"The Graceview Patient" | Reviewed by Pat Sainz

Author Cailtin Starling has a talent for conceptualizing the worst-case scenario imaginable for a hospital setting—an isolated location where no visitors are allowed and where the main caretaker is a representative from a pharmaceutical company. 

Meg Culpepper’s rheumatologist has recommended that Meg participate in a trial to cure a rare disease she has contracted, Fayette-Gehret syndrome. For much of Meg’s young adult years, she has been plagued with a disabling disease of rapid cell growth resulting in painful ulcers throughout her body, burning red patches on her extremities, and damage to her internal organs. Meg can rarely keep a job, has lost friends, and her mother, who lives far away, is reluctant to involve herself in Meg’s care.

The medical trial is meant to destroy Meg’s immune system and build a new one. When Meg enters the hospital, her pain scale is a 4, her diet and activity level are normal, and she is to be discharged within a month and a half. Meg plans to endure whatever is before her in order to claw back a semblance of living. She also desperately wants to be cared for and is initially optimistic about her treatment, even as her body becomes weaker and fevers are constant. 

As Meg suffers through the treatment which keeps her in a permanent fog, she desperately seeks more information about her treatment. The only visitor she sees is the pharmaceutical representative. When Meg tells him that she has met the only other patient in the trial, a young woman named Veronica, and that she wants to see her again, he tells her that Veronica has been released. When she reads Veronica’s online obituary, she understands that she is being lied to and starts to question everything. 

When Meg sees that the nurses treating her begin wearing protective covering, she panics. Her phone and her computer disappear. As her pain levels increase, she can’t tell what is real and what is a hallucination. Her pain scale changes to a 10 on her chart, and her plan for discharge changes to “stay.”

Meg discovers what is happening to her. Terrified, she realizes that she will never leave the hospital, nor will she die soon.

This medical horror story is the perfect read for those who like psychological thrillers and enjoy reading on the edge of their seats.  I recommend it for those who enjoy the thrills of the October season.

About the author: Caitlin Starling is a bestselling author of “The Death of Jane Lawrence” and “Last to Leave the Room.”  

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