The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

The Silent Patient

By Alex Michaelides
Published: Celadon Books, 2019
Pages: 297
Genre: Thriller
Amazon, Goodreads

We're all crazy, I believe, just in different ways.

About the book

Alicia Berenson's life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house overlooking a park in one of London's most desirable areas. One evening, her husband, Gabriel, returns home late from work, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face and then never speaks another word.

Alicia's refusal to talk, or to give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art sky-rockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure psychiatric unit in North London.

Criminal psychotherapist Theo Faber is captivated by Alicia's story and jumps at the opportunity to work with her. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a path more unexpected, more terrifying than he ever imagined - a search for the truth that threatens to consume him.

Review

Excuse me, I'm going to need a few days to recover from this MIND FUCK. The Silent Patient was just what I needed to get over reading slump.

The plot is great. A famous painter is found guilty of murdering her husband and refuses to utter a single word... that is until six years later when psychotherapist Theo Faber enters the scene. Theo risks everything he has to get to the truth - What really happened that night?

The book reminds me of Gillian Flynn's novels; there's something deeply unhealthy about the characters and it's unsettling being inside their minds. I connected quite a bit with Theo. I'm not going into detail, but I relate to his background and mental state; the unending anxiety and cloud of depression that feels like it'll never go away, that will remain with you for the rest of your days because you're completely fucked up.

The twist at the end blew me away. It was exactly what I was looking for when I read psychological thrillers.

The author sets up the scenes with intervening diary entries perfectly, and the writing is pretty good.

I really enjoyed The Silent Patient and would recommend it to those looking for an entertaining psychological thriller.

RATING (out of five puppies):