Cate Quinn's The Clinic is the perfect bingeable atmospheric thriller! This book sucked me in and I read it in less than 24 hours...even while drying my hair haha! From the creepy, remote location of the luxury rehab clinic, to unreliable narrators who are the best mix of unlikable and also so relatable, to the twists and turns of the plot... this was a book I could not put down. There were so many interesting themes in this book including a murder mystery, trauma recovery, and family dynamics as we learn about the relationship/history between Meg and her sister Haley. The ending does take a bit of pause to accept... part of it is so unbelievable but the book is written so smartly and includes so much actual psychology/addiction recovery philosophy so in some ways, I could actually see an ending like this happening. I was so intrigued by these characters and I'd absolutely love a part two to catch up with them in the future.

As an aside, I enjoyed the author's note at the end and the accompanying website where Cate Quinn shares more of her personal story of recovery. Great tie in to this book... I think the personal connection really made the setting come alive.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed THE CLINIC, including its premise and atmospheric setting at a rehab clinic in the Pacific Northwest. I plan to mention this book in an upcoming edition of our suspense newsletter as well as other roundups I do in 2024 of similar titles.

This book was amazing! Very interesting from the beginning when you can tell something is off. Having the book be written from the addicts point of view vs. the “doctor” made this story much more interesting.

Meg is a tough and talented poker player who uses her skills to catch criminals for a casino in LA. When she discovers her sister has mysteriously died in a luxury rehab clinic, she decides to admit herself into the clinic in order to investigate her sister's death. What Meg doesn't realize, however, is that she must be willing to face her own demons in order to find out what is truly going on in this rehab facility. This is a very intriguing and suspenseful book that deals with important topics like addiction and childhood trauma. The premise of this book is unique and I have never read anything quite like it. I will absolutely be purchasing this book for my library's collection!

3 Stars
Cover: 5 Stars

Thanks to NetGalley and the Author for an eARC.

This was a compelling thriller that was a quick read, if a bit on the long side. I personally don't love stories about addiction, mental illness, and rehabilitation, and these are the major themes in this book. I would definately read other books by this author.

Meg works as an undercover agent at the poker tables, catching bad guys and cheaters for a living. Her famous sister Haley enters a star-studded rehab facility, only to die under mysterious circumstances before she finishes the program. Meg absolutely refuses to believe the suicide ruling, so she decides to take her undercover skills to the rehab herself to figure out what really happened. What she'll find is far more than she ever expected, and it'll test her limits in more ways than one.

I loved this super-bingeable read! Short, compulsive chapters kept me reading far longer than I originally intended to, and I thought both the setting and the characters were excellently rendered. Meg is flawed for sure, but that's what makes her character appealing in my eyes. I thought the pacing was perfect, and the handful of surprises throughout the book kept me on my toes.

If you're looking for your next popcorn thriller, look no further! Thank you to Cate Quinn, Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy.

This was a good thriller, but with honestly bizarre focus on psycho and socio-path distinction. I liked the first half of the book, and then the second half revealed very weird motivations for the characters in the rehab place. It was still a page-turner, though!

Thank you @bookmarked @netgalley for a copy of this thriller. This story is full of unreliable characters and the clinic location makes a perfect atmospheric thriller. We have Meg that goes undercover to the clinic as a patient to learn more about her sister's death. Of course, the clinic is full of celebrity patients and they are fighting some kind of addition. I appreciate how the author depicts what a patient goes through physically and physically with withdrawals. I really didn't know who the killer was and kept me guessing. I would say that you would have to suspend your belief a bit for the ending.

When Megan finds out her famous sister died in a rehab due to suicide she knew better although fighting her own demons she has what’s called an organized attic who can function in life and deal with her addiction at the same time so when she checks in to this influential treatment center she isn’t there to get help despite her own oxycodone addiction she’s there 10 Vesta gate the death of her sister Hailey. The doctor running the clinic it’s supposed to be some type of guru but is he really? This book was so good and I thought the author must know someone or have her self been a drug attic because I am someone who has been clean and sober over 15 years from oxy Cotton she really hit the nail on the head with her description of the withdrawals the cravings ET see but forget all that the drama alone in the thrilling suspense is enough to recommend this book every now and then you run across a book that is so good and you don’t want to put down and The Clinic by Kate Quinn is definitely that book. I want to thank sourcebooks landmark and net Kelly for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This is not my usual genre go-to, but I was looking to change things up a bit, and I am so happy that I chose this one! Talk about a heart-pounding thriller! I was completely gripped and had such a hard time putting it down. Not only did it keep me awake at night, I even found myself waking up throughout the night and reading more!

