The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

 

I know you have all heard the hype about this book. Well believe the hype, it is really that good.

The very first chapter opens with Alicia Berenson standing in her living room covered in blood. There is blood on the walls and the floors and all over her. She is standing in front of a chair that her husband is sitting in, with his face blown off. He has been shot 5 times in the face at close range. His wrists and ankles bound with wire. Alicia is bleeding from both wrists that have been slashed. How is that for an opening? I bet that would get your attention. Well it sure got mine.

Alicia was 33 yrs old at the time and a rising star as a painter. Her husband Gabriel was a 44 year old photographer who was well sought out. He had just returned home late from a photo shoot. Why did Alicia do it? Nobody knows, but there is no other suspect, her prints were all over everything. The thing is...she never spoke a word. For 6 long years after her husband was murdered, she kept silent. Is Alicia capable of this violence? Why is she silent? Everyone has long given up on her. Until the new psychotherapist rolls onto the scene.

Theo Faber is the new psychotherapist hired by The Grove, the facility Alicia is in. Can he break her silence? Can he win her over? Everyone tells him to forget it, that she is a lost cause. Is she silent out of guilt or is she covering for someone else? Or has she simply lost her mind?

This book blew my mind. Watch out 2019 The Silent Patient is coming. It literally left me speechless, no pun intended. I really can't say much more because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Just know I gasped and said "WHAT?!!!" I never saw it coming. I am going to bet you won't either. Will we ever hear Alicia speak again? If so, what could she possibly have to say?

This is a MUST read in my opinion. It was absolutely a phenomenal unique read! If I could give it more than 5 stars I would!

Thank you so much Alex Michaelides, Orion Books and Poppy Stimpson for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.