Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Review - The Silent Patient

Title:   The Silent Patient
Author:  Alex Michaelides
Genre:   Psychological Thriller
Publisher:   Celadon Books
Format:  Kindle ARC
No. of Pages:  336
Date of Publication:  February 5, 2019
My Rating:  5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:
Promising to be the debut novel of the season The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive…

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

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or 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 skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him.... 


MY THOUGHTS:

Alicia Berenson led an idyllic life as an accomplished artist and a loving wife to an established photographer. She lives her best life. So why in the world would she shoot her husband point blank in the face and then never again utter another word? She is relegated to a life drugged to the gills in a mental hospital.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychologist who has maneuvered events for the sole purpose of being the one to treat Alicia. For reasons disclosed to no one, Theo is determined to make Alicia his patient. As time moves on, he struggles to get her to communicate - even if through her painting.

How is Theo going to get Alicia to speak when no one else can. After all, it was more than evident that she indeed killed her husband. The gruesome conditions were that she was indeed covered with her husband’s blood after he was murdered. 

This book is given in two perspectives, Theo's in the form of thoughts and dialogue, and Alicia's in her diary entries. It is all very fascinating. I kept finding myself sympathetic to both Alicia and Theo, all the while knowing of her guilt and what must be his ulterior motives, but never knowing why page after page, chapter after chapter.

Have you ever read a conclusion that caused you to hold your breath as you read in disbelief? Well, that is what happened in The Silent Patient. Kudos to Alex Michaelides for writing such a shocking debut! This will no doubt be one of my top reads for this year and I would be amazed if another book took its place. If this is what this stunning new author has to offer, be certain that I will be right here for every single book to follow.

Many thanks to Celedon Books and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alex Michaelides was born in Cyprus in 1977 to a Greek father and English mother. He studied English literature at Cambridge University and got his MA in screenwriting at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He wrote the film The Devil You Know (2013) starring Rosamund Pike and co-wrote The Brits are Coming (2018), starring Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Parker Posey and Sofia Vergara. THE SILENT PATIENT is his first novel.


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7 comments:

  1. Nice write-up and it sounds like an interesting read. Will definitely look into it. Thanks for sharing!.

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  2. Ahhhh, this one comes in the mail tomorrow for me! I can't wait to read it - fab review!

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  3. I have this one on my list and your review has me wanting to bump it up

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  4. This is on my TBR! Can’t wait to read it.

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  5. This book is everywhere at the moment and everyone seems to love it. Great review I'll have to see about picking up a copy.

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  6. Havent read too many books in this genre (mostly watch them!) but this looks intriguing

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  7. Great review Robin, I've been hearing many great things about this book and it really looks and sounds like an amazing and fantastic psychological thriller book which I really need to check out one day. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.

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