What a twist! And what an impressive debut! The Silent Patient has been sold to 40 territories, which is the largest pre-release number for any debut thriller EVER. All praise is deserving, it's written exceptionally well and keeps you guessing until the end - and then kicking yourself! An easy recommendation to regular crime readers and occasional dabblers (like myself)

Okay, so this book is all over Twitter and elsewhere, leaving a host of swooning and excited reviewers in its wake. Normally, having been scarred by two books that had a similar amount of adulation last year, I wouldn’t have read this. But I did. And what a little treat it was. I thought this was one of the most perfectly weighted, tense and engrossing thrillers I have read of late, complete with one of the best twists in the narrative that had me sitting back on my seat, thinking jeez, that was clever…

Michaelides builds the relationship with damaged, and seemingly non-responsive patient Alicia, and her would be knight in shining armour psychotherapist Theo with such stealth and empathy. Along with Alicia’s account of her life garnered from her diaries, and our growing sympathy with Theo trapped in a faithless marriage, the story begins to tease out each character’s points of weakness. Theo sees unlocking Alicia’s psyche as not only the greatest challenge of his professional career, but also revealing his utter fascination with the crime she committed and how this has locked her into her silent world. Very slowly, as Theo starts to break down this non-communicative barrier, with his one-to one sessions with her, against the advice of practically everyone, there comes to light a dark tale of obsession that holds many surprises, of which I will tell you…nothing…

I really enjoyed the level of psychoanalytic detail that Michaelides incorporates in his account of Alicia’s treatments in this private facility, The Grove, on the brink of closure and whose treatment programmes operate at the whim of financial spreadsheets. Aside from the intensity of the relationship between Theo and Alicia, the book is peopled with an interesting, sometimes sympathetic, sometimes not, characters that bring a vibrancy and energy to the claustrophobia of the main plot. There are surprising peeks into the lives of others, and the book retains a balance of seriousness, and mordant humour so essential to those that treat individuals with extreme mental disturbance.

There I will leave it, as to reveal anything more would cut your enjoyment of this by at least 99.9%, but take it from me, this is well worth your time, and did I mention the twist…

Recommended.

What could possibly turn a woman who seems to have an enviable life into an empty vessel and murderer lost in her own little world? Six years ago Alicia, a successful artist and Gabriel, her fashion photographer husband started the day as any normal happy couple do but something went terribly wrong that evening when he came home. Alicia shot him five times in the face, a pretty personal statement I thought and six years later she still hasn’t spoken a word. Alicia has been held at the Grove, a secure unit, ever since.
Theo Faber, a criminal psychotherapist, has quite an obsession with the case, so when a position comes up at the Grove he doesn’t hesitate to give up a more prestige position in another establishment to take it. This is one man who is determined to break the silence that Alicia has kept. As the sessions begin the story is told with a drop back in time to passages from Alicia’s diary leading up to the murder and the thoughts of Theo both present time and the past in his own life.
There are various other characters in the story all with differing views as to whether they would really like Alicia to speak again or not. Including the Art Gallery that deals with Alicia’s pre-murder paintings, which have risen dramatically in value since the murder. The methods of Theo certainly seem to stir something in her.
My mind was running riot, was she guilty of murder? Had someone set her up? Would she ever speak again? When the story began Alicia was like a blank canvas but little by little it began to take shape from a colourful past and shady present until the final unveiling of the truth. What a master piece it was! This is an outstanding debut from an author with a rich talented and twisted mind, just the way I like them.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

I really enjoyed this book. It was brilliantly written with a great cast of characters and intriguing plot that kept me turning the pages. Perfect read to escape from day to day life. A great read.

This book is all over the place & the moment & fully deserves the praise it is getting. A brilliantly clever read with an ending I just didn’t see coming. Looking forward to more from Alex

A Dark, Compelling Psychological Thriller with a Mind-Blowing Twist.
It’s been a while since I have read a truly five-star book; one that gets inside my head and I can’t stop talking about to anyone who will listen. I’ve read some great books already this year but nothing that has absolutely stopped me in my tracks. Until now. “The Silent Patient” sucked me in and spat me out.

