The Silent Patient

Author: Alex Michaelides
Genre: Suspense
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 323
Source: Local Public Library
Publisher: Celadon Books
First Published: February 5, 2019
Opening Lines: July 14 - I don't know why I'm writing this. That's not true. Maybe I do know and just don't want to admit it to myself.

Book Description from GoodReads: 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 Rating: 3 stars

My Review: This debut has received an enormous amount of hype and since I'm an avid reader of suspense, I thought I'd see what the fuss was about. 

The Silent Patient begins with an intriguing premise - a woman is accused and charged with the murder of her husband. She remains silent for years afterwards, living at The Grove, a mental health institution for dangerous offenders. Did she do it? If not, who did? Theo Faber, a psychologist at The Grove, is determined to find out. 

This book easily falls into the slow burn kind of suspense read - admittedly, not my favourite style. It was a quick read but the journey to that answer was a bit tedious. The twist, which happens at the very end of the book, is a doozy and I hadn't predicted it (high five to the author). But a great twist doesn't make up for a drawn-out story where not a lot happens to a bunch of characters who are hard to sympathize with and are generally a forgettable and unlikable bunch. And don't get me started on all the menfolk being described in positive terms like handsome and brilliant while the women were described in mainly negative terms (crazy, overweight, a shrew of a boss …) - what was with that?!?

So, where do I stand on this book? I'm going right down the middle with three stars. Did it live up to its hype? No. Did it have a good twist? Oh yes. This is a good debut but not a great one that will, I suspect, not stay with me long.