns, hesitant and shattered, from a deep darkness. Slowly, accompanied by a throbbing headache that seeds nausea in the pit of my stomach, my awareness tries—and fails—to restore my understanding of where I am. Of what’s happening to me. Opening my eyes seems an impossibly difficult task. I battle the weakness in my muscles, yearning for the light to help me get my bearings. Yet, my eyelids remain stubbornly closed. Fighting the frailty of my body, I try to raise my hand and touch my face but my hand doesn’t move. It’s as if it is too heavy to lift, to attempt the tiniest gesture. Even my face feels like a stranger’s. Distant. Cut off somehow. The sensory inputs are weak and remote, almost like something I would perceive second hand, like watching an intense movie and sharing the character’s emotions, sensations, and fears. Feeling real, but distant and disconnected. As much as I struggle to open my eyes, not the faintest shred of light cuts through the deep, absolute blackness. My world has been swallowed by darkness. Panic washes over me in a sweeping wave, each heartbeat thundering in my ears. My mind, a jumbled mess, grasps frantically at the frayed edges of my memory as I try to remember why I’m trapped in a paralyzed world. Every attempt to move is met with terrifying stillness where there should be motion. What’s happening to me? A scream builds up in my chest and comes off my lips as barely a whimper, almost too quiet for me to hear. A memory dashes through my frantic mind, fueling my all-consuming fear. It isn’t clear. It doesn’t feature images and actions and people I recognize; merely a blurry recollection of emotions I’ve felt and things I’ve done. A dream more than a memory, a nightmare really, and just as terrifying. In my vision, I am running for my life with frenzied footsteps that falter when I look over my shoulder, breathing shallow and fast between desperate shrieks. Instead of seeing who’s after me, the space behind me is a void, filled with the same darkness that has overtaken every corner of my world now. I recall screaming, pleading, calling for help. I can still feel it in my body: the despair, the fear, the screams searing my throat. And running, faster and faster, with a sense that whatever is chasing me is gaining ground. As I relive it in my mind, I feel the same fear gripping my throat and strangling it. The darkness grows suffocating, a relentless oppressor, ripping me from the ground and spinning me higher and higher, my thoughts spiraling into chaos. From that torment, a single clear thought emerges. Whatever I’ve been running from has caught up with me. And now I lie here, vulnerable and helpless, unable to move, unable to see where I am. I breathe slowly, the effort to fill my lungs with air almost impossible, and urge my hectic mind to settle. It doesn’t come quickly or easily. Flashes of the same memory, looping in my mind over and over, do nothing to calm my fears. But I keep at it, breath after excruciatingly slow breath, listening to the air entering my body then leaving it without apparent connection to the rapid rhythm of my heartbeats. My mouth feels dry, my tongue sticky and swollen. That tiny bit of sensory information is like unearthed treasure in the black emptiness in my mind. I take it and follow it like an unraveling thread, in search of a way out of the labyrinth. Soon enough, more such morsels start to collect and form an image I can read. I’m thirsty. My lips are chapped, and the tip of my tongue does nothing to moisten and soothe them. I try to move my fingers one more time, slowly and mindfully, to no avail. Just as stubbornly, my eyes stay firmly closed, protecting the darkness within at the cost of my sanity. Just as the irrational fear is starting to return, I hear the blaring yet muted siren of an ambulance in the distance, faint but approaching. I pay close attention to that and the other, almost indistinct, sounds I’m beginning to pick up, and images start taking shape in my mind. A few moments after the siren stops, I’m aware of people chatting as they pass by, also distant somehow, but close enough. If I screamed, they would probably hear me. I draw breath as forcefully as I can and try to call out. Only a whisper comes out of my mouth, and the people continue unperturbed, walking away with brisk steps. Still, I’m not alone. The whoosh of my own blood in my ears subsides a little as my panic wanes with that realization. More sounds start filling my world, no longer dampened by my fear. A distant PA calls for a doctor to report somewhere I don’t quite catch. Closer and a little louder, the subdued and rhythmic beeping of a machine, its sounds synced to perfection with my own heartbeats. I’m in the hospital. It’s the only logical conclusion I can draw. And it means that I didn’t escape from whomever I’ve been running from after all. I succumbed to their attack, and it landed me here, helpless and vulnerable and lost. Fear returns with that thought, but this time tinged with a fiery anger, swelling my mind with questions I can’t answer, while the face of my attacker remains shrouded in obscurity. I play that snippet of memory again, hoping I’ll be able to catch a glimpse of the person I tried to run from. I can’t visualize a face nor remember a name. I don’t remember much at all; only that I’m not safe, and that next time, there will be no escape. I’m absolutely sure of that, as I’m sure of my own name. I’m Emma Duncan, and I survived. I’m still alive. It feels good to say it, even if it’s only an unspoken thought. My world has been silent for a while when the sound of approaching footsteps makes me hold my breath, while the thumping of my heart grows faster and faster, echoed by the increased beeping of the monitor. Footsteps walk past, quickly and purposefully, then return. I can feel shifting air gently touching my cheeks, a sensation I’ve never been aware of before. Between the soft sound of rubber soles on the floor and the air moving inside the room, I can picture someone walking back and forth, close to me. Close enough to touch. Perhaps close enough to kill. My first instinct is to stay quiet and wait for them to be gone. It’s senseless, irrational, only a short while after I tried my best to get attention by calling out. Maybe this person will have answers for me. Or perhaps they are here to finish the job they started when I was running, trying to escape. A quiet sob leaves my chest before I can stop it. Tears emerge from the corners of my eyes, but they don’t roll down my cheeks. Or I don’t feel them if they do. The rubber soles freeze for a dizzying moment, then approach quickly. A warm hand clasps mine and squeezes gently. “You’re awake,” a woman’s voice says cheerfully. “That’s wonderful. I’ll get the doctor.”

