I absolutely loved this book. It was really well written and it was also surprising. Thank you for the arc. I really appreciate it.

3.8 out of 5

The Clinic is a suspenseful thriller exploring the dark side of addiction, rehab, and family secrets.
The story follows Meg, a casino worker (and painkiller addict,) who, following the mysterious death of her sister, Hayley, decides to infiltrate a remote rehab facility. Meg quickly discovers that the clinic is not what it seems, and that her life may be in danger.

Recommended for readers who enjoy short chapters, multiple POV’s, and well-rounded characters. Admittedly, there were slow sections and some plot points which were a bit over the top, however, the author brought it together with a thrilling plot twist and clean ending.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark, the author, and NetGalley for this ARC.

The Clinic is a mystery thriller about Meg, a woman who grew up in Hollywood with her abusive mother and her older sister Haley, and now works as an undercover agent at a casino. Meg’s sister Haley is known to be an addict, so Meg is not surprised when Haley checks into a luxe rehab center on the West Coast. However, when Haley overdoses on heroin, a drug she has always stayed away from, Meg suspects murder. Meg has her own substance abuse problems, so she checks herself into the same rehab center to investigate Haley’s death. She has no intention of getting clean, but her friends at the casino insist that she needs the help that she can get in rehab. Meg, though, isn’t sure she can do both – and is afraid of what memories might return if she does get clean.

There was some really strong character development in this novel, and I strongly feel like the characters alone could carry it. Meg is complex – she is clearly an addict, despite her insistance that she doesn’t need help, and I was ready to follow along with her story if only to see whether she would finally get off oxy and start recovering from years of emotional avoidance. She makes some profound mistakes, especially in the beginning, but I never found her unlikeable – she is strong and determined to find out what happened to Haley, and it’s clear that she’s been through some profound trauma that she’s doing her best to suppress. It’s important, too, to note that she never does any direct harm to anyone – she might be self destructive, but she doesn’t directly lash out at her loved ones. The rehab manager, Cara, was also an incredible character, and definitely cast as the hero of the story, even if she was fairly passive through most of it. Cara has a suspicion that something is wrong in the rehab, and is willing to risk her position to uncover the truth about Haley’s death, and the other activities she is noticing. I really liked how hard Cara works to do the right thing – and I actually loved the conflict between Cara and Meg. It perfectly demonstrated both of their strengths and weaknesses, and showed that they could both be ultimately good while working against each other.

There was so much attention put into the details of the clinic – the various treatment rooms, what they looked like and how they worked. It sounded beautiful and certainly expensive, but it also set up tension for later plot points: the way the pool snaked through different rooms, making it easy to get lost in it; the room with low oxygen for working out; the room that drops below freezing. The reader knows from the beginning that this is a murder mystery, and can anticipate the problems that might come with some of the treatments, whether from malfunctions or someone altering the settings. I loved the way this built a man vs. nature conflict, even if it was all manmade.

In all, I’ll give The Clinic an 8 out of 10. This book doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it doesn’t need to – it’s a compelling mystery with a great cast that kept me invested from start to finish. I think anyone looking for a good mystery will get something out of this one.

This was one of those rare thrillers where I had no ideas or indications of who did it or why. There was never a point where I thought “Oh I know where this is going!” And honestly I kind of loved being clueless! It kept me very interested in turning pages. This was a VERY atmospheric read, perfectly eerie and ominous. I enjoyed the look at childhood trauma and addiction. I thought both subjects were done really well. I liked getting both Meg and Cara’s POVs, one as a patient and one as an employee of the rehab facility. As much as I didn’t see it coming though, the big twist didn’t feel that big to me and what started out as excitement for what was going to happen turned into “…really?” The ending felt a little ridiculous to me and overly complicated. To me, it hinged on everyone being a complete idiot for it to be pulled off correctly. I’m still glad I read it because it had a lot of good commentary about addiction and the ways addicts are handled by the medical community.
CW: drug abuse, alcoholism, murder, suicide attempt,

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

4,5 Stars

This was a real page turner. With the captivating setting in the PNW and a mystery that twisted at every turn, I simply couldn't put it down and finished it in a day. The storyline was riveting and it was an excellent read!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks publishing for the digital ARC copy of The Clinic!

