An exclusive wellness clinic specializing in treating women devastated by the end of romantic relationships provides an intriguing backdrop for The Break-Up Retreat, Camilla Sten's deliciously creepy thriller.
Despite features in high-end publications and the near-celebrity status of its founder, the Himlafall Clinic keeps a low profile. No photographs exist online of the clinic, located deep in Sweden's woods. Founder Dr. Martina Hastings has never been interviewed at the sprawling clinic, only in restaurants or hotel rooms. Rumors persist of abusive therapies and that some patients never return from the clinic.
Journalist Isobel Lindschold can't resist the lure of going undercover to investigate what happened to the missing women so she can write an exposé on Himlafall, nicknamed the "Break-Up Rehab." She checks in as a patient under a false surname and sneaks in a contraband portable recorder and cell phone. Isobel hopes that her article won't just advance her career but also allow her to reclaim her real last name, which was tainted by her disgraced journalist father.
Sten (The Bachelorette Party) escalates the suspense from the moment Isobel arrives at Himlafall, where the patients snipe at one another from the first evening. Staffers are as emotionally cold and intrusive as Martina, "a razor without a handle," whose manipulative approach sets each patient, including Isobel, on edge. Individual rooms don't have locks, and Isobel is convinced someone is peeking in her window. The nearby woods are foreboding, and the stakes rise when another woman disappears. Stern has a knack for intense psychological plotting, and in The Break-Up Retreat, she excels at it. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer