The twist caught me completely by surprise. The whole time I found myself getting impatient with narrator Theo's personal drama, not comprehending its bearing on his "relationship" with the titular silent patient, Alicia. In hindsight, I find it so very clever because I was utterly fooled.
The Silent Patient takes a different approach to the psychological thriller, turning the typical formula on its head. The story takes place after the crime, unwinding until the details are revealed. The main character is a man who seems to have his life together (instead of the paranoid woman that Alicia would have been as the main protagonist). There's actual psychology in there (or at least psychotherapy).
I love the ties to the Greek tragedy Alcestis. It's clever and ends up revealing a lot about events in the story. I also liked the way false clues were presented and discarded. And also how, for once, the reader knows even less than the protagonist.
The Silent Patient takes a different approach to the psychological thriller, turning the typical formula on its head. The story takes place after the crime, unwinding until the details are revealed. The main character is a man who seems to have his life together (instead of the paranoid woman that Alicia would have been as the main protagonist). There's actual psychology in there (or at least psychotherapy).
I love the ties to the Greek tragedy Alcestis. It's clever and ends up revealing a lot about events in the story. I also liked the way false clues were presented and discarded. And also how, for once, the reader knows even less than the protagonist.