Member Reviews
Really unpredictable mystery, great reveal, and the setting is incredible. If it weren't for the murdering, The Clinic seems like it would be the kind of rehab where people would *want* to get sent away. Plus high-stakes poker! Super fun stuff.
But this still didn't grip me. Perhaps I just don't enjoy reading about addiction. Not that I can't empathize -- it's just so repetitive and one-track that I felt like the plot was intruding on Meg's quest to get her hands on ever more oxy and booze.
I really enjoyed The Clinic. Very short chapters, alternating narrators, fast-paced thriller. I will say the cover depicts a slightly different setting than the book. I didn't get an eerie-house-on-the-cliff vibe, but rather a White Lotus/Nine Perfect Strangers vibe.
Megs sister dies mysteriously at her private celebrity rehab but the details surrounding Haley’s death just don’t add up. Meg decides to go under cover and try to clean up her life at the same time so she checks herself in and starts uncovering details to prove that her sister was murdered. Strange texts, phone calls and notes being sent to her from her dead sister is just the tip of the weird iceberg in this fast paced thriller. Meg uncovers sordid secrets and everyone is suspect.
*** Thank you to @bookmarked @netgalley and @sbkslandmark for the advanced readers copy and the opportunity to read and review this book.
A thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Two sisters, one ends up dead at a rehab clinic. The other one checks in to the clinic to find out the truth. It kept me up hours.
I chose this book mostly because of the cover. The large old fog-shrouded Victorian house atop a rocky cliff along the ocean in the Pacific Northwest just screamed mystery and doom to me. The description sealed it for me. I love mysteries with a medical element. The book pulled me in at once and didn't let go until the wee hours of the morning when I arrived at the shocking ending. It would make a great movie.
This is a book about trauma and addiction. The Clinic is a exclusive rehab center catering to the rich and famous. It is housed in what was once a prison but redone in the most upscale way by the owner Dr Lutz. It sits far removed from local towns along a lonely road surrounded by the ocean on one side and towering forests on the other and often wrapped in a shroud of fog and mist.
Haley, the pretty blonde rock star is at The Clinic for her drug addiction. She is found dead and it is assumed to be suicide by drug overdose. Her sister Meg is a professional card player who takes on different personas to catch bad guys in a casino in LA. She is addicted to oxycodone after a shoulder injury and drinks too much to get through the day. She and Haley have an on-again, off-again relationship, but she doesn't believe Haley would commit suicide. She checks herself into The Clinic to investigate Haley's death. Cara is The Clinic manager hired away from an big hotel chain. She is very organized and rule-oriented.
The story is told in short alternating chapters by Meg and Cara. Through them we meet Dr Lutz, who looks like he could be an aging Seattle hipster in jeans and t-shirts with flip-flops, and Max, the Clinic's psychiatrist. Through Meg we get to know the other addicts at The Clinic, all of whom are rock stars, actors and actresses.
Like Meg, I suspected each of the characters at one point or another. Every time I thought I had it figured out, suspicion would be cast on someone else. The end was so twisty it was almost hard to keep up with. The ending was a total surprise.
The book deals with addiction and underlying trauma in a very realistic manner. We find out in the author's acknowledgement that she spent time in rehab for alcohol addiction so she is very well versed in the goings on at a rehab clinic She obviously did a lot of research on some of the less mainstream methods used at The Clinic and on the particular drug being studied there. The book is detailed in these things but it is never boring. I commend the author for sharing her story in the acknowledgement and congratulate her for her success in remaining sober while still writing an excellent book.
Thanks to netGalley, The author, and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read and review an early copy.
Oh boy, this is a winner! When Meg’s famous sister Hayley is found dead in rehab of a suspected suicide, Meg knows that is not what happened and believes her sister was murdered. With her investigative background, she decides to check herself into the remote rehab facility and find out for herself the circumstances of Hayley’s death. “The Clinic” is filled with a cast of unreliable characters, including creepy rehab employees and a Columbo-style investigating duo. And the plot twists! This will be one of the talked about psychological thrillers of the year!
Thank you for my advance copy!
THE CLINIC by Cate Quinn is an atmospheric suspense that surprised me!
Meg works for a casino to catch cheats and has a tenuous relationship with her family. When Meg hears about her twin Hayley going to rehab, again, Meg isn't moved. Hayley chases fame and drugs, while Meg chases a different thrill...and drugs. When Hayley is reported to have died by overdose at the exclusive rehab facility The Clinic, Meg doesn't buy it and ends up admitting herself to The Clinic to find the truth. What she discovers puts herself at risk while fighting her own demons.
Told in dual perspectives from Meg and then Cara, the manager at The Clinic, it was a nice way to see multiple sides of the story and worked pretty well for me. This gave continual questions about what was really going on and who to trust. I was never sure until the end!
This topic was personal to the author and it seemed to show with what seemed to be real care in discussing the nuances of addiction and struggles with sobriety. I don't have personal experience in this, but it felt like I learned a little bit of what some people might experience.
Thank you to @netgalley & @bookmarked for access to this book and letting me share my thoughts! It is out tomorrow, so for a wild ride with a deeper message go grab this book!
The premise of THE CLINIC seemed just right but unfortunately it just didn’t land for me as a reader. The book is absolutely a thrill, and I read it in its entirety in a single afternoon. But I was more turning pages to make sense of things, not because I was deeply invested in the characters. I respect the author’s personal experience with substance use disorder and treatment but still felt some of the plot related to that, as well as psychiatric diagnoses and treatment, assumed the reader would just accept some murky points as fact. I am sure this book will be just what many readers are looking for, and won’t be surprised if it does very well. It just wasn’t for me, and that’s okay. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the advance review copy. All opinions are entirely my own.
