You gotta love Washington. It’s a great place to set thrillers. This time Cate Quinn has used the upper northwest portion of the state as the setting for an isolated ultra posh rehab center where a female celebrity has suddenly passed away from an apparent overdose. You might want to tell that to her estranged younger sister, though, because Meg’s convinced her sister wouldn’t have injected herself with heroin and she’s determined to enter the same rehab center herself to find out what really happened. 

This isn’t exactly novel (ha) territory when it comes to thriller plotlines, but I really liked what Quinn did with it. I think the fulcrum of this book was the characters. Nobody in this book is a good person and that makes this book work. There’s something about people who haven’t always made the best judgment calls in life but somehow make the best judgment calls they can at the most pivotal times that always speaks to me as a very imperfect person. I’ve made a ton of imperfect calls in my life and I hope I have it in me to make the right calls when it counts. 

Is the book kind of out there, in terms of reality? Maybe. I did have to suspend my disbelief some. I don’t doubt at all that some luxury rehab spots are just as absurd as the one in this book in terms of amenities. I had a harder time dealing with the police/law aspect of this book in terms of believability. I know we’re supposed to just chalk it up to the isolation of the locale, but I don’t truly think anywhere in that section of Washington is as isolated as described in the novel anymore and I don’t think the law could be skirted in the manner it was in this book. 

In the end, it was a really solid read and a lot of fun. I enjoyed it.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.