This is a gripping thriller that left me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I had the opportunity to read this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing, and it is definitely a 5 star read for me.From the very beginning, I was captivated by the intricate storyline. The protagonist, a head psychiatrist at a maximum-security mental hospital in Southern California, is thrown into a chilling investigation when a high-profile killer enters their facility. This killer's past as a death metal musician accused of gruesome crimes sets the stage for a dark and twisted narrative that keeps you guessing until the very end. What impressed me the most was Falk's ability to delve deep into the minds of both the psychiatrist and the serial killer, creating mind games and suspense that had me turning pages eagerly. The attention to detail and the seamless portrayal of mental health professionals and the horrors they face added a layer of realism to the story. The pacing of the book is relentless, drawing the reader in with its fast-paced narrative and engaging plot twists. While some may have seen the ending coming, I found it to be a shocking and satisfying conclusion that tied up the story's threads effectively. The only slightly negative thing I can say about this book is that I wish the ending was a bit longer. I wanted more!!

The Therapist is a must-read for fans of thrillers and psychological suspense. S.A. Falk will definitely be an "auto-buy" author for me!!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was really enjoying reading The Therapist. Wanted to read other books by this author. I pictured Travis Davis, the highly controversial musician in the heavy metal band SOS turned "The Vampire of Bakersfield" being played by a aRick Springfield type actor and his fiance Finley played by someone like Winona Ryder. I was invested in the characters & storyline. I sensed the romance between Dr. Stephanie Finley and the detective. I wasn't a big fan of Dr Fletcher's dream scene. The poem paragraph chapters heightened the pacing. And then bam, a horrible ending. I'm not going to give spoilers but I'll just sum it up that it seems the author stopped caring and/or was rushed to finish. Such a major disappointment. I'm so mad that I can't even praise the positives of the book.

I know looking at the reviews that I'm in the minority on this but it was not for me. Way too dark and gruesome! That said, you can't deny that the writing was fast paced and twisty!

Thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the eARC of this book.

The Therapist
By: S.A. Falk

5 Stars

Dr. Fletcher has the job of working with the worst of the worst. After the death of her psychiatrist, she is presented with a case that will haunt her and make her question all that she has fought for. Is it her sanity or her patients she is fighting for?

Wow. Most thrillers grab, but this one captivates. It lures you in and makes you question your own mind. It was awesome. The writing and the storyline are done so well in this book. The book itself can get dark, but that makes the story so much more captivating and real. I loved the drama. I enjoyed the thrill of the chase. This is how a thriller should be done.


*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*

Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Review

This book was very gruesome at parts and had my stomach turning…HOWEVER, it still has me hooked and the twist at the end was great! If you’re not too queasy, I definitely recommend. Thanks NetGalley for the eARC!

Thanks to both Storm Publishing and NetGalley for this eARC!
I won't deny this book had me gripped. I managed to read it in approximately 4 hours total. Falk clearly understands how to keep a reader interested, slowly feeding you information, and then making you doubt everything you've learned.
However, if you want answers to all your questions, you won't find them.

×SPOILERS BELOW×
All of the mystery around Trent, who he is, why he does things, what is Larua, and how he is able to influence his "followers", are left unanswered. This is especially disappointing after figuring out the big twist almost immediately. The twist is also dampened with the idea of Steph's dissociative amnesia, as she is now completely unreliable.
I am left with nothing about Trent, the guy the book spends most of its time trying to figure out.

Overall, Falk is a very talented writer, spinning a dark psychological thriller mystery. I just wished more of the mystery got solved.

This book had me gripped from the beginning. A very dark and twisty thriller about a criminal psychologist, Dr Fletcher, who returns to work after a bereavement and starts working with new patient Trent Davies. Davies, a cannibalistic serial killer, nicknamed the Vampire of Bakersfield, has been sentenced to 6 consecutive life sentences in high security psychiatric hospital deemed insane. With a copycat killer on the loose, Dr Fletcher has her work cut out, overcoming her own issues and delving into Davies’s psyche. Then a parcel addressed to Davies is delivered to the hospital and the return address is Dr Fletchers….
Every twist and turn has you rethinking everything you first thought. I flew through this book trying to understand what was going on and it didn’t disappoint. However, I did feel the ending was rushed and there was no closure to a few aspects of Davies’s story and Larua. Overall I enjoyed the dark thriller, the mental health story line tying in with the characters childhood upbringing, and the role of PTSD in the characters social history and give it 4/5 stars. Would recommend and will be purchasing a copy for my mum.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm publishing for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review
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This was my first book by this author and it definitely didn’t disappoint! It had me hooked from the first few pages and I just couldn’t put it down. It reminded me of books I’ve read by Frieda McFadden, it has the twists and turns throughout the book that kept me guessing, I did guess what happened at the end and felt it was a little rushed but I would give this authors books another chance!

Wow
Wow….
A must read in 2024! I thought I’d worked it out so many times but I hadn’t! Do not read alone but definitely do read!
So many great descriptions and something different!
Enjoy!

