The Silent Patient-Alex Michaelides

Book: The Silent Patient

Author: Alex Michaelides

Publisher: Hachette India

Do you believe that some secrets are meant to stay buried, or do you believe that truth always sees the light of the day?

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is the story of Alicia who writes in her diary as a release, and to probe to her husband that she is fine. Everything seems fine until one day she shoots her husband, Gabriel, five times in the head, and never speaks another word ever again. Forensic Psychotherapist Theo believes that he can treat Alicia and make her speak. He takes over her case and starts investigating what went wrong that day in Alicia’s life when she decided to stop speaking to the world. With a plot full of hooks and suspense curves, the question arises, would Theo really want to hear the truth, would the world understand the truth?

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is a suspense thriller that keeps the reader on his/her toes while the narration goes on. With a staggered timeline and things being told in a manner that the characters are reminiscing, each chapter is a hook for the other one. I took up the book on the recommendation of two amazing readers Shreya and Roshni and as a part of a buddy read, but the hooks kept me hooked and I wrapped up the book in a day. The storytelling is amazing, and I was floored by the way Alex treats his plot points. The unravelling of the story is carefully handled, not giving out any spoilers at any point. The way each sub lot blends into the main storyline is just mind-blowing. The climax of the story was breathtaking and totally unexpected. The way the things start making sense as soon as the last page is turned is the evidence of the mastery of the art of storytelling by the author. I would also like to specially mention the way things are described, specially the setting, the hospital room, Alicia’s home, that one can actually visualize the scene happening in from of him/her. I would also like to mention the cover art that subtly hints at perspective and which I believe is the central plot of the story.

Talking about the character development, this book works because of its extremely strong character development. Alicia is developed as a woman who is surrounded by men who have different feelings for her. Be it her husband, or her brother-in-law, her father etc., each of them are shown to have an impact on her and the stories are convincing, and we get to understand the mind of Alicia today and the reasons behind it. The character if Theo is quite complex and the way his story unravels is a masterpiece in itself. His struggle with drugs, depression, abusive father etc., we sympathize with him and connect with him to a certain level. Same goes with the characters of Christian, Ruth, etc. each of them plays a part in the story and elevate it to the level of an impressive murder mystery.

Overall, a must-read for people who love mystery stories.

A cocktail of emotions, the book is the first 5-star rated book from my 2020 shelf.