I simply couldn’t put this dark, compelling psychological thriller down and the unexpected ending blew me away.

Alicia Berenson is a famous artist and her husband, Gabriel, is a much sought-after fashion photographer. To outside observers, she appears to have the perfect life.

Then, one evening when Gabriel arrives home late from work, Alicia ties him to a chair and shoots him several times in the face, seemingly without any provocation or motive. The investigation into the murder is complicated by Alicia’s silence. From the moment that she killed her husband, she never spoke another word.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychologist who is so obsessed with the Berenson case that he leaves his secure job at Broadmoor high-security hospital to take up a position at The Grove, the secure forensic unit in north London where Alicia is being treated. He hopes to succeed where other psychologists have failed and break Alicia’s silence.

Theo goes way beyond the normal boundaries of a psychologist’s relationship with a patient, so determined is he to get to the truth behind the story. He visits Alicia’s friends and relatives to try to build a picture of her life before the murder and many fairly unpleasant characters appear.

Theo and Alicia are both complex characters with troubled childhoods and abusive, neglectful parents in common. The descriptions of their early experiences are hard to read but go some way to explaining the flawed characters that they have become.

As I got deeper into the book, I began to suspect that there was much more to Alicia’s story that it seemed at first and I became suspicious of every character. As Theo’s investigation progressed, I feared for his safety. What if he got too close to the truth and unwittingly put himself in danger? I found myself becoming more and more tense as the book went on and simply could not put it down.

I loved the way that Alicia’s story mirrors the tale of Alcestis, the heroine of a Greek tragedy by Euripides. It’s very cleverly woven into the book to give the reader clues without giving too much away.

Alex Michaelides is a very skilled writer indeed. I spent hours thinking about the book but I didn’t for one second see the absolutely breathtaking twist coming. I finished the book in a state of shock.

Reviewed by Louise Chamberlain for The Glass House Book Club

I love a good Psychological thriller and I was hoping when I heard about this book it would live up to its name.

I found right away that the book was going to get my attention and gripped me to my seat, Alex Michaelides really knows how to set the story up and really brings his characters to life within the book.

The twist was amazing and a little unexpected but in a good way I hate figuring out the twist to early on, I highly recommend this book and look forward to more books in the future.

A very clever book with an interesting and original concept. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish and found all the characters very believable. The story is told alternately through Alicia's diary and through Theo, her psychotherapist. There is of course a clever twist at the end. Excellent book.

The Silent Patient is a highly original, complex and intelligent psychological mystery thriller.

The premise grabs you initially but there are multiple layers of intrigue and red herrings along the way to sustain your interest and grip your attention. There are also some interesting points about psychology and psychotherapy and it’s always good to learn something as well as being entertained!

Alex Michaelides bring his characters and scenes to life in vivid colour, just like one of Alicia’s paintings; he keeps you invested in their actions and feelings but provokes equally strong emotions in you the reader.

And yes, the twist is bloody marvellous. I did have to put my kindle down for a few minutes at that point just to think it through! The plot is sound throughout though, and the writing strong so the book is much more than ‘just’ a good twist (but – again – it is a good one!)

This is an excellent psychological thriller and I really hope there is more of the same to come from Alex Michaelides.

Thank You to NetGalley, Alex Michaelides and Orion Publishing Group for giving me the oppertunity to read 'The Silent Patient'

This is the debut novel for Alex Michaelides. This is a fantastic and a very compelling read with a huge twist at the end, that I was not expecting, I probably like many other readers had to re-read things towards the end just to make sure that I was reading things correctly.

Well done Alex Michaelides and thank you for giving us such a fantastic debut book. I am certainly a fan of yours and can not wait to see what your next book will be like. I have high hopes that it will be a good one.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.

