The premise of this one alone hooked me: I absolutely had to know more about this mysterious patient and just what is going on at this hospital.
Parker is a freshly minted psychiatrist, with very personal reasons for not only joining the field, but taking a position at a hospital that is, let's say, not up to par. Overworked, underfunded, all that jazz (it really is the cliche of the horror-set mental institution), this place has one more strike against it: a patient named Joe who has been there for forty years. He's undiagnosable and has led several staff members to madness and suicide.
But overconfident Parker thinks he can cure and save this man. Told through a series of message board posts, Parker shares his ordeal with the world and uncovers something more terrifying than he originally expected.
I don't quite know what to do with this book. It was a fast read, but much of that is because this book is so short. But I admit to being hooked enough to read it to the end. Unfortunately, I ended up feeling a bit short-changed and searching for more pages to fill in a lot of missing holes.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes shorter is better and I've read enough books where the length is nothing more than filler material that doesn't add to the story. But The Patient left me with so many questions! It's frustrating when a book raises more questions than it answers. And Parker's voice is a little more than pretentious, which didn't help me connect to him.
I'm trying not to give away the plot, but I need more: Jocelyn is clearly Parker's salve, and yet she's so incredibly in the background. Same with Joe's parents (and come on, he's got a sister out there somewhere? WHERE IS SHE). Same with Joe! I need much more backstory there for any of this to feel satisfying. Again, it's difficult to expand upon that without entering spoiler territory. And the lead up to the climax is so drawn out, that when that climax finally happens, the unraveling is so quick that you almost miss it. This is the most interesting part of the whole book, and the reader is left grasping at it, clinging in a desperate attempt to have more meat (of the story, that is, not the gore, which is admittedly brief for horror).
I'm sure this worked beautifully as the reddit story it began as. As a book, it just needs a little more flesh.
The branding of this also seems to be a little off. It's billed here as a mystery/thriller, but it really belongs in the supernatural horror realm.
Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for this review copy. It was entertaining enough, though I wouldn't read it again, but I'm sure it will find a good home among horror fans.
Parker is a freshly minted psychiatrist, with very personal reasons for not only joining the field, but taking a position at a hospital that is, let's say, not up to par. Overworked, underfunded, all that jazz (it really is the cliche of the horror-set mental institution), this place has one more strike against it: a patient named Joe who has been there for forty years. He's undiagnosable and has led several staff members to madness and suicide.
But overconfident Parker thinks he can cure and save this man. Told through a series of message board posts, Parker shares his ordeal with the world and uncovers something more terrifying than he originally expected.
I don't quite know what to do with this book. It was a fast read, but much of that is because this book is so short. But I admit to being hooked enough to read it to the end. Unfortunately, I ended up feeling a bit short-changed and searching for more pages to fill in a lot of missing holes.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes shorter is better and I've read enough books where the length is nothing more than filler material that doesn't add to the story. But The Patient left me with so many questions! It's frustrating when a book raises more questions than it answers. And Parker's voice is a little more than pretentious, which didn't help me connect to him.
I'm trying not to give away the plot, but I need more: Jocelyn is clearly Parker's salve, and yet she's so incredibly in the background. Same with Joe's parents (and come on, he's got a sister out there somewhere? WHERE IS SHE). Same with Joe! I need much more backstory there for any of this to feel satisfying. Again, it's difficult to expand upon that without entering spoiler territory. And the lead up to the climax is so drawn out, that when that climax finally happens, the unraveling is so quick that you almost miss it. This is the most interesting part of the whole book, and the reader is left grasping at it, clinging in a desperate attempt to have more meat (of the story, that is, not the gore, which is admittedly brief for horror).
I'm sure this worked beautifully as the reddit story it began as. As a book, it just needs a little more flesh.
The branding of this also seems to be a little off. It's billed here as a mystery/thriller, but it really belongs in the supernatural horror realm.
Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for this review copy. It was entertaining enough, though I wouldn't read it again, but I'm sure it will find a good home among horror fans.