Zac Watts, a journalist with ambition, has just been offered his newspaper's much coveted role as their Washington correspondent. His only barrier is a remnant of his long-gone wild university days - a daily dose of methadone. Zac lands in a drug rehab with an extroverted refugee from an FM radio station and a zen-like ex sailor. And they're just the staff.
Methadonia is a book about people succumbing to obsession, addiction, love, pain - and not necessarily because of drugs. It centres around the developing relationship between Zac and his counsellor Olaf, and the craziness of Olaf's affair with one of the clients Sylvia. As a not-so-ordinary procession of people come and go through the institution these three form alliances both ethically dubious and emotionally dangerous.
Olaf craves love, Sylvia needs freedom and Zac just wants a friend. Negotiating their emotions in rehab is one thing, but in the outside world it proves frighteningly challenging.