If you’re looking for a page-turner that’s part psychological thriller and part detective story, look no further. Let’s follow along with Doc-tective Theo Faber as he tries to uncover the truth from his silent patient, Alicia Berenson, convicted of killing her husband…
The Silent Patient
Author: Alex Michaelides
Pages: 359
Format: Paperback
Published: February 5, 2019
Publisher: Celadon Books
View on Goodreads
Date Completed: December 28, 2024
My rating: 
Thoughts
I picked this book for my book club at work. I hadn’t read it before and really didn’t know much beyond “woman kills husband then stops speaking.” Once I was clued into the existence of this book, I started noticing people all over the place recommending it. As the month wore on, I still hadn’t even started reading it yet. Hey! I have a lot on my reading list! Relax! But my co-workers kept asking if I’d read it yet because they’d already finished and were eager to talk about it.
This is one of those books that I have to be really careful to keep spoiler free. I don’t think it’s a spoiler (since it’s in the prologue) to say that we get Alicia’s point of view through diary entries and the remainder of the story is told from Theo’s viewpoint. I thought this was a good way to give Alicia a voice. Of the plot I’ll say no more. Just to tell you to go read it.
The writing was very readable and the chapters were short. Perfect for making a story move quickly. The mystery of the whole thing, which is why Alicia killed her husband and why she isn’t speaking, is kept hidden throughout much of the book. By the conclusion everything almost seems obvious, which would make for an interesting re-read at some point.
I do have to shave a little off my rating since my wife is a psychologist and pointed out some of the glaring wrongdoings on the part of Theo in his investigation and treatment of Alicia. But I’m not a psychologist – just a guy looking for a great yarn! Which this is!
In the end, I gave this 4.5 out of 5 stars. The writing and the story had me hooked until the very end and I am most definitely going to look into Michaelides’s other books!
