“It’s time to say good-bye.”

From Suzanne Young’s Program: The Remedy.

The third book in the series is a prequel to the first two books and it centers around young Quinn McKee. Quinn isn’t your average 17 year-old, she’s a “closer.” She mimics dead girls and lives with their family go help them find closure. The majority of her life has been divided by her assignments which require her to become the dead girl to ease the family into life after loss. For support, Quinn has a dedicated partner and supervisor, an ex-partner/ex-boyfriend/still-best-friend (Deacon), and a father that constantly pushes Quinn to excel as a closer. While Quinn always struggles with her memories for a few days after each assignment ends, things are good for her overall… until her father informs her that her next assignment as Catalina will be longer, sooner, and more complicated than anything she’s ever faced. Quinn must somehow find a way to help the girl’s family heal, connect with Catalina’s boyfriend before he’s sent away for intensive therapy, and unravel the secrets and lies connected with the case, all without losing her identity.

While enjoyable, The Remedy gets off to a rocky start; the characters are new and the timeline is different, but changed in a way that makes it difficult to determine when it takes place in relation to Sloane and James’ story. The story moves at a steady pace and the newness of the closer’s job and lifestyle keep propelling the reader further, but some middle chapters can be frustratingly sluggish. One major problem with the book is that Quinn is not very likable; the very nature of her character’s occupation makes it difficult to connect with her. However, the book really picks up, both in intensity and likability for Quinn, during the last 50-or-so pages of the book. While the rest of the story was interesting overall, several breakdowns and dark revelations captivate the reader in a very rewarding way and also leaves the reader wanting to read more in the series.