I was hooked with this book for the first 75% - in fact, I stayed up until midnight trying to finish. The characters were compelling, the story was interesting and I loved the setting of a mysterious rehab with questionable practices. But then the ending started and we went off the rails. Too much was thrown in and so many of the twists made absolutely no sense. I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief and ultimately felt like Quinn wasn’t sure what to do so she did everything. I only rated it three because of the ending, but I have seen many glowing reviews and I’ll definitely read more from Quinn.

Freaky, creepy and with hints of Chris Boyajian's "Princess of Las Vegas" meets Nellie Bly, The Clinic was a creative and eerie story about what happens when you try and face your demons. Made me fear for my mental sanity!

Came for the thriller, stayed for…

…the unique and sympathetic perspective on addiction, addiction treatment, addiction-related insurance coverage and drug development.

And that cover! 🤩

The thriller aspects of this book were great - atmospheric setting, unreliable characters, multiple POV and a compelling plot. But what I really loved was the way it got me thinking about how addiction is treated and “cured” in our country.

I love a book that makes me think and feel in unexpected ways!

The ending was a bit unbelievable, but certainly not to the point where it put me off the rest of the story.

Thank you @netgalley and @bookmarked for this great #arc out January 23!

Synopsis:
Meg works for a casino in LA, catching cheaters and popping a few too many pain pills to cope, following a far different path than her sister Haley, a famous actress. But suddenly reports surface of Haley dying at the remote rehab facility where she had been forced to go to get her addictions under control.

There are whispers of suicide, but Meg can’t believe it. She decides that the best way to find out what happened to her sister is to check in herself – to investigate what really happened from the inside.

Battling her own addictions and figuring out the truth will be much more difficult than she imagined, far away from friends, family – and anyone who could help her.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy of this book. This book will be published January 23, 2024.

For me, the best part of this book was the author's note. I appreciate her candor in sharing her own struggle with addiction and possibly the reason for the location of this book. In my opinion, this book could've been much shorter. It seemed too long and too drawn out for the ending. By the time the ending was revealed, I had lost interest. I think it had a lot of potential given the setting and the backgrounds in trauma and addiction, but I wanted to be more invested in Meg's purpose and the other patients struggles. The character's felt under developed and the therapies felt unrealistic.

This is a great psychological thriller set at a super posh yet creepy rehab center. Meg is an oxy-addicted undercover poker player in Las Vegas, when she hears that her superstar sister has died in the rehab center she had checked into. She smells a rat, so she gets herself admitted and meets a slew of unreliable patients, all who are famous in their own rights. It's up to her to figure out what really happened the night of Hayley's death, all while undergoing "treatment," which is never what it seems, and dealing with her own drug addiction and issues. A solid book with well written and compelling characters.

What thrilling, bingeable read! The Clinic had everything I was looking for in a book - a short but engaging chapters, unlikeable but compelling characters, and an atmospheric setting of a remote, austere rehab in the Pacific Northwest. I found myself devouring The Clinic in record speed.

Ultimately, I gave this book 3 stars, having to knock down a star because of the ending. The plot was strong until the last 75 or so pages when it all fell apart. I am able to suspend some sense of reality, particularly when reading thrillers, however, The Clinic took too wild of turns and became unrealistic with certain aspects. Additionally, the character of Meg was almost too unlikeable even if she was a product of her environment. I couldn't move past how much she annoyed me at times.

Since this was my first Cate Quinn novel I look forward to more from her!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book so much!!!!!!! This is definitely a thriller you don't want to miss. The twists and turns OMG!!!!!!!!!

