“The Treatment” by Sarah Moorhead has an interesting premise. The description of the book is as follows “The future of law enforcement has arrived, courtesy of private health contractor Janus Justice. Their groundbreaking 'Offender Treatment Programme' has been hailed as the most effective way of tackling crime yet.
As offenders move through the four-tiered system, their needs are dealt with, each tier more drastic in its Tier One: Low-risk crimes. Physical therapy encouraged Tier Two : Trauma and addiction. Emotional and psychological reasons for offending are examined Tier Three : Aversion therapy & moral punishment Tier Four :
Siberia, where all hope is lost But Grace Gunnarsson, one of Janus' most highly regarded rehabilitation psychiatrists, has uncovered a terrible flaw in the one that is allowing people to get away with murder...”

I loved this mix of sci-fi thriller and I thought the novel had a unique concept. It had a ‘John Marrs’ kind of vibe to it. I enjoyed the fact that this book really made me think of morality and reflect on my own beliefs. I would say the only critic is that I was able to predict the ending a bit early on. I would say this is definitely still worth reading though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC of this book.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Grace works at private health contractor Janus Justice who have a revolutionary way of tacking the treatment of crime with their Offender Treatment Programme. However Grace realises there is a flaw with the system allowing people to get away with murder.

I love being given the opportunity to update our school library which is a unique space for both senior students and staff to access high quality literature. This is definitely a must-buy. It kept me absolutely gripped from cover to cover and is exactly the kind of read that just flies off the shelves. It has exactly the right combination of credible characters and a compelling plot thatI just could not put down. This is a great read that I couldn't stop thinking about and its twists and turns made for a hugely satisfying read. I'm definitely going to order a copy and think it will immediately become a popular addition to our fiction shelves. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.

This was an amazing book. I highly recommend it to everyone. Great characters and a great plot. I will be looking for more books by this author. The book is superbly written. Lots of twists, turns and shocking turns of events

Thank you Canelo for the ARC. 5 stars for DNF as I cannot comment on the overall quality of this book. The premise is FANTASTIC!!! I was super intrigued. Unfortunately, the writing was not to my tastes. Definitely for fans of John Marrs.

'Minority Report'-esque crime prevention dystopic thriller.

Along similar lines to the acclaimed sci-fi film, this novel creates a world where a new department has taken on crime prevention and the dispatching of justice.

Grace is a psychiatrist working in the controversial Janus Justice building. She supervises and treats the offenders as they navigate appropriate levels of rehabilitation, on tiers that escalate in the severity of the therapies used. For the newly rehabilitated people to be released, with no prison time served. Brains often rewired and empathy for others and remorse in place. Never to re-offend.

You may guess that, of course, there's a potential flaw in this system. When Grace sees a name she recognises from her past, someone who's been through Janus already and could not possibly be able to reoffend, it opens up more than a can of worms for both her personally and professionally as secrets, lies and conspiracies are uncovered.

This was a fast-moving and very interesting thriller of a dystopic plot. Minor characters were given more to do and say than I was expecting, I enjoyed trying to spot the 'hidden villains' and liked the misdirections, the dark characters and the dark world Moorhead created.

Enjoyable, dark fare.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

A really thought provoking read - similar topic to Christine Dalcher's books which I also love. I will be looking out for others by this author and recommending this to others.

The Treatment by Sarah Moorhead is a captivating fusion of dystopian fiction and crime drama that offers readers a gripping narrative and raises important questions about justice, morality, and the consequences of technological advancement.

The pacing of the story is well-executed, with a series of twists and revelations that maintain the reader's interest throughout. The world-building is detailed, offering a vivid and immersive experience of the dystopian society in which the characters exist.

In conclusion, "The Treatment" is a thought-provoking and suspenseful novel that skillfully blends elements of dystopia and crime drama. It raises important questions about justice, punishment, and the consequences of technological innovation in law enforcement. While the story's complexity and unsettling themes may not be for everyone, it is an engrossing and well-crafted narrative that offers ample food for thought. Readers who enjoy challenging and morally ambiguous tales will find "The Treatment" to be a rewarding read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for this copy.

This was a rollercoaster of a read, really fast paced and gripping towards the end. The story is set in the future where alcohol has been banned and there is a robust system in place for people who commit crimes. We follow Grace who works in a clinic facility tying to help people. The treatment centre has tiers and each tier deals with crimes and tries to rehabilitate the criminal. Tier three and four are used for people who can’t be rehabilitated. Grace is married to a reporter and details are leaked to the public about what goes on in this centre. What follows is a cat and mouse thriller with people chasing other people, It is quite violent in places and no one is who they seem. Grace doesn’t know who to trust even her husband and there are a few surprises and shocks for us the reader. All in all a decent thriller that has the pages turning with lots of interesting characters that all have a story to tell.

