The Silent Patient was one book that has been garnering a lot of hype in last few months and more than one people have recommended this to me. I had the reputation for a “sucker for thriller” at one point and then I kind of stopped reading more in this genre. It was because, I used to figure out the end within first 20-30% of the story and it was no fun. So I was skeptical about The silent patient. However, it did surprise me as it took me some time to figure out the twist.
The Silent Patient is a good thriller. It has interesting characters and the no -linear storytelling did the trick for me. Non-linear storytelling is the key aspect of this thriller. Alicia and Theo are two interesting characters. They were developed well so that reader can empathize and sympathize with them at some point. There are glimpses of some other interesting characters, Yuri being one of them. Kathy and Gabriel were described through Theo’s eyes just like all other characters, as he is the narrator in most part.
Mental health, borderline personality and some other things have been discussed here. The author didn’t go deeper and rightly so as not everything can be explained in a thriller properly and it is better not to divulge into such sensitive points in a thriller. Unfolding the mystery is very crucial and Michaelids has done that skillfully here. It is a whodunnit with multiple layers and point of views. A reader’s delight.
Psychological thriller are not easy. The Silent Patient is steady, fast and impactful.
This is the debut novel by Alex Michaelids and I would look forward to the upcoming ones.
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