The Silent Patient - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1409181618 ISBN 13: 9781409181613

Synopsis

The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.

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....

About this title

About the Author

Alex Michaelides was born in Cyprus in 1977. He wrote the film The Devil You Know starring Rosamund Pike and co-wrote The Brits are Coming, starring Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Stephen Fry, Parker Posey and Sofia Vergara. The Silent Patient is first novel. He was inspired to write it while doing a post graduate course in psychotherapy, and working part-time at a secure psychiatric unit for two years.

Review

'Just one more chapter. Just one more. Then I'll stop.' Once you pick up The Silent Patient, this will be what you'll say to yourself, until you give in and keep reading until the blindsiding and brilliantly clever conclusion - no matter how good a sleuth you are, you aren't going to see it coming * EMILY KOCH, author of IF I DIE BEFORE I WAKE * An excellent, slow-burning psychological thriller; sharp, clever and with a whammy that genuinely took me by surprise (it takes a lot to do this). Kudos to the author. More, please. * JOANNE HARRIS * That rarest of beasts: the perfect thriller. This extraordinary novel set my blood fizzing - I quite literally couldn't put it down. I told myself I'd just dip in; eleven hours later - it's now 5.47 AM - I've finished it, absolutely dazzled * A. J. Finn, bestselling author of THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW * Smart, sophisticated storytelling freighted with real suspense - a very fine novel by any standard * LEE CHILD * The Silent Patient sneaks up on you like a slash of intimidating shadow on a badly lit street. Michaelides has crafted a totally original, spellbinding psychological mystery so quirky, so unique that it should have its own genre. I read it in two nights and savored every luscious word, every grim encounter, every startling twist. The pages will burn with the friction from your hands turning them * DAVID BALDACCI *

Edition details

• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1409181618
• ISBN 13: 9781409181613
• Binding: Hardcover