This book was quite the ride. I love an unreliable narrator and Meg is definitely unreliable. As she is coming off pills and alcohol, you can’t help but think that she’s hallucinating. This continues through her entire ✨interesting✨ rehab stay. I’m pretty sure I thought every single patient was the murderer at different points 😂 But, I love a good comeback story and you can’t help but root for Meg throughout the whole book. This book definitely kept me reading until the very end, even if the ending wasn’t my ✨fave✨

“The Clinic” by Cate Quinn
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: 1/23/24
Pages: 320

Thank you Netgalley for this arc! This is my first book by this author, but I will definitely be going back for more. This book was so quick and kept me interested the entire time. Sometimes I struggle with staying excited about thrillers, but this one I kept hoping I would have time to read more.

Famous singer Haley is murdered while she is in a swanky celebrity rehab. When Meg finds out about her sister’s death she decides to go undercover in the rehab to find out who killed her sister. It’s not a total coverup since she does have a drug and alcohol addiction. What does Meg uncover when she enters rehab?

This is dual point of view. The other main character is Cara the house manager of The Clinic. This is her perspective on what she uncovers after Haley is murdered and Megan enters rehab. When things dont add up she starts her own investigation. Will her questions get her in trouble?

I know what they say… Don’t judge a book by its cover. I would be lying, though, if I said that the cover wasn’t what initially piqued my interest in this book. The cover with the combination of the title let me know that it was going to be a treat because, after all, I am a sucker for any kind of addiction story. Throw a little murder mystery in to it and I’m all in.

This story takes place in The Clinic, which is a luxury addiction rehabilitation facility located within the remote woods of the Pacific Northwest. The storyline shifts between two different POV’s: Meg, the sister of the deceased and Cara, the new manager of the clinic. I have a real liking for novels that choose to shift between different point of views and this one was no exception.

I was hooked from the start. I thought the pacing was done well and that important information/ secrets/ clues were revealed at an appropriate time to keep me engaged. Our main character Meg is a little sassy, a little smart-assy, and, sure, a little unreliable at times but I really enjoyed following her through the book.

My complaint is that there were a couple handfuls of chapters that cut off quite abruptly just for the sake of making it a cliffhanger rather than continuing with the flow of the story. In addition, there are some, arguably, poorly written sentences and minor editing issues which will hopefully be fixed before publishing the hard copies.

The last quarter of the book got weird fast and you really have to pay attention but man, it was a fun ride and I greatly appreciated the way the author handled the topic of addiction throughout. I would strongly recommend this book.

I had a hard time getting through this one. I keep finding myself going back-and-forth between 2 and 3 stars, so I’m settling at 2.5.

Meg’s famous sister dies in an exclusive rehab facility in the PNW, but finds the circumstances of the death suspicious. To get answers she decides to go undercover and ultimately finds more than she bargains for. At the same time a rehab employee, Cara, is starting to suspect not everything at the clinic is on the up-and-up.

There was a lot of promise here but it just fell flat for me. A lot of plot holes needed to be overlooked, and there were several events that felt far fetched and unbelievable. Not only did this book depict addiction, but also threw in psychopathy and sociopathy towards the end. Coming from a mental health background I wasn’t too keen on the stigmatization presented here. The actual twist was ok, but not necessarily surprising.

