The Clinic is a reasonably engaging thriller by Cate Quinn about a luxury rehab center that is at the center of a puzzling death of a famous singer. The singer’s sister, Meg, goes into the isolated clinic to see how her sister could have died in what should have been one of the safest clinics in the world. The novel is structured as a first-person narrative that is split between two characters’ perspectives.
Meg works at a casino as an undercover card player who is there to expose cheaters and other illegal activities. She also has a drug addiction that actually does need treatment, but she wants to enter the rehab facility to find out what happened to her sister. She has a friend who is an ex-cop who can help her get in, but he is trying to get her to actually take advantage of the treatment options. Meg gets to know the other patients who are mainly celebrities and becomes convinced that her sister was killed by one of them. She starts to get written warnings that are seemingly signed by her sister. Meg’s search for her sister’s killer is of course hampered by her own addiction, but it also seems that her cover is not quite as secure as she hoped.
Cara is the manager of the facility and starts to suspect that there is something more sinister going on than just good-hearted doctors wanting to help the rich and famous fight their various addictions and compulsions. Her own search for the truth concerning the history of the owner, Dr. Lutz, leads her down her own dangerous path that could also lead to life cut abruptly short.
This particular structure of storytelling seems to be getting more trendy among today’s female thriller novelists. It’s not that hard to follow once the reader gets used to shifting perspectives like that.
The plot is kind of standard, although Med admittedly has an interesting job. I am a bit of a sucker for the isolated manors being the scene of some deadly shenanigans. It does usually work, and Quinn does make good use of it here as well.
Some of the twists are a bit outlandish, but that’s a common complaint from me when reading these types of thrillers. Quinn apparently has struggled with addiction herself which does give this tale some authenticity.
It’s a reasonably entertaining and interesting ride, but there weren’t too many characters I liked. Quinn does like to show off a bit when it comes to her familiarity with clinical jargon. I recognized some of the terms and theories regarding addiction and trauma due to previous profession.
Anyway, Quinn is fine as a writer, but there wasn’t much that really stood out. It just felt like a standard thriller in a remote facility with shifty characters. I will likely try another of her novels, but I doubt it will be anytime soon.
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