See what readers are saying about The Hospital:

“OMG!!!!… Wow… insanely fast-paced, totally addictive… I binge read in one sitting… I was literally glued to my Kindle on the edge of my seat… So good!!!” Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Wow!!!… It kept me completely on the edge of my seat biting my nails… I could not put it down and ended up devouring it in one sitting of a few hours!! An absolutely addictive, compelling page turner that will keep you hooked from beginning to end!!” Bookworm86, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“So tense! Wow, now I can breathe normally… jaw-dropping, full of surprises and twists that kept me turning the pages so fast!… had me on the edge of my seat the entire time, I couldn’t put it down!... You need to read this book!” moneisreading, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Wow wow wow!! I loved this book!! What a heart-pounder!!… thrilling!! Lots of action, suspense, drama with plenty of twists and turns!… I highly recommend reading this one!” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“This was a WILD RIDE!!!… I was trying to figure out who I could trust and my mind changed constantly. Loved the ending… a CANNOT PUT IT DOWN BOOK!!!” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Wow, wow, wow!!! What a book!… kept me guessing until the end… extremely jam packed with twists. I couldn’t pull myself away from my kindle reading this. Fantastic.” Jessica’s Book Biz, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Had me captivated from beginning to end!… I couldn’t put this book down!” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Superb… I couldn’t put it down, don’t give in to the temptation to turn pages without working through all the twists and turns!” NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“So addictive… I was hooked and found it hard to stop for a break! So glad I did not have much planned for that day!!!!… WoW I want more!!!” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Superb… I didn’t want to put down. The twists and turns were spectacularly clever and I doubted everything I was thinking!” NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“So intense… I had NO idea who did it, or what was going to happen next… This book taught me TRUST NO ONE… fantastic… I would absolutely recommend to a friend.” Reading with Mama East, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Amazon * Audible * Bookbub * Goodreads

Leslie Wolfe is a bestselling author whose novels break the mold of traditional thrillers. She creates unforgettable, brilliant, strong women heroes who deliver fast-paced, satisfying suspense, backed up by extensive background research in technology and psychology.

Leslie released the first novel, Executive, in October 2011. Since then, she has written many more, continuing to break down barriers of traditional thrillers. Her style of fast-paced suspense, backed up by extensive background research in technology and psychology, has made Leslie one of the most read authors in the genre.

Reminiscent of the television drama Criminal Minds, her series of books featuring the fierce and relentless FBI Agent Tess Winnett would be of great interest to readers of James Patterson, Melinda Leigh, and David Baldacci crime thrillers. Fans of Kendra Elliot and Robert Dugoni suspenseful mysteries would love the Las Vegas Crime series, featuring the tension-filled relationship between Baxter and Holt. Finally, her Alex Hoffmann series of political and espionage action adventure will enthrall readers of Tom Clancy, Brad Thor, and Lee Child.

Leslie enjoys engaging with readers every day and would love to hear from you. Become an insider: gain early access to previews of Leslie’s new novels.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

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