I usually love a hospital/clinic setting so i expected to love this!
it started out really strong, Meg’s country star sister ends up dead in a rehab facility and she infiltrates the clinic to figure out what really happened to her sister - really interesting premise and i was really hooked for about the first 25%. but once Meg actually gets to the clinic it all came to a halt for me, the pace slows down and the reveals go very OTT. this book is wayyyy too long, even with short chapters i believe this comes out to around 400 pages and it really dragged in the middle.
I usually love a hospital/clinic setting so i expected to love this!
it started out really strong, Meg’s country star sister ends up dead in a rehab facility and she infiltrates the clinic to figure out what really happened to her sister - really interesting premise and i was really hooked for about the first 25%. but once Meg actually gets to the clinic it all came to a halt for me, the pace slows down and the reveals go very OTT. this book is wayyyy too long, even with short chapters i believe this comes out to around 400 pages and it really dragged in the middle.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
"The Clinic" by Cate Quinn was
an addictive, interesting & well written thriller that pulled me in right away & didn't let me go until its final page.
The unpredicatable & unique twists kept coming.
I enjoyed the author's writing style, how she told the story by connecting her 2 main characters through
alternating chapters.
I would love to read another book by Ms. Quinn.
4.5 rounded up
Meg and Haley are sisters. When it's reported that super star Haley has committed suicide in an upscale rehab clinic, Meg doesn't believe it. Despite their strained relationship, she commits herself to The Clinic to investigate what really happened.
The page count looks long but the plot keeps moving. With short chapters and a dual POV, I couldn't help but keep turning the page-or tapping my kindle. The suspicion is cast on everyone and the way the twists came together were totally unpredictable. Everyone has a motive along with a sinister background, which leaves you guessing until the end. I was truly surprised by the way it came together.
I found the dive into rehab treatment techniques, trauma, and addiction interesting. While this book very much stayed within the thriller genre, I really appreciated the high level character study of the patients, and their addictions, within the facility.
Meg works for a casino, where she catches cheaters. A bad encounter with some shady people has left her with a bad shoulder and an even worse drug and alcohol problem. When her actress sister Haley dies in an exclusive rehab facility, Meg can't help but feel like something isn't right. Meg checks herself in and sets out to find out what really happened to her sister.
This had a slow start and there were quite a few characters to sort out before it could really get going. Meg and Haley's childhood is fuzzy to Meg and it adds to her fear that something bad has happened to Haley. This part is pretty vague and kind of distracted me from the story. The end was surprising and I liked where it went.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Available January 23, 2024.
When Meg, a woman who works at a casino to flesh out cheaters finds out that her superstar sister Hayley died at the rehab where she was supposed to be getting treatment, Meg is determined to find out who killed her, so Meg uses her own addiction to Oxycodone as a way to go undercover into the rehab clinic and do her own digging around and find out what’s really happening at this clinic for the rich and famous.
Sounds like it should be a winner, right? Well you will be sadly disappointed. There are gross generalizations about mental health issues and addictions, plot twists that make absolutely no sense whatsoever and storylines straight out of a Scooby Doo cartoon. I honestly found myself internally sure “are you kidding me?!” I don’t know how many times. The story lost its way about half way at best and never found it again.
The cover sucked me in and story made me want to toss my iPad in the bin.
Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.
I had a bit of trouble getting past the first 35%. After trying to get back through it I had to just put it down. It wasn't getting any better and I'm not going to push through.
Meg catches cheaters at a casino in LA. She has a big problem though. Meg is addicted to Oxycodone and alcohol. And this is a tough combination. When Meg discovers her famous actress sister, Haley, has committed suicide in a clinic rehab, Meg knows this is a lie. She checks herself into this clinic and discovers more than she bargained for.
There are two narrators, Meg and Cara. Cara is a worker at the clinic. And she is a bit naïve and a bit dense. She just didn’t fit what I would expect this clinic to hire. And when you read this, you will see what I am talking about.
But, I have to say the intensity in this book is spot on. And I didn’t know who to believe or what to believe. This was very close to a 5 star read for me. The only reason it is not is the narrator, Cara. But, I loved all the twists and turns…and the ending! Don’t miss it!
Need a good thriller with unique twists…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
3.5 ⭐️’s
When Meg finds out her sister, Haley, has died of an apparent overdose in an elite rehab facility, she doesn’t believe it. Entering the rehab herself to find out what really happened to Haley, Meg isn’t willing to admit she has an addiction problem of her own and hasn’t given up her OxyContin. The facility is state of the art and caters to the rich and famous, but things are just a bit off. Someone inside murdered Haley, but who? There’s more than meets the eye with the clinic founder and director, but Meg has to face her own ghosts before she can finally put the puzzle of Haley’s murder together. Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
I really enjoyed this one! Unique cast of characters, all who had some back story/secrets that made you want to keep reading and learn what they were. The atmosphere was perfect. That big clinic/rehab all alone, on a hill, surrounded by fog. All of that plus a mysterious suicide.…maybe? I suggest you read to find out!
The Clinic by Cate Quinn was a thrilling change of pace for me as I start off 2024 and I really enjoyed this book. Haley is about as famous as they come, and her sister Meg is undercover security for a casino. The two girls both have addiction issues and a strained relationship. But when reports surface of Harley dying in a fancy rehabilitation facility, Meg knows she must go undercover to get help for herself and answers for Haley. I received an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.
Intense thriller set in a remote rehabilitation clinic. Meg is a casino worker who is skilled at catching cheaters. Her sister Haley is a famous actress who is battling an addiction problem that is well covered by social media. When Haley overdoses at rehab and there is talk that it may be a suicide, Meg can’t believe it. Having her own problem with drugs, Meg checks herself into the same rehab to investigate. Fast paced thriller, not to be missed.