An Excellent Psychological Thriller

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An Excellent Psychological Thriller

The Silent Patient by Alex Mchaelides was an excellent psychological thriller. I had heard so much about this book prior to actually reading it that I was afraid it would fall short for me. Boy was I ever wrong. I was so glad that I had the opportunity to listen to The Silent Patient on audio CD read by Louise Brealey and Jack Hawkins. They really brought the story to life. Every time I thought I had something figured out another curve was thrown in. The ending really blew me away. Once I began listening to The Silent Patient I did not want to turn it off. Many nights, as I arrived home, I found myself stuck in my car wanting to listen to more and more. My neighbors must have thought I was a little crazy when they saw me sitting in my car for so long. It was that amazing!

Alicia Berenson was a famous artist that lived in London with her husband, a fashion photographer, named Gabriel. She and Gabriel loved each other very much and had a wonderful marriage. Alicia was quite fragile at times and depended on Gabriel a great deal. He appeared to care and worry about Alicia very much. Everything in their lives was wonderful until one evening in the summer when Gabriel arrived home very late from work. That night Alicia shot Gabriel in the face five times with his own gun. From that point on, Alicia became the silent patient. She chose not to talk.

After being accused of Gabriel's murder, Alicia found herself at The Grove, a private psychiatric facility in North London. Theo Faber, a criminal psychotherapist, applied for a position at the Grove. When he was hired, he immediately set his sights on working with Alicia. He tried to convince his superiors that he could get Alicia to break her silence and talk. Theo's sole reason for wanting to work at the Grove was so he could get involved in Alicia's case. By now, Alicia's fate and silence had created a lot of talk and popularity. Theo felt confident that he could get Alicia to start talking and find out what really happened that fateful night. Eventually Alicia does start to speak. She shared her journals with Theo which gave him insight to what probably happened that night. He became so absorbed in Alicia's case that it started to threaten his well-being and his life.

Alex Michaelides was able to weave, through his writing, a suspenseful and thrilling story in The Silent Patient. This was his first novel and what a novel it was! I sincerely hope he continues to write more novels. His talent for keeping the reader engaged and on the edge of the seat was evident. The Silent Patient was a fabulous psychological thriller. I recommend it highly.