I have mixed feelings about this book. First of all, I want to applaud the author for her sobriety journey, and for using her experiences in rehab to write such a personal book. Her acknowledgements discussing her time in rehab and the people she met there was very heartfelt. This seems like a deeply personal story for her, and I don’t want this review to come off as disrespectful or dismissive of that. For most of this book, I was really enjoying this story, and found the plot really unique. However, the plot twist and the reveal of what was actually going on was completely out there, and required a suspension of disbelief that I just couldn’t manage. It felt like the last 25% of the book turned into a bad action movie and I wasn’t here for it. I can’t speak to much of the mental health rep in this book, but the mention of OCD we had left a bad taste in my mouth. The character who has OCD is suspected to be dangerous because she put bleach in her families food, as she had a fear of germs. The main character clues into the fact that the other character has OCD because she takes a lot of showers, always has clean clothes, etc. This portrayal of OCD is stereotypical, and harmful. There is much more to OCD that being afraid of germs and being obsessed with cleanliness, and to have this character portrayed as dangerous is a little insulting. As someone with OCD, this portrayal came off as harmful and stereotypical. It’s hard enough to educate people on the reality of OCD without books promoting stereotypes. These two big issues have really left me with conflicted feelings about this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Clinic by Cate Quinn is a psychological thriller that tackles tough issues along with a mystery. Meg works for a Los Angeles casino catching cheaters. However, after an injured shoulder during a frightening event last year, she is now hooked on pain pills and drinking too much alcohol. Her sister Haley enters a remote rehab clinic on the coast of Oregon and reports say she has died there. Meg decides to go undercover and checks herself into the facility so she can investigate what really happened. With her own addictions, learning the truth isn’t straightforward.

Meg believes emotions cloud your judgment. She doesn’t have a frame of reference for normal so she looks to others for clues on how to act normal. Childhood trauma and nightmares have affected her as well. She often uses humor to divert attention and is impulsive and guarded. She isn’t tactful and gets angry easily, but she’s a fantastic poker player. Cara is the administrative manager at the clinic. She’s organized, uptight, rule-oriented, and doesn’t trust others. Max is the psychologist for the clients. He has a calming and reassuring effect on others. He seems stern and somewhat aloof, but committed to his patients. Dr. Lutz owns the clinic, is unorthodox, is the clinical manager, and he has a derogatory attitude toward the local police.

This story switches points of view between Meg and Cara. There are only a few clients so the character list is manageable and readers get a feel for each. The author does a great job of bringing the main and secondary characters to life. Relationships, childhood trauma, betrayal, lies, power, money, addiction, mental health, paranoia, and the manipulation of others play varying roles in the story. The world-building was fantastic giving readers the ability to easily visualize the people and places in the novel, with the clinic almost being another character itself.

The story grabbed my attention immediately and didn’t let up as I rapidly turned the pages. The plot is twisty and riveting and there is a feeling of deep anxiety. I felt concerned for Meg as she tries to make sense of what has happened and what is happening to her. There are some exciting and frightening scenes that have a terrifying realism to them. Both the inner and outer conflicts faced by Meg move the story forward and through some unexpected turns.

Overall, this engrossing and unsettling thriller has great characterization and world-building and pulls on the heart strings. I’m looking forward to reading my next book by this author.

SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and Cate Quinn provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for January 23, 2024. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC of this book!

As a resident of the Pacific Northwest, I'm automatically intrigued by anything that's set here. The Clinic is a thriller that takes place at a remote rehab clinic on the Oregon coast. The main character, Meg, checks herself in after she sister is found dead inside the clinic. Meg firmly believes her sister would never kill herself, so she goes on an undercover mission to find out what happened while also dealing with her own pill and alcohol addictions. The book alternates between Meg's POV and the POV of the clinic's manager who is also trying to figure out wtf is going on at this clinic. Basically if you like "wtf is happening" thriller/mysteries, you should check this one out. And definitely check it out if you enjoy unreliable narrators.

Thanks to NetGalley and Cate Quinn for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Let me just say that I was hooked from the beginning of this book. It was such an interesting concept to place a mystery in a rehab center full of famous people working on their demons.

Haley and Meg are sisters who don't always get along but when Meg gets a message from her sister while in rehab, then finds out her sister is reported dead, she moves into action to figure out what happened. Meg is a bit of a sluice, working in the gambling arena trying to catch cheats. She has also picked up a drug habit herself to go along with her alcohol dependence. So, rehab could be good for her if she follows through with it.

Quinn does a great job of taking us into the minds of addicts along with mental illness and codependence. I always love a good character driven novel and I want to have someone to root for. All these characters had great flaws but were not all flawed to their cores (a couple were!) which helped me want to the best for them. It is a great thriller and a book hard to put down.