A Book A Week

Meg has spent years numbing herself to the world. Working undercover in a casino, she uncovers scams by day and plays high-stakes poker by night, with booze and oxy providing her with an escape from emotions she’s spent years trying to bury. But when she learns of her sister Haley’s death, Meg is jolted into a reality she’s been avoiding. Estranged from her country-singing sister for years, Meg is stunned to hear Haley overdosed on heroin. Haley had her demons, just like Meg, but something about her death doesn’t sit right. Especially since she died in the very rehab clinic she checked herself into.

Determined to uncover the truth, Meg does the unthinkable—she voluntarily commits herself to The Clinic, an exclusive and luxurious rehab facility nestled in the Pacific Northwest. She smuggles in her own stash of oxy to get her through, but her real mission is to investigate the secrets hidden behind the facility’s pristine exterior. Once inside, Meg discovers a place where no one can be trusted. The doctors have secrets, the patients have ulterior motives, and every interaction feels like a move in a dangerous game.

As Meg inches closer to the truth about her sister’s death, she finds herself caught in a web of lies and danger. She’ll have to play her cards right to survive. With every revelation, the stakes grow higher, and her own safety hangs in the balance.

Cate Quinn’s The Clinic opens with atmospheric intrigue. She introduces a deeply flawed protagonist in Meg, whose journey is easy to root for despite her rough edges. The setting oozes suspense and unease, immediately drawing you into its creepy allure. As much as I appreciated this initial setup, the novel ultimately didn’t come together for me.

Quinn alternates perspectives between Meg and Cara, the manager of The Clinic, but this narrative choice felt uneven. Meg’s chapters were compelling, and I was fully invested in her journey. On the other hand, Cara's perspective felt underdeveloped, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that the story would’ve been stronger if it had stayed solely with Meg. What should have been a taut, quick-moving thriller felt overly long, weighed down by shifting perspectives and an overabundance of subplots that struggled to find their focus. By the time the twists and revelations began to unfold, I was less engaged, more eager to finish than to savor the story.

The ending was clever and surprised me, but it felt like too little, too late. The potential for a fast-paced, atmospheric thriller is there, and Quinn certainly knows how to create tension and mood. Unfortunately, The Clinic gets bogged down in excess, burying the sharp, focused story it might have been.

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(2025, 9)