Perfect for fans of Tarryn Fisher, this thriller is about the death of a famous actress within a remote rehab who is found dead, prompting her undercover poker scam artist sister (who also has addiction issues) to check herself into the same rehab to try to find out really what happened.

I loved the fast pace, the multi-plots and twists, and the riveting scenes. Definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat anxious to see what will happen next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was initially drawn to The Clinic because of the beautiful and eerie cover as well as the rehabilitation murder-mystery concept. As I expected, the story was quite captivating and the setting was unique. Also, although the book was pretty long, the short chapters made my time reading the book generally fly by.

However, there were a couple of things that really distracted me from enjoying the story. First, I felt very disconnected from the characters at times due to the dialogue and their conversations, actions, etc. Every time I felt like I started to understand a character’s personality or mannerisms, they would often say or do something to go against that, which in turn made their words/actions feel fake or unnatural.

Secondly, I know this is an ARC, but the book comes out in a month and I found quite a few grammatical errors that I’m hoping have been fixed before the January release date. Most of the errors seemed to be words that were omitted from sentences, making the sentence difficult to understand (until I realized what was missing).

But with all of that said, I think The Clinic is a promising psychological thriller with some twists and a pretty shocking ending. I definitely appreciated the details that went into this book and how the author’s real life rehab experience contributed to the story. I would recommend the thriller to someone who enjoys a murder-mystery with a fancy rehab center, unreliable characters, interesting addiction treatment methods, trauma, and poker, but I’m not sure that the book was for me personally.

"The Clinic" by Cate Quinn is an engrossing psychological thriller that skillfully weaves a web of secrets and suspense. The novel follows multiple perspectives, including a determined journalist and three women connected by a fertility clinic. Quinn's intricate storytelling creates an atmosphere of tension and mystery, with each character harboring hidden motives. The plot unfolds with unexpected twists, keeping the reader hooked until the final revelation. The exploration of ethical dilemmas surrounding fertility treatments adds depth to the narrative. "The Clinic" is a gripping and thought-provoking tale that delves into the complexities of identity, motherhood, and the consequences of choices made in the pursuit of family.

This book was insane. I had no idea where it was going and the whole concept was crazy. I liked the characters and this definitely kept my interest and made me want to keep reading. I also enjoyed the different plot.

This thrilling read had so many twists and turns to keep you on your toes throughout.

Meg works for a casino, rooting out loan sharks and doing security while playing poker at the tables while also self medicating with oxy and alcohol. She finds out that her celebrity sister is found dead of apparent suicide while staying in an ultra posh, state-of-the-art rehab facility known as The Clinic. Convinced her sister wouldn’t kill herself, Meg decides to check into The Clinic undercover to figure out what happened to her. While there she gets close with the other patients to figure out what happened to her sister. Told through a dual perspective - from Meg and another employee at the facility, Cara - you slowly unravel what happened that fateful night and what is really going on behind closed doors at The Clinic.

The initial hook made it engaging from the get-go. This psychological thriller had many twists and turns throughout to keep my attention. I also love how the author treated the patients and their recovery thoughtfully and with dignity; which likely stems from her own experience in rehab. Meg’s storyline was also incredibly interesting and I felt very invested in her as she figured out what happened.

My biggest issues with the book were pacing and some of the dialogue. The first half of the book was a bit slow, taking a while to really pick up speed. Yet, the end felt really rushed and left me with many questions about how believable this all was. Additionally, some of the dialogue between characters felt a bit stilted and forced; it didn’t always feel like a super natural flow of conversation, which detracted from the plot and characters. I also didn’t find myself as invested in the Cara storyline as I did with Meg’s, making it feel like a missed opportunity.

Overall, this was an interesting read that takes mental health, addiction, and relapse seriously and with kindness.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC!

