The Clinic: A Novel

by Cate Quinn

Overview

"A superior, creeping psychological thriller taut with tension and drama." —The Seattle Times

"Easily the creepiest setting for a suspense novel since the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's The Shining." —BookPage

From the critically acclaimed author of Black Widows comes a thriller set in a remote rehab clinic on the Pacific Northwest coast, in which the death of a woman inside prompts her sister to enter the clinic as a patient in order to find the truth. Perfect for fans of Stacy Willingham and Tarryn Fisher!

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728293998
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	01/23/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	8
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Cate Quinn is a bestselling historical thriller novelist in the UK under the name C.S. Quinn—her Charlie Tuesday series for Thomas & Mercer UK sold over 350,000 copies across four books, and 35,000 ebooks in the U.S. She is also a travel and lifestyle journalist for The Times, The Guardian, and The Mirror, alongside many magazines. This is her first novel as Cate Quinn.

Editorial Reviews

12/04/2023

The thorny relationship between two estranged sisters powers this atmospheric thriller from Quinn (Blood Sisters). Meg catches cheaters for an L.A. casino and spends the money she makes on her drug and alcohol habit. Meanwhile, her older sister, Haley—with whom Meg has long been out of touch—has become a famous actress, whose own substance problems have made her a tabloid fixture. Meg has just nabbed her latest mark when she learns that Hayley has committed suicide at “The Clinic,” a luxury recovery center on the grounds of a former mansion on the Oregon coast. Refusing to believe her sister could kill herself, Meg checks herself into the Clinic in search of answers. As she learns of the patients’ heavily restricted movements and devotion to the menacing Dr. Lutz, she uncovers a sinister conspiracy that reframes her understanding of her late sister. Quinn smartly rotates between Meg’s viewpoint and that of Cara, a former L.A. hotel manager who was invited to manage the Clinic by an unknown recruiter ; though Cara is ancillary to the main plot, her insights into the Clinic’s operations provide tension and dramatic irony. Quinn’s fans will be rapt. Agent: Piers Blofeld, Sheil Land Assoc. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"A superior, creeping psychological thriller taunt with tension and drama." — The Seattle Times

"Let’s start with The Clinic itself, which is easily the creepiest setting for a suspense novel since the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King’s The Shining… The story is told in the first-person perspectives of two different narrators: the aforementioned Meg and Cara, the manager of The Clinic. As they alternate chapters, Quinn tightly ratchets up the suspense. And the big reveal? I never saw it coming." — BookPage

"The thorny relationship between two estranged sisters powers this atmospheric thriller...Quinn's fans will be rapt." — Publishers Weekly

"Hooks readers from the start and has twists and turns that will keep them guessing. Themes of addiction, trauma, and grief set this apart from other thrillers, and readers can sense Quinn's personal rehab experience, which she writes about in her acknowledgements...hard to put down." — Booklist

"Readers who enjoy suspense stories with characters who “go inside” institutions to investigate, such as Helen Fields’s The Institution, will enjoy this title." — Library Journal

"Twisty and riveting...[an] engrossing and unsettling thriller." — Mystery & Suspense magazine

"The Clinic drew me in from its tense first page and left me thinking long after I finished it. It's a twisty mystery with feeling that kept me turning the pages until well into the night." — Sara Ochs, author of The Resort

"A fast-paced, personal and twisty thriller that deals brilliantly with trauma and addiction while propelling us through the story. Loved it." — Anna Mazzola, bestselling author of The Unseeing, The Clockwork Girl and The House of Whispers

"The Clinic weaves moving portrayals of rehab into a twisty, beautifully written mystery. With enigmatic characters and a vivid atmosphere, Cate Quinn delivers a pitch-perfect page-turner. I devoured it." — R.J. Jacobs, author of This Is How We End Things

"Asks whether the most dangerous secrets are the ones we keep from ourselves… Quinn, like an alchemist, managed to turn a dark period into page-turning gold." — Derek Farrell, author of the Danny Bird Mysteries.

"An absolutely propulsive read that grabbed me by the throat and never let go until the final page." — Cass Green, author of In a Cottage in a Wood

"With relentless writing and twists around every corner, Cate Quinn weaves a gripping mystery through the world of luxury rehab that will have you saying ‘one more chapter’ until you hit the final page. So be warned, once you step foot in The Clinic, the doors lock behind you." — Tony Wirt, author of Just Stay Away  

"I loved The Clinic… it has so many twists I nearly forgot I’ve been sober for nearly four years. And underneath the rollocking story, there’s a serious look at the nature of addiction and how it can tear lives apart." — Julia Crouch, author of The Daughters and The New Mother

"Set in the world of luxury rehab, this novel is punchy, pacy, and yes, completely addictive—a tense and twisty read." — Emma Kavanagh, author of The Missing Hours

"Cate Quinn's propulsive thriller, The Clinic, reads like an edge-of-your-seat page-turner, with clever twists and turns and redirections, all while taking place at an unconventional rehab clinic in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest coast, but at its core this is a haunting story of addiction, long-lasting trauma, and the power of transformative change—I absolutely loved it." — Ashley Tate, author of Twenty-Seven Minutes

From the Publisher

01/12/2024

The latest novel from Quinn (Blood Sisters; Black Widows) features a woman who's trying to find answers about her sister's death. Meg and Haley are very different, except that they share addiction issues due to a traumatic childhood. Meg works undercover security in Los Angeles. She poses as a high roller, playing the casino card tables in order to catch loan sharks and cheaters. She is a bit too dependent on pills and alcohol to get her through. Movie star Haley is always in the tabloids, especially for her own addiction problems which have landed her in an elite rehab facility known as the Clinic, located in the Pacific Northwest. Meg tends to ignore the media hype around her sister. Then, she hears that her sister has taken her own life. Refusing to believe it and wanting to find out exactly what happened, Meg assumes a new identity and enters the Clinic as a woman named Beth. While there, she finds that her own life might be in danger. VERDICT Readers who enjoy suspense stories with characters who "go inside" institutions to investigate, such as Helen Fields's The Institution, will enjoy this title.—Nanci Milone Hill

Library Journal