I have just finished this debut novel and I can't wait to read Alex Michaelides next book!! It was well written with well-drawn flawed characters which are expected in a novel set, for much of it, in a psychiatric facility. Fascinating that Theo Faber, when asked at interview, what drew him to psychotherapy gives a predictable answer - 'I wanted to help people' but thinks
'The real motivation was purely selfish. I was on a quest to help myself. I believe the same is true for most people who go into mental health. We are drawn to this particular profession because we are damaged - we study psychology to heal ourselves.'
The story is compulsive reading but the twist stops you short. You actually have to stop reading and absorb what you have just read.
If this book is in your tbr pile - move it to the top - you won't be disappointed!
Many thanks to Netgalley/Alex Michaelides/Orioin Publishing for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

From the blurb of this book I thought it was possible this would be a good read. I was wrong. It was fantastic. Totally unputdownable. Loved the twists. Great ending too.

The Silent Patient is a totally unputdownable thriller that I devoured in a day.
Theo is a psychotherapist and has just got a new job at a different place. He is the main narrator of this story and admits from the off he is totally fucked up! Theo ha smoked to this different job because he is kind of obsessed with Alicia as she is the silent patient who hasn’t spoken a word after being found by her husband who had been shot five tines in the face because the gun was at the scene and Alicia isn’t speaking she is convicted of murder and is in a secure unit. Theo’s main aim is to get her to speak but knows this is going to be a long journey. His wife is giving him troubles as he’s caught her having an affair but she doesn’t know he knows so he has a lot going on.
This is a very memorable thriller and it’s one I won’t forget for a long time, the ending is full of twists and had me doing a “WTF” as I was so led down the garden path!!
I would like to thank Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

after reading the blurb about this book i felt it had potential to be a great read. i started to read with great interest and really wanted to know what had happened however, i found the storyline slow to develop with a disappointing ending.

many thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a review that I do not know if I can write. When a book has been given so much hype as this book, you wonder will it deliver? Well by jove it did and so much more!

The story which follows Alicia (Fantastic name by the way) is found to have shot her husband Gabriel in the face, but no one knows why she did, she has not spoken a word since that fateful day. We are guided through her journal leading us to that day.

Theo, is a psychotherapist, and he wants Alicia’s case, he thinks he can break her silence, that she has kept for years.

This book really is mindblowing and rather quite shocking. I will not talk about the plot because like most books I read you have to go in blind. The book hooks you in with the past and wants to keep a tight hold of you as we travel through the dual storyline.

I feel nervous throughout the whole book, I was not sure where I would be lead. Would the silence be broken? Do I want to know the truth? Will we all make it out alive? Will I now become silent? (Haha as if this could happen!)

I was fascinated by Alicia and her silence, the pages just flowed and I did not and could not give up on her. I was captivated and I had read this in two sittings (Life got in the way). I think I caught a fair few flies when reading this too! I mean jeez!! It is a dark thrilling and uncomfortable read but well worth the time invested into it.

Well, this book definitely deserves a praise, it was a gripping and twisted psychological thriller with a very satisfying ending as well. I liked the concept of the book despite some misgivings about the story, which at some point looked to me like yet another reincarnation of the girl on the train in the window kind, but somehow author managed to pull it off.

The premise of the story is nothing new either - but deeply flawed characters make it very readable. Alicia Berenson has killed her husband and refused to speak again. Kept in the psychiatric unit she has stayed silent for years. Theo Faber is a psychotherapist with a troubled past who is fascinated by Alicia - he is determined to make her talk again, even as he becomes more personally involved then he should. Parts where Theo talks about his progress with Alicia's therapy are interspersed with entries form her diary as well as Theo's own story. There are subplots, secondary characters and musings about understanding your own mind. Although certain subplots could have been explored in more detail, I thought that "The Silent Patient" was an impressive debut

I'd read the sampler of this, and knew as soon as I finished that I needed the rest of the book. I was right.
This was such a compelling book - so much so I read it in a day - and I definitely didn't guess where it was going, which is always a great thing. The ending had me gasping, and wondering how I never picked up on it, and I think that is always what you want from a mystery book.
I think that the psychological side to it had me interested too, because I have a degree in psychology, so it was interesting to see if I could pick out things from the plot to use - it definitely made an interesting read.
Definitely a suspenseful read, I will recommend it to anyone who is interested in mystery or psychological mysteries.

Absolutely fabulous - lived up to every word of the advance hype.

