Title: The Silent Patient
Author: Alex Michaelides
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Caledon Books
Publication Date: February 5, 2019
Pages: 336
Format Read: ARC Book
Standalone or series: Standalone
Where I got the book: Book Riot Giveaway
Date finished reading: February 4, 2019
Goodreads Description: 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 Review: I received this Advance Reader’s Copy from a Book Riot giveaway. The overall premise was fascinating – girl (Alicia Berenson) convicted of murdering her husband does not speak afterwards at all, and her psychotherapist (Theo Farber) works to get to the bottom of her silence. As more characters are introduced throughout the book, you begin to doubt that Alicia is actually guilty. However, I actually never really doubted it. While this was an enjoyable quick read, I still had a few issues about the plot and conclusion.
What I was confused about throughout much of the book was why Theo Faber cared so much about Alicia Berenson. He seemed a bit obsessed with her. Plus, the author kept focusing on Theo’s home life and his marriage, when I just couldn’t understand what that had to do with anything. All of that becomes clear in the conclusion of the book. That it is all connected. However, I don’t understand how the timeline matches. Theo goes to work, where he has sessions with Alicia, and then goes home and finds out that his wife is cheating on him, only that part had already happened in the past. How is the reader suppose to know that that was the past. This hiccup in the timeline made the ending less than satisfying for me. I’m sure it was suppose to be a clever attempt at tricking the reader, but I just found it disappointing. I give this read a meh.
My Rating: ♦ ♦ ♦
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