When a high profile rock star patient is brought into Pantano State hospital Dr. Stephanie Fletcher is unprepared. She is still recovering from losing her best friend and therapist who treated her for years. And Trent Davis is a formidable force. He has confessed to murdering multiple women and professes to be possessed by a demon. From inside his cell he still exercises control over his followers and someone who admires his work has started to copy his killings once more.

I thought this was a good book! I really struggle to put it down at times because I thought it was such a page turner. My only issue is that I didn’t like the main character and how unethical she was throughout the book.

Thank you Storm Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. Below is my honest review:

This was a great book! Just when you think that the story is going to fall flat because the serial killer is arrested, his copycat makes an appearance and things get really interesting!

I suspected almost every character at some point while reading this story. For the first 75% or so, I truly couldn’t figure it out. However, the remaining chapters made the ending too predictable. I won’t spoil the book by saying who I hoped the copycat was, but it definitely wasn’t who it ended up being. I think choosing the character that was chosen resulted in some miss opportunities.

The author’s style of writing makes this an easy to read, hard to put down book.

If you’re looking for a quick thriller that you can’t put down. Look no further than the therapist. This book will have you flipping the pages well into the night. This was my first time reading this author but I will be looking into more books by them for sure.

Thank you Storm Publishing, Netgalley, and S. A. Falk for an ARC of The Therapist.

The book hooked me at the start for sure. I kept wondering what Trent Davis, the new resident serial killer, would do next. It was a page turner until about 23% when the demons and nuns entered the chat.

The more the novel went on, the more unrealistic it seemed. The behavior on behalf of Dr. Fletcher seemed bizarre for a therapist, and the “code” in the musical lyrics just took up unnecessary space.

I’d pass on this one.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC.
I really enjoyed this book, the characters made me want to read more and not put it down. Hoping there will be another book after this one as I found it ended quite abruptly.
Did guess the twist but still absolutely loved it and can't wait to read more from this author.

I was hooked through the first 75%, building up the story to who's behind it, how and why and diving into the character of Trent. I admit I wasn't so sure at the start about the religious talk of the story with the devil and demons as that's not a bit of me but found myself wanting to read on.

I struggled with the last 25%, I guessed the plot which isn't a bad thing (shows I just read/ watch to much crime). The ending wasn't what I wanted to happen 👎🏻 that doesn't mean it's not good, I just wanted a different outcome. I was disappointed that Trent was missing from the last 20% of the book. Up to that point the story involved him and really delved into his mind. It makes sense why he wasn't around but I just wished he was, because of this it dropped a star for me, but maybe there's going to be a second book?

Do you like psychological thrillers - If you like the Silent Patient then this book is for you!

⚠️ Murder | Canolboism | Rape | Trauma | Self Harm |

Thank you to @netgalley and @s.a.Falk for this ARC copy of The Therapist in return for a honest review.

This book was mind boggling and twisted. It felt like I was reading everything but I was oblivion to everything and words were fleeing away. I loved the book format it has been written in, It has a combination of long and short chapters along with an intense and powerful prose dropping clues about the unexpected happenings and innermost feelings.

So young women’s are getting abducted and murdered in a brutal and gruesome way. The Killer has the most damaged mind and poignant past, he believes in bizarre things. I pretty much liked that idea. But the man who is actually accused of all those murders is actually committing them? The unthinkable things happens and the story takes a different and shocking turn which diminishes the line between the truth and a lie and the lie and delusion. Even the twists in this book were connected with psychology. The ending is how a reader will perceive it. The ending has open ends. The characters have the most poignant stories in this book. The author has taken us inside the damaged minds.

Many Thanks to the Author and Publisher.

This is the second S A Falk book I have read and again I enjoyed this book. I think since the Covid pandemic mental health problems have been highlighted and this forms the basis of this book. Like the author I was intrigued by heavy metal music and perhaps the strange habits of its stars. Putting these elements together you have the basis of a book and stir in a patient and therapist interaction and the tale is set. Again a dark but interesting tale. Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Really a wonderful book! Lots of interesting conversations and plot. Only issue was figuring out the ending early on in the book. Character build was great and I truly enjoyed reading.

Satanic serial killer meets traumatised psychologist, this should end well… Trent Davis is admitted into Pantano State Hospital. He is a serial killer, satanist, lead singer with a cult following, who hears voices.

Dr. Stephanie Fletcher is the head psychologist who takes on Davis as a patient. Fletcher has her own demons which she’s struggling with since the passing of her therapist. Can she help him, or does she need to help herself first?

Trent Davis’s character was very well written. The descriptive insight into his state of mind was super creepy but super gripping. Falk forces us into the dark corners of Davis’s mind and gives us a glimpse into the mind of a killer.

Stephanie Fletcher is a complex character. She has PTSD from a childhood trauma, her therapist of 30 years had died, she has insomnia, and she is obsessed with her job. This combination cannot be good for her.

