Alex Michaelides' The Silent Patient

This is psychological thriller with more twists and turns than expected. Although I found the ending to be rather rushed and not thought out well enough, this doesn’t take away from the intense narrative of a mentally unwell woman whose paranoia and broken spirit led to one day murdering her husband and refusing to speak a word for 6 years.

The text follows Theo, a psychotherapist with the intense desire to make his patient, Alicia, talk and tell him what happened on that summer night. He applies for a job in the mental facility she is being looked after in to try and be the one to cure her silence. Alongside Theo’s account there are Alicia’s own diary entries in the weeks/days before her husband’s murder which are weaved into the narrative and paints a picture of her mental state before she took her vow of silence. This is cleverly done as it helps to demonstrate the trauma of Alicia’s childhood alongside highlighting Theo’s obsession with Alicia. This is an excellent, slow-burning thriller which has been meticulously planned and was impossible to put down.

This review is only short as saying anymore could give away an important twist which shapes how you view the novel. This is the definition of a page-turner and you will kick yourself if you don’t work out the missing peace of Michaelides’ puzzle. If I could re-read this text again without knowing the ending I would because you will not see it coming!