Hang onto your hat for this one! I thoroughly enjoyed all the twists, turns and excitement that this book provides. Meg, a skilled poker player with a cop for a boyfriend, works in a casino catching the bad guys while she battles her own demons with an alcohol and oxy abuse problem. Meg's famous sister, Haley, is in a high-end rehab clinic and dies. The death was ruled a suicide but Meg does not believe it so she goes into rehab under cover to try and solve the mystery. This book kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC of this very exciting unputdownable book that I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.

3.5 stars. The premise is an interesting one: Meg’s famous sister, Haley, dies at a rehab clinic. Because Meg has a feeling that she was murdered, she — herself addicted to pills and alcohol — gets herself anonymously admitted to the clinic to try to figure out what really happened to Haley.

Most of the characters were well developed and very interesting, particularly Cara, the manager of the clinic. While this was a very suspenseful read and a definite page turner, with good twists and turns, parts of it seemed too drawn out . . . and the ending was sort of off the charts. I did very much enjoy it, though, and I look forward to reading others by Cate Quinn.

The Clinic
By Cate Quinn
Publication date: January 23, 2024
4/5⭐️

✨dual POV
✨unreliable narrator
✨morally grey characters
✨rehab setting, substance addiction
✨twists and turns
✨short chapters
✨”who did it??”

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.”

MY TAKE:
I loved this one! A thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat! I loved all the twists and turns. The chapters were short which is just perfection to me.

The characters are all morally grey and you can’t help but feel bad for some of them. This story mentions a lot of drug and alcohol abuse, so if that is triggering for you, please be cautious of that before picking this one up.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a thriller set in a rehab hospital but I really enjoyed this one. It was creepy and I didn’t want to stop reading! This is my first book by Cate Quinn but I want to go read her other books now!

If you are a thriller lover, add this one to your TBR for 2024!

I liked the idea of a thriller set in a celebrity rehab clinic. The plot sounded like a whodunit mixed with a (obviously fake) reality show kind of feel to it. Maybe I went into it with the wrong expectations. This book was a miss for me.

There were some surprises and thrilling moments. But the story felt very broken up and thrown together. The flow wasn't there. There were tons of questions popping up throughout the story, and right when you felt like you were about to get an answer, the story did an about-face. The ending really sealed this book as not for me. I found it anticlimactic and like it came out of left field.

The details about addiction and recovery were enlightening. It's easy to lose sight of the person behind the addiction. I found myself starting to research the link between childhood trauma and addiction thanks to the tidbits about that in this story. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this ARC!

I couldn't put this down! Megan's famous sister, Haley, commits suicide in rehab. But did she? Megan decides to check in to The Clinic to find out. Fast moving plot, interesting characters, and so many twists that I didn't see coming! The Clinic is phenomenal!

4 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


Twists? Turns? Unexpected events? This novel has it all.

The Clinic is a rehab center off the beaten path in the Pacific Northwest. Nearly impossible to get to - especially in inclement weather - means there is nowhere for the patients to go. Formerly a prison facility, a Swiss doctor has renovated it to be one of the elite rehab facilities in the world, and has the clientele to go with it.

Cara is the manager. She came from the hotel industry and was handpicked for her work withs a rundown hotel that catered to junkies. She is very precise and methodical. Exactly what this place needs. Also, no aversion to living onsite, as there is no off-site place to live nearby.

Meg works in casino security. When she gets news that her sister has died at The Clinic, she convinces her boss to send her for rehab. Only one person, her partner Harry, knows her real reason for going - to solve her sister’s reason for dying. Because while ruled a suicide, Meg believes Hayley was murdered.

Everyone is a suspect. When the police mention some offhand things to Cara, she starts to doubt how the patients are handled at The Clinic, and begins to do her own research into its owner Dr. Lutz. Meanwhile, Meg is navigating reatment and her investigation.

I flew through this novel. With really great characters, a little bit of luxury rehab, and plenty of questions, this book is a page turner. Meg and Cara are the two main narrators, and we get to see both sides of the rehab life through them. This is a rehab facility that sounds more like a super high end med spa. But as the novel goes on, it just gets crazier and crazier. Really great read.