The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Silent Patient is a 5-star psychological thriller. It’s the story of a British psychotherapist who becomes fascinated with a woman, Alicia Berenson, who ostensibly murdered her husband by shooting him in the face five times, and then refused to speak a word in her own defense. Naturally, she was convicted and incarcerated in a mental institution, where she continued to maintain her silence. Theo Faber, the protagonist, gets a job at the institution where she’s locked up, and becomes her therapist, obsessed with getting her speaking agin.
The book is written in a first person POV from Theo’s perspective, interspersed with entries from Alicia’s diary. The interplay between Theo and Alicia is well-done, and this is no mean feat, seeing that she remains silent for most of the book. The other characters are all well-drawn, even the minor ones. The plot is cohesive, and while I did figure out the final twist before it was revealed, it was artfully concealed, yet logical. The chapters are short, which makes for a quick read.
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