It has such an interesting and unique plot with excellent pacing which kept me super engaged throughout. It is incredibly emotional, raw and beautiful. I absolutely love this genre and this was no exception, i will definitely be reading more from this wonderful author

The first thing that drew my attention to this book was the bright striking cover, with its waves and of course the eye. We later learn in the book that the waves are in fact brain waves. The byline of an 'an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind' fits with the book really well.

Dr Grace Gunnarsson has come a long, long way, so far successfully burying her past life where she was in prison with her mother, then when she lived with mothers best friend & prostitute Lottie & her son Remy. Remy is both brother and protector to Grace, they have a deep bond, and there is nothing they won't do for each other. Then when Lottie died Remy and Grace ended up choosing different paths in life, despite Grace's efforts to take Remy into her new life at university.

Some would say Grace has 'gone up in the world' and we all know the saying 'the higher they go the further they have to fall.' Grace is equally protective & secretive about this time in her life.
In the present day, Grace Gunnarsson is a highly respected and successful psychiatrist who works for Janus Justice and is married to Dan Gunnarsson yet he nows nothing of her early life. Dan is a reporter for the well known, News Flex. Dan is desperate for his big break story, and is like a dog with a bone where Janus Justice is concerned, he is determined to get the inside story.

Grace works for the somewhat controversial Janus Justice Rehabilitation centre who operate the new highly debated Tier System of punishment. The Tier system becomes harsher depending on the tier. Tier 3 is Aversion Therapy and is quite literally a dose of whatever they did wrong done to them!! The guilty person is drugged and made to witness their crime from the point of view of the victim, in the hope they never commit such a crime again. Grace isn't fully comfortable with Tier 3 and usually manages to easily avoid it, she works on Tiers 1 & 2 but when the usual psychiatrist Myriam is off sick her boss Conrad coerces Grace into 'just helping out' with the argument of 'all hands on deck' etc. Grace soon finds out that the Tier System has another level Tier 4 that is the chillingly torturous and drastic 'answer' for when nothing else works to stop the criminal reoffending.

Grace is needed to oversee the treatment of repeat offender Noah Begbroke. Noah has already been through Tier's 1 & 2 which are based on the criminals circumstances & biology Tier 3 is a more proactive treatment based on the criminals morality. Grace had assessed Noah Begbroke on Tier 1 & 2 but found there was no chemical imbalance, childhood trauma, or mental health issue - absolutely nothing that could explain his actions.
Grace watches as Noah is sedated, given drugs and the atmospheric & emotisonics, until when asked Noah says his name is that of his victim/ex girlfriend Corrinna Saunders. The crime is played out on a screen in front if Noah. Grace is not wholly comfortable with this type of therapy but she will endure this just once then take the matter of her having to be involved up with her boss Conrad again. Grace looks at the fresh Tier 3 tattoo on Noah - an image of Janus the two headed Roman God one face looking at the past the other at the future & then the number 3 in the middle. The ink that does eventually fade with time, though the worse the crime committed, the deeper the tattoo is and the longer it will last and be there for all to see.
Grace notes that Noah Begbroke is now experiencing the crime/his violence towards Corrinna as if he is her. At first he sees himself as Corrinna as her beautiful self before his attack on her then Abigail the 'effects operative' turns up the heat, the crackling of fire, even the smell of burning flesh so Noah can really experience the attack himself as Corrinna, his victim. Grace physically gags & Abigail grabs her arm digging her nails in deep in an attempt to support her but Grace can't take anymore and flees from the treatment room, but on the way past the window she sees the burnt, scarred misshapen hands and burnt face of the once beautiful Corrinna Saunders who has been watching Noah Begbroke receive his 'taste of his own medicine' Aversion Therapy.
When Grace comes out of the bathroom from being sick she finds an apologetic Conrad waiting for her. He takes her to his opulent, physical bound books - rare as paper is so expensive, thr wood panelling even though wood is extremely expensive, an effort to be more environmentally conscious. Grace stares at the brass statue of a horse racing (which is now banned) horse, Conrad brags his family had a stud farm, that's where he got the money to start Janus Justice in the US. Then the UK became interested in the Janus Justice concept. Conrad jokes that the US liked the UK NHS and the UK liked the US Janus Justice system/prisoner rehab. So Conrad built the hospitals & clinics and rents them back to the UK. Conrad finds it amusing that he is earning really big money this way.
Conrad then discusses Grace's work record. commending her on her great Tier 1 and her promotion to Tier 2 in just 18 months. Conrad commends her on her work developing new drugs then brings up the subject of her psychometric test, everyone undergoes them on a monthly basis.
This testing is part of the whole 'living transparently,' no one has real privacy anymore.
Grace uses these same tests to help find out what has caused her 'clients' to act in the way they have.
However, Grace knows exactly how to tailor her responses to the test questions, she even cleverly throws in a 'rogue' answer here and there so her almost perfect answers do not raise suspicions.
It's clear Conrad wants even more from Grace which she is initially dead set against until it turns out the records access and extra freedom within the company is something she desperately needs if she is to help someone from her past that she still dearly loves, the man she feels owes so much, Remy. Remy is destined for Tier 4 if Grace can't come up with an alternative treatment to help him fast!