A psychotherapist who has become obsessed with the silence of a high profile murderess gets a job in the institution where she is held. Convinced that he has the skills to unlock Alicia's silence Theo is also juggling with heartbreak and stress in his home life and professional obstacles when he tries to play detective to help Alicia.

Great writing, wonderfully believable flawed characters and such a skilfully woven story - I was honestly blindsided, which at my age and with the amount of books I've read doesn't happen often! A book I looked forward to getting back to when real life called me away and that I've really missed since completing it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Orion for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this fabulous book - this review reflects my honest and unbiased opinion

Now let's be honest - when you see a book on the internet which has a high profile advertising campaign, a lot of word of mouth recommendations and is being billed as the big hitter of 2019, who doesn't take a step back and wonder if it can really live up to expectations? It's been a much discussed point on internet forums with those who say they simply switch off from a book because it has been 'over-hyped' and they automatically assume the worst. Well I can honestly say that in this case, should you choose to ignore the book simply because you've seen it on Twitter too many times, then you are cutting off your nose to spite your face. This book is fabulous.

On the surface, this is the story of Alicia, a woman who has been in a secure hospital facility since the day she was convicted of murdering her husband. Her story, or at least the elements of it set in the hospital, is told through the mind of Theo, a Psychotherapist who is fascinated, if not borderline obsessed, with Alicia's case. And why? Because ever since she murdered her husband, a man for whom she was believed to have an unending love, Alicia has not spoken a word. Not in her own defence, not to her friends and not to her Doctors. Nothing.

And that's all you need to know. The story takes use through Theo's recruitment into the hospital, his early introductions to Alicia and his attempts to get her to talk when no one else could, by using the one thing that means the most to her - art. Interspersed within Alicia's story we get to learn more about Theo who is, in himself, a fascinating character with a lot more going on than a desire to 'save' Alicia. There are also entries from a journal written by Alicia which acts as her voice throughout the story, expressing in writing the thoughts, feelings and memories that she can bring herself to give voice to.

This is the kind of story that will either capture your imagination from page one or it won't but I have to say I was one of the lucky ones as I was invested from the very start. It is not a fast paced book, you wouldn't expect it, but the pacing does suit the story perfectly. The author uses the narrative and interactions between the main characters to great effect, building tension and atmosphere and casting doubt over motivation and dedication without necessarily needing to resort to any big climatic moments.

That's not to say that there aren't some big reveals and surprises along the way. After all, it's not every day that a perfect marriage ends in murder. Most people generally consider a trial separation or even, worst case, divorce as the first logical step in resolving marital difficulties. The surprising reveals are used sparingly and to great effect as this is a character driven piece, not a who-dunnit.

Speaking of characters, I have to say I was immediately drawn to both Alicia and Theo. Despite not saying much there was something about Alicia, particularly when it came to her diary entries, that just sucks you in and makes you want to get to know her. She has a passionate and artistic temperament which seems to clash rather dramatically with the placid and mute person she becomes. The diary sections are not great in number, but again the sparing use adds more tension and suspense to the story. It felt like a perfect balance.

And Theo. Theo, Theo, Theo. I was torn between really liking him and his altruistic intentions, and not entirely trusting him. He goes to great lengths to gain work at the hospital but he seems like a level and decent guy. We learn a lot about him and his upbringing and family life, and it goes some way to explaining why he is so fixed on Alicia's story.

With a brilliantly descriptive narrative I would easily picture all that was happening, the setting being brought to life in my mind's eye. Intriguing, complex, and with fascinating characters that you will desperately want to understand and know more about. I know I certainly did.

Absolutely brilliant read!

Loved....loved....loved! This book is exactly what I needed…...a fast-paced and fully absorbing thriller that I literally could not put down or stop thinking about. This was some fantastic storytelling!

THE SILENT PATIENT is an absolutely fabulous psychological thriller novel that was quite the immersive and thrilling book to read. Right from the very beginning I knew that this book was going to be a gripping page-turner for me and I’m happy to say that it totally held my attention right to the very end, making this quite the compulsive and all-consuming read.