The Silent Patient

A murder, a psychiatric hospital, and plenty of drama. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is a psychological thriller through and through. After being booked for the murder of her husband, Alicia is sent off to the Grove mental hospital for treatment. There, she is heavily medicated, does not respond well to the program, and, more curiously, refuses to speak to anyone. (Hence the title of the book.) Enter Theo, a psychiatrist who has sought a job at the Grove so he can personally treat the hospitalized artist. The current psychiatric team has all but given up trying to treat her, so letting Theo have a go may be the last hope of saving her sanity and finding out why she committed such a heinous act.

I enjoy a slow-burn thriller, but the story and the character development were a bit too sparse for me; most of the patient treatments were head-scratchingly unprofessional; and the drama felt very much like a soap opera. That being said, I do believe the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

It might not reach the same heights as a similar Christie novel or do much for me, but it had its moments and might just wiggle its way into your psyche.