At first glance this book came across as a psychological suspense thriller; a successful author who’s just discovered that she has a terminal disease being stalked by someone who’s playing sick mind games with her. All well and good; I read closely, trying to find clues as to who might be behind this.

However, when the perpetrator seems about to be unmasked roughly about halfway through the narrative, it seems clear that something else must be going to happen; and does it ever! I made a good guess at who that might be, but had no clue as to the history which this person shared with Ellie, the victim, and was fascinated as the story veered off into the realms of a different genre altogether; at which point any assumptions I’d made were turned on their head, along with the storyline.

Author Katherine Black certainly gives value for money with a narrative which takes place in the future, giving the opportunity for some interesting speculations on where medical science might go and how familial connections might be manipulated, and even takes us into the internal thought processes of a pet dog.

I’d have to sum this text up in the words ‘The book that just keeps giving’, and I defy anyone to untangle the threads of the different subject matters which are wound together within it. I’d like to have given more details here, but to do so could give spoilers and ruin what turned out to be a fascinating read of a frighteningly possible occurrence. Highly recommended.

This book is like Beethoven’s 5th. In fact, if it was a musical piece Katherine Black would become rich with the number of people downloading ringtones alone.

Ellie, Matt, Jake and Eve – ♪♫Da-Da-Da-Dum♪♫ – hardly any succession of notes is as famous around the world as the one at the beginning of Symphony No. 5 in C minor, and in ‘A Question of Sanity’ we see the same four notes.

Beethoven’s secretary and biographer, Anton Schindler, described this as ‘The sound of fate knocking at the door,’ which is indeed the story in Katherine Black’s Sanity, but in ways that the reader can’t possibly imagine until each page of the book is turned.

Fate, indeed, plays a huge part in this book.

But why do I say it’s like Beethoven’s 5th? Because the storm that blows through the 5th is replicated throughout this story, as Black takes the simplest building blocks and constructs radically new, awe-inspiring works of insanity with them, and, just like the 5th, the story builds to a huge crescendo.
This wonderful story builds to a climax that climbs up and up, leading the reader imperiously forward into the spirit of madness!

The 5th must surely be the all-time greatest crescendo in classical music, heralded by punchy rhythms and probing themes, combining to hint that something is about to explode, and in ‘A Question of Insanity’ it certainly does

Beethoven himself said, ‘I want to grasp fate by the throat – it shouldn’t bring me down completely.’ Well, I’m not going to place any spoilers here, but I will advise the reader takes a chance on this story. Read how fate grasps Ellie, the protagonist, by the throat, and see if the insanity in this tale brings her down completely.

Highly recommended

I absolutely loved this book! Somebody needs to make this into a movie. The twists never stop, nor does the suspence. Every time I thought I had it figured out, another twist popped up and threw me for a loop. I don’t want to say too much about the story itself, because I don’t want to give anything away, but this book had my adrenaline pumping throughout the entire story. Each time you’d think the circumstances couldn’t get any worse for Ellie, they did.

I wish I could give more than 5 stars for this one. I highly recommend this book, and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.