The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Alicia Berenson shot her husband multiple times in the face one night. She then waited for the police to show up. She was charged with murder & sent to a mental care facility “The Grove”. She has never spoke another word since that night, until 6 years later.

Why did she murder her husband? Why doesn’t she speak? Is she silently crying for help?

These questions haunted Theo Faber. Theo is the narrator of the story. He is a psychotherapist & declares early on that he himself is pretty fucked up because of his past. Theo works elsewhere but cannot get Alicia’s case out of his mind. Finally, after 6 years he gets an opportunity to work at the Grove.

While Theo is investigating Alicia’s past leading up to the night she shot her husband, we see his own life unravelling. The more he digs into Alicia’s past, the deeper we get to Theo’s own past & present.

Theo yearns to understand Alicia, to help her and be the one who can get her to speak. Through Theo’s POV & Alicia’s diary we are taken on for a hell of a ride with little surprises here and there.

I mean why would she murder her husband? They have been married for 6 years. She is a famous painter & him a talented photographer and their life seems great. Why kill & then not talk?

I could not stop reading until I found out. The twist was interesting though to be honest if you have read a ton of thrillers, it was pretty obvious. The writing of the book is its redeemable quality. It is gripping & will make you want to read just 1 more chapter. Overall, a good thriller just not ‘the thriller’.