A brutal and unexplainable crime, a suspect with no defense, an incriminating painting

The Silent Patient starts off with a bang, or rather several. After the briefest glimpse of a diary, where Alicia Berenson describes her loving husband and gives the barest hints of some personal demons, we're thrown into a world where Alicia turns out to be a senseless, shameless killer - or so the public believes. But Alicia says nothing and has said absolutely nothing since she and her husband were found after his murder. By presenting this dichotomy early, a reader is left unsettled and curious, hoping - like narrator Theo - to uncover the truth.

The cover is seemingly plain with the barest hint of horror: between ragged edges, a tear right across the mouth, the hidden face behind the fabric, and the red letters.