Grace isnt just under intense pressure at work as her husband, Dan is speaking to victims who have witnessed/observed their attackers have Aversion Therapy to see if it has helped them or traumatised them further when seeing a mock up/recreation of what happened to them & the eye for eye justice doled out by Janus. Dan continually pesters Grace for information numerous time each with increasing pressure, 8n fact he is becoming quite demanding, but Grace takes her work confidentiality very serious and refuses to give him the insider information he desperately wants. Grace tries to reason with Dan that if she gives him any information let alone the details he is asking for she would be sacked and possibly prosecuted too! Dan's response is for her to give him enough information for one big story then he would hit the big time and earn enough to keep them both. Dan wants Grace to give up her job, stay home and have babies, make family her priority as opposed to her career. Unfortunately Grace has something she hasn't told Dan about herself & babies, another secret!

All whilst this is going there are groups of vigilantes enacting what they see as just punishment on offenders. It's one such group, the 'Diros' that Remy used to work with but when they started to go 'too far' in his opinion he left. The only problem is no one gets to just leave this group. The ex army leader takes anyone leaving personal and has the that attitude they are 'with him, or against him' so anyone leaving the group usually find themselves meeting a gruesome end or being set up for a crime they did not commit. When Remy finds out he is being set up he reaches out to Grace, or as he called he all those years ago Gracie. With his old gang and the authorities after him he asks Grace for her help. Grace needs to speak to someone about her past and she confides in Shannon one of the Tier 2 agragarian compound managers. It's with Shannon, and her boyfriend Shuggie who is a compound inmate, that Grace comes up with a final desperate plan, but will it work and with weapons involved will everyone get out alive?

Characters I immediately adored were Grace, Remy, Lottie, Shannon, Shuggie and George. Characters I instantly took a disliking to were Conrad, Abigail and weirdly Dan!

There's so much going on in this book, from the justice system to the baby screening for the violent gene, then there's the details of the torturous Tier 4. I feel theres so much I have missed out in my review. I thoroughly enjoyed and quickly became drawn into to the brilliantly meticulously detailed, and so well thought out world building of this book. The stark themes of an eye for an eye, deaths too good for them, a taste of their own medicine, cruel to be kind, so familiar in the real world and how many times have we said them, perhaps without even thinking what it would mean to live by them. Then there was the other side of the argument that an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind element, which I personally really want to say totally believe and agree with but in the real, flawed world I find I can't fully get on board with, theres always that niggle of they should have it done to them and see how they feel thoughts.

It would have been interesting to hear the point of view of the victims watching their attackers undergo the aversion therapy, for example Corrinna Sanders, did she feel anything watching Noah Begbroke think he was being burnt as he had done to her.

The ending is a bit sad really. Nearing the ending of the book amid the 'last stand' against Diros theres the loss of a couple of characters, particularly one I had really become attached to. I really wanted that happy ever after together for Grace & Remy and Shannon & Shuggie.The only thing that still has me pondering a little is I didn't really get the significance of Grace putting the Funland keyring containing the photo of herself & Remy as youngsters in, into Abigails hand??

Summing up this book has amazing world building,
a brilliant meticulously detailed penal system, with characters you quickly became attached to and really cared about. The book and its intriguing world and plot really had me on the edge of my seat and at one point shouting in my head 'How could you Grace!' So yes you really get pulled into the characters dynamics and their relationships. DI would definitely add this one to my favourite speculative fiction reads such as, The Sentence by Christina Dalcher, The Marriage Act by John Marrs and Overdrawn by NJ Crosskey. Speculative fiction is certainly one on my favourite genres to read and this book was wow! Definitely recommend reading!

I've been looking forward to reading this ever since I heard whispers of what is was about, and I am so pleased to say that this near-future dystopian tale does not disappoint, and I wouldn't be surprised if some parts of Government are taking note of the author's drastic ideas for law and order.

'The Treatment' is about a new nationwide approach to justice, which is dispensed in different intervention levels by the Janus corporation, a private company working for the Government.