Dark, disturbing, and twisted - "The Therapist," by S.A. Falk is like watching a gory horror movie. Personally, I am not a fan of horror movies.

I love a good thriller, but this was too much for me. It's about a therapist who treats the criminally insane. Her newest patient, serial killer Trent Davis, is the worst of the worst. When a copycat starts committing the same kinds of crimes as Davis, the therapist becomes determined to find out who is imitating her patient, while simultaneously analyzing him.

This book is gruesome, detailing crimes of murder, sexual assault, and cannibalism. There was also a lot of talk about demons, which I found especially disturbing and creepy. And not in an "edge of my seat" kind of way but in a "I can't sleep" kind of way.

The book is fast-paced, and it does keep you guessing until the end. The twist is solid, but I did feel like it was rushed, and even a little lazy. There are still a lot of unanswered questions that I wish were explained a little better. This could have been a great book to recap all the details at the end and explain how the twist was right in front of us the whole time. It felt like a missed opportunity.

If you like over-the-top, if you like thrillers that border on horror, this book is your jam. But personally, it was too dark for me.

Oh my gosh! This book crept under my skin, made me connect with Steph, the psychiatrist and at the end I just sat there and couldn't believe what I read. The book is just so good!

Trent Davis has been accused of murdering his victims in a gruesome way but he claims insanity and instead of prison, is sent to a psychiatric unit. There he meets psychiatrist Dr Stephanie Fletcher. There's this cat and mouse interaction between the two of them where Trent constantly plays these mind games.

Detective Navarro is called in to take on the case as there seems to be another killer out there, as the bodies pile up. Who is the killer while Trent is in a psychiatric unit?

This was an excellent read, very fast paced with an amazing twist that you didn't see coming. I only wish it had been 20 pages longer and expanded on the ending more.
The book follows a psychiatric doctor who deals with the worst of the worst. Her latest charge is a man who had been killing women, eating their organs and then dumping them at the side of the road.
You very quickly come to realise that something isn't quite right, is what he is saying true or is he lying?
The plot is well thought out, the characters are very believable and it is written very well.
Overall I really enjoyed this and would recommend to thriller fans!

This book started off with so much promise but after reading half of it.... I saw the twist coming and everything fell flat from then onwards. Too predictable. Well researched though. Not more than 3 stars for me.

From the first couple of pages, I was completely pulled in.. It was definitely unputdownable! Page after page, I needed to know who, what? Why?! But then.. Wait, what the heck?! I’m still speechless..

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC of The Therapist. Wow. That was a whirlwind that I consumed in two days. This held all of the makings of a true psychological thriller with some pieces of horror and shock value interlaced throughout. The characters worked together to create an amazing storyline. The shocking twist at the end after I thought I figured it out made this a 5 star read for me.

The Therapist by S.A. Falk is the true definition of a psychological thriller. This book has every piece of a thriller that makes a thriller a best seller. Psychosis, psychiatric breaks, murder, grotesque descriptions of what psych patients did to their victims, suspense, mystery, twists and turns. I will caution, that this book is dark. Really dark. But it’s also really good, like unputdownable good.

Set in a psychiatric hospital in California for the criminally insane, the main character, Dr. Stephanie Fletcher is tasked with a new patient, Trent, that sadistically and ritually murdered six women and engaged in cannibalism with their corpses. Dealing with a patient like this shakes Stephanie to her core, but when copycat murderer appears and mimics Trent’s murders, Stephanie becomes concerned that somehow, even from the psych facility, Trent is involved. Meanwhile, she is battling her own demons and fighting to keep them at bay. Who’s the copycat murderer? Is Stephanie in too deep with this patient? Did she cross a line that a psychiatrist should never cross with her patient? The ending will shock you.

The authors writing style was great, and the storyline was great. My only complaint is the ending was abrupt, also with a shocking twist, I would have loved it played out more with a tad bit more closure, but still, a 5 star read!

Really struggled with this book. Not my usual kind and for me it was too gory. I got a bit lost at parts and found it just not for me. However I do know folk will love all that.

A fast paced thriller that kept me intrigued right up until the end when it ended with no wrap up for the two main characters. Talk about a bummer, ruined the book completely for me.

Very Hannibal Lecter - esque !

The premise is interesting and some of the prose is very atmospheric but I did find the meanderings of the main character quite tedious at times.

Whilst I did anticipate the twist as the story unfolded the various characters involved certainly hold off that suspicion until nearing the end.

**3.5 Rounded up**

I have many mixed emotions about books with an unreliable narrator, this one is no exception. From the beginning, the author has you second guessing yourself on who the copycat killer is. However, if you pay close enough attention to the information between the lines, the ending can be predicted from the beginning. I definitely finished the book with the idea that I should’ve seen it coming a mile away. This is a classic psychological thriller that would make a fantastic introduction to the genre. There just wasn’t anything about the story that made it stand out against the rest. Definitely comparable to the Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.

TW: csa, religion, satan/devil, religious influence, sa, extreme mental health issues, violence, graphic descriptions of violent crimes, murder.