The Institution by Helen Fields

The Institution by Helen Sarah Fields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 422

Publisher - Avon

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

To beat them, she’ll have to join them…

On a locked ward in the world’s highest-security prison hospital for the criminally insane, a nurse has been murdered and her newborn baby kidnapped. A ransom must be paid, and the clock is ticking.

Forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine is renowned for her ability to get inside the mind of a murderer. Now she must go deep undercover among the most deranged and dangerous men on earth, and use her unique skills to find the baby – before it’s too late.

She has five days to catch the killer.

But with the walls of The Institution closing in on her, will her sanity last that long?


My Review

A few things, I didn't realise this was book two, I have book one up the stairs so you can read it as a standalone but may understand Connie a wee bit better if you have read book one first. Heading into the Institution under false pretences (to most of the staff and patients) to try and save a missing kid. Say what? What would a kid be doing in a secluded unit with some of the most dangerous killers/damaged mental health? Well her mum has been killed as she was literally ripped from her, now Connie the profiler is going in as the main carer for Patient B. By trying to profile the staff and patients she will try and locate the baby before it is too late.

Some of the most shocking/evil/deadly murderers and to be fair some of the staff aren't the nicest folk either and Connie doesn't know who she can trust. To the inmates and even some of the staff, the nurse has gone off on mat leave and Connie has to try and get through the barriers/games/delusions and complexities of each patient and analyze the staff too, tick tock.

So when I read the blurb I hadn't realised what they meant with missing child, the abduction of the kid is brutal (pregnant/forced removal) so heads up it is graphic. The bad guys have quite a bit of shady history hence them being in the Institution. A very dark book with some dark characters and Connie herself has been through it and has a history with mental health. We hear a bit of it and not sure if more is disclosed in book one which may account for some of her actions and behaviours. I was quite frustrated at times with some of her choices and even "NOOOO WHAT ARE YOU DOING" out loud. The book has a tense, doomy feeling throughout and you don't know what is around the corner or what is coming next, who you can trust. Really well written despite me being a wee bit frustrated at times with some choices but again maybe knowing Connie a bit more would likely explain it. Plus being trapped in a place cut off from everyone else (bad weather and remote) and add into that you are surrounded by some of the most scary and violent individuals plus a killer/kidnapper is or has been around. Ooft it is a mixed bag, 4/5.

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