Genre: Psychological Thriller
Published: March 5, 2019
My rating: 5/5
Goodreads Synopsis:
Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.
Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.
Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him….
My Thoughts
This was a fantastic book. The kind that makes you want to wake up the person beside you to tell them all the gory details at 3am. May or may not be a direct reflection of life…
Anyways! I loved this book!
Talk about engaging! The premise alone had me cocking an eyebrow. A woman is incarcerated for brutally murdering her husband in cold blood with what appears to be no motive in sight. And what’s more sensational about it, is her pledge to silence following the arrest. The murder can’t be confirmed, denied, interrogated or explained. The evidence speaks for itself though… she’s found holding the gun. The husband is found tied to a chair with his face blown off.
But why??
To say this book caught me off guard would be an understatement. The characters are richly explored – no one has a repeating voice. No two are the same. The writing is crisp and clean. Phrasing is important, tenses even more so. Michaelides does a fantastic job of leading the readers’ eye where he wants it without throwing disingenuous redirections and ‘clues’ as to how the book may end. I didn’t know where it was going and that kept me rapt to turn those pages. There’s a feeling of well-researched content all the way through that encourages the reader to become fully immersed and the quick-pace makes this book an easy one to devour.
I’m cutting this review there. Because trust me, that’s enough. Go get this one. You’ll want to hear the Silent Patient’s story for yourself.
Just Keep Writing 