One side of the story follows the interaction between Davis and Fletcher as she tries to get to know him, his past and his demons. The reader also gets to follow Navarro and Fletcher as they try to solve the case of the copycat killer. As the bloody packages arrive to Pantano, and the body count keeps climbing despite Davis’s incarceration, Fletcher gets too tied up in everything and soon becomes the focus of the copycat killer.

As the climax of the novel comes into sight, the sense of cat and mouse intensifies. Short, sharp chapters further the idea that the killer is getting closer. The chapters get shorter and shorter as the gap between chapters, and the gap between Fletcher and the copycat, is closing.

‘…routine. It is what curbs the chaos and squelches the insanity. If not for routine, this place would be engulfed in pandemonium.’

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the E-ARC of The Therapist. I love thrillers but I couldn't really get into this book, did not finish.

This book was just okay. I am all about psychiatric and psychological thrillers. It started off well, but then became repetitive. You never really get the whole story. And, you can predict the ending quite quickly, however, there is absolutely no explanation about how it tied together. It did keep my interest enough to finish however.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

If you enjoy physiological thrillers, this book is for you.
The therapist is helping criminals, including serial killers, to rehabilitate even if it takes years. She also assesses if people are insane or if they can attend a court of law. So many responsibilities fall on her, but when she meets an inmate who speaks in prose and music, who lies, and blame their evil voice, Larua, for multiple killing, the therapist is fearful but intrigued. However, the killings start again.. is it a copycat, a fan, or someone taunting the inmate?
The therapist, the warden, and an investigator will try to find the person responsible before more people die.

This one frustrated me. I bought in from the beginning, the idea of a psychiatrist at a criminal facility? Yes, please! And Trent Davis, the inmate? The stuff of nightmares. The character development was great. The tangents that could or could not turn into something important, loved it. And then… it ended. I checked to see if I missed something. Were there more pages? Did I accidentally skip something? But no, it just ended. I’m ok with an abrupt ending, it’s not my favorite, being a mystery girl I like a good monologue and summation. But this felt like the ending was forgotten. I’m giving it 3 ⭐️ because before the ending (or lack of one) this was pretty great.

Dr. Stephanie Fletcher is mourning the death of her therapist/mentor/savior when she comes across Trent Davis. A man sent to serve his sentence at the institution where she works as a therapist. Trent however is not their average prisoner; he is a well-known musician and serial killer with a very gory and gruesome modus operandi, when it comes to his killings. Yet, despite all this, Stephanie thinks she can decipher Trent and really explore his mind and figure out if this man is evil's incarnate or a monster shaped by his own trauma.

Right off the bat this book shocked me with just how dark it was, I was completely taken aback, yet I wasn't upset. I was even more enthralled as I realized just how twisted the story would be. Right from the get-go, we get a sense of who Trent really is and just how heinous his actions are. We then begin to delve into his childhood and see the trauma that he endured at a very young age.

The book also gives an insight into our FMC and her own trauma, trying to create a similarity between her and Trent's trauma, to give readers a better understanding as to why she thinks she understand him and sympathizes with him- that did not work for me at all.

Throughout, the course of the book I struggled to really connect with Stephanie. I found her character to be the complete opposite of what she was supposed to me. A forty-six-year-old, very seasoned and experienced therapist, who deals with cases like this every day- that is something that is mentioned many times throughout the book.

However, as the storyline progresses, she continues to play right into his hands. At this point I found her character to be insufferable, and her attitude to be one of a spoiled teenager who doesn't like to be told what to do, rather than a mature woman. Nonetheless, I still kept reading despite feeling like I knew what the plot twist was going to be. I still had faith that things were going to turn around for the better.

That in fact did not happen and things really went downhill around the 80% mark and that's when I decided that this book would not be anything higher than a 2-star rating for me.
After all that suspense, tense cat and mouse game with the killer and the detectives; to give me an ending like that, with such an obvious plot twist, that I could see from a mile away, felt almost cruel.
It was like the author ran out of ideas or the deadline was approaching, and the book had to be wrapped up quickly, it was not good at all. I was left reeling and not in a good way at all.

Overall, this book was a huge let down, mediocre in almost every way and I do not say that lightly at all. I can see how others would enjoy this, but I did not, and I am really upset by its ending. Had the ending been better executed my rating would have been higher.
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Special thanks to Netgalley, Storm Publishing and the author for my eARC of this book.

Thrillers are my palate cleanser in between my fantasy books. The concept of this book sounded intriguing the execution was off.
I had a hung about the twist early on but kept reading to confirm. It took about 60-70% through the book to pick up speed and get to the pacing I expect out of a thriller. There were too many side stories and sub plots and in the end they leave more questions than answers. The ending could have answered more of the questions and if it did, it would have been more satisfying.

Thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the arc of The therapist by S A Falk. It definitely keeps you sat on the edge of your seat and your toes curled. Well rounded and fast paced psychological thriller.

If you liked The Silent Patient, this book should be on your tbr. It’s full of suspense and keeps you on your toes from the first page. I would recommend this read if you love a psychological thriller.

'The Therapist' by S. A. Falk is dark thriller with great twists. It is a fast read but has a lot of graphic gore.