The Silent Patient

Book Review

The Silent patient is a great psychological thriller novel in which a woman named Alicia Berenson, an artist shoots her beloved husband Gabriel who returns home late from a fashion shoot and proceeds to calm up and keep quiet. No one knows the reason behind her silence. The novel started off a bit slow in the beginning but as it got deeper the plot was picked up. Alicia’s refusal to talk, turns a domestic tragedy into a mystery that casts her into notoriety. She was admitted to The Grove, a mental institution.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who was extremely intrigued by Alicia’s actions and wanted to help her, moved to The Grove while he was questioning his own abilities. His determination to get her and to reveal the mystery of why she shot her husband takes Theo to a twisting path. His search for the truth threatens to consume him. We get snippets into Alicia’s diary leading up to the murder.

We are directed one way, then another. While we are focused on one thing, something else is going on altogether. The author built the mystery and its reveal masterfully and knew perfectly how to create intrigue. The story was narrated by Theo and a part of it was narrated by Alicia’s Diary. The transition from Theo’s narration to Alicia’s diary flowed very nicely. The ending was super surprising and that made the book a worthwhile read. There was also some mention of art and its deeper meaning which added a depth to the novel.

This novel describes how past incidents and childhood of a person shape their future and what it can do to someone’s mental health and wellness. Also, if you are someone who started to read psych thriller recently you will definitely like this. This is definitely an unputdownable book with a twisted ending.