Everyone starts at Tier 1, physical labour - but if the offender re-offends, they come back at Tier 2 where the treatment is more psychological. The threat of Tier 3 - aversion therapy -also hangs over the offenders.

Psychologist Grace works at Tier 2, generally happy with the difference she is making to the offenders she works with; she believes in the system.

Her journalist husband Dan is keen to dish the dirt on the Janus corporation, and is hoping that Grace will help him. How can she keep her husband happy and keep her job at the same time?

Alongside the treatment being meted out by Janus, there is an undercover vigilante group who dont believe that the punishments go far enough and take matters into their own hands.

I found this a hugely interesting story; I don't think I've read anything quite like this plot before. At times, the book made for uncomfortable reading as you endured the punishments alongside the offenders. This helped highlight the intensity of the treatment being offered.

The story is intelligent, high energy and utterly engrossing; the thriller feel was really appealing and kept my interest from start to finish.

I am sure we'll hear a lot more from Sarah Moorhead very soon!

I really enjoyed the premise of the book. Felt kind of like a modern day Clockwork Orange. However, I did struggle to connect or really care about any of the characters.

An intelligent, near future novel dealing with crime and punishment.

Executed perfectly and with a real zest for characterization.

I loved it and I want more.

In a future where criminals are subject to varying levels of rehabilitation, the treatment they receive could even involve aversion therapy. When psychiatrist Grace uncovers a problem in the system allowing some individuals to get away with murder, it may have deadly repercussions.

An outstanding book with such an original premise.

Sarah has done an incredible job in building a picture of the world as it exists in The Treatment. The research that has gone into this book is clear from the scientific details that make it so genuinely believable. I think this makes the concept even more frightening because you can see how it might start to happen in real life.

The plot itself was gripping and even terrifying at times. There were so many moments where I found myself glued to the page, desperate to find out what happened next. It is definitely the kind of book that you won't be able to put down.

I'd recommend that you clear your reading schedule and make The Treatment your next read.

Thank you NetGalley and Canelo for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Wow. This book was brilliant. The way the characters interlinked and the storyline from past to present.
The weird Janus treatment, that was wild!
I loved it. Grace and Dan have a married life that seemed to be running well. Then some things start to come up, the fact they can’t discuss much about the career Grace has. As Dan is a journalist.
Then Grace has her secrets too.
This author has a mind that just didn’t stop with this book.
Excellent

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. This was one of the most interesting books I have read in a while. Thought provoking and moral questioning that make you search your own moral fortitude. This is one I will be recommending!

Set in a future where law enforcement has been contracted out to a private health contractor, this sci-fi thriller covers quite a lot of ground both ethically and morally. Basically, there are four tiers to crime. Tier One deals with low risk and mostly dealt with by giving the perpetrator access to the basic things they need to live so they don’t have to commit more crimes – food and shelter and the like. Tier Two offenders are medium risk, usually dealt with as with Tier One, but with the addition of emotional and psychological assistance. Think rehab for addiction. Tier Three’s “assistance” gets more complicated – think Clockwork Orange – and then we get to Tier Four where the worst of the worst are packed off to what they call Siberia – and you don’t want to know what happens there!
In this book, we follow Grace, one of the scientists working in Tier Two initially but who is offered a job higher up in Tier Three to plug a resignation gap. She is reluctant at first but this “promotion” coincides with something going on with an old friend and the new job could prove helpful. But she appears to have also stumbled on what the government is hiding about the whole Tier system, a something that is soon to spiral out of control, unless Grace acts, and fast…
I did mostly enjoy this book. The shocks came quite swiftly one after another and the story was assisted by the addition of Grace’s husband Dan who is a journalist! He is actually trying to expose the whole Tier system! There’s definitely a conflict of interest going on there!
On the whole, the story flowed well. There were a few things that did come across as a bit forced but they were integral plot points (spoilers prevent me from going into detail) and, to be honest, I am not sure how else certain things could have been achieved more seamlessly. Pacing is good and matches the narrative throughout and the characters were well drawn and all played their parts very well indeed.
All in all, a worthy book that, in the way it ends, sets things up nicely for some kind of continuation with the characters. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for that. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This timely high-concept SF thriller is sure to be a talked about title, making it a recommended purchase for most collections.

The premise of this book drew me in as I really enjoy dystopian, political books.
Overall it kept me engaged, however the characterisation sometimes let it down. Grace is supposedly a very intelligent psychologist but often made silly mistakes without thinking, and some of the characters around her felt a bit flat (Shannon and dan).
Parts of the book where the treatment was described was horrifying so the descriptions were good, but the pacing towards the third quarter lacked until we got to the action packed ending.
The twist at the end did surprise me and overall I enjoyed it.