Book Review: "The Treatment" by Sarah Moorhead

First of all, I would like to say that if they ever make this book into a film I would like to see the lead role of Grace be played by Emily Blunt. You need someone like Emily Blunt to lead this thing. If you do not get Emily Blunt then I will have to say that your movie will be a mistake. Thank you and on with the review.

I do not normally read dystopian thrillers because I always think that the story has been done to death. Everything is a repeat of either 1984 or Brave New World and in some cases, Fahrenheit 451 gets thrown in there too. However, I would like to add that this book might have a lot in common with Orwell's dystopian masterpiece, but it does not try to be anything it isn't. Instead, this book takes the very best pieces and focuses in on the justice system as if exploring a small part of the dystopian existence that could, at any point, boil over. Sarah Moorhead's writing is an example of how to write a thriller well: it is not too wordy, it is not trying to bee too high-tech and sci-fi, there are not many words and phrases we have to learn to understand the world of the book and finally, there are short and snappy scenes that keep the reader on the edge of their seats.

The Treatment is set in a dystopian future in which a private healthcare firm has taken over the prison system and adminstered tiers in which the prisoners receive 'help' instead of simply being locked up. Janus Justice may sound like a superhero name, but they are basically the equivalent of Big Brother in this book and the different tiers are for things like petty theft, addiction and many administer psychiatry against the will of the participant. For anyone who has any knowledge of psychology studies then there are ethical problems written all over this place from the start.

Grace is the lead psychiatrist at the institution and she is married to a journalist called Dan. Grace rarely talks about her elusive childhood that once began in a prison where bad things happened to her mother and a boy one year older than her named Remy mysteriously left. When Remy's name arises again, Grace does not seem all too pleased. As she moves along the tiers, she meets various people whom you can and cannot feel sorry for. For example: there's Nikki - a woman who is moved to Tier 2 and desperately just wants to see her children again. She kicks and screams shouting about how if anything happens to her children, Grace and her company will pay brutally for it. There's pity there - a mother who is tragically trying to steal medicine for her child. A child who may or may not already be dead and may have been for a long while by now.

This book is a fine example of what dystopian thriller looks like in the modern age - something that is relevant to the healthcare system being privatised and taking over. It is a futuristic version of BigPharma gone crazy and all the justice that was once researched to design the system has been abused and abused over and over again to create a monster that is disguised as help, prevention, safety and intelligent living.

I truly think that Sarah Moorhead has created a near-perfect modern dystopia novel and I would like to read more of her work in the future. The pacing is excellent, the characters are well-developed and the ideas are fleshed out entirely. You honestly believe in the rebellion led by the main characters and the way in which Grace remains elusive about her past only makes the whole novel more enticing. The jail cells, the treatment of children and the justice system that relies on blood money from a shady healthcare company are just some of the great features of this novel. All in all, I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would and for my one random book of the week by an author I have never heard of, this was something really quite special.