By Jay Grummel
I’ve been diving into a lot of thrillers recently, its that time of year. I noticed it’s hard for a thriller to keep my attention, a lot of the time I find myself putting the book down. However, The Silent Patient refused to let go of my attention. As a reader I just wanted more and more of the book. I found myself ignoring other tasks just so I could finish another chapter. Due to this book being more complicated to talk about, this review does contain some spoilers.
The Silent Patient reads as a memoir. We are quickly introduced to Theo Faber, a criminal psychotherapist. He also serves as our narrator. We are then told about Alicia Berenson an infamous painter, who was charged with killing her husband Gabriel six years earlier. Theo has been fascinated with Alicia’s case due to the fact she refused to speak. Alicia was found with Gabriel’s dead body and the gun used to kill him only had her fingerprints. But when the cops came to question her, she couldn’t respond, she’d become mute. Even during her trial Alicia never spoke, which landed her at the Grove a psychiatric hospital, instead of prison. It is once Theo accepts a job at the Grove where the story takes off. Theo is trying to improve Alicia’s medical condition and mental health. He wants her learn to let herself speak again.
Not only does this story start off with a bang, but there a little mysteries trinkled about. We slowly learn about Theo’s past and why he is who he presents himself to be. But we also slowly learn more about Alicia’s case through him and his unprofessional investigation. Alicia’s childhood and traumas become revealed throughout the story, making it seem she was rightfully convicted. However, we start piecing together a background for the events that took place six years ago. The author does an amazing job with pacing. Throughout the whole story we assume the events happened one way when really our narrator has been telling the story disjointedly.
One of my favorite things about this book is the unexpecting turns. Almost everyone we meet could be the killer Alicia, her brother in-law Max, Jean, and even her cousin Paul. During Theo’s narration he’s interrupted by Alicia’s diary. We as a reader know more about her life before Theo does. However, towards the last half of the book Theo receives her diary, learning about a stalker who could potentially be any of the men listed before. The story unfolds with Theo’s receiving of the events and Alicia’s progress in therapy. This thriller makes you question everyone. You have no clue who is lying and who is telling the truth or even if your narrator is reliable. This is a craft element Alex Michaelides utilizes throughout the story, letting you feel real terror.
The only issue I had with this book was some of the depictions of mental health. However, some of it is not clear if it was intentional or not. As there is repeated malpractice and HIPA violations throughout the story. With its setting being England I’m also not sure what their laws are on these topics, I assume they’re similar to the U.S. It does cause an interesting effect where there are no redeeming characters, no one in this story is completely good and no one is necessarily completely evil. It plays into the moral middle ground making the reader question themselves as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a thriller/horror, but doesn’t want something to keep them up at night in the dark. It is a great starter for both of those genres and feels realistic at the same time.
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