As a kid, I requested both volumes of Sherlock Holmes before I was 11 and read all 99 Nancy Drew books before high school. I consumed mystery novels as though they were my bread and butter. At some point bread and butter became bland and I forgot about my love of suspenseful stories. While not technically a mystery novel, The Silent Patient has helped me re-discover my long-ago interest in thrillers, getting me back on a basic diet of intrigue and anticipation.
A psychological thriller, the story is told from the perspective of Theo Faber, a psychotherapist bent on curing the patient Alicia Berenson who went mute after allegedly murdering her husband. The story gave me strong “Catcher in the Rye” vibes, but so do a lot of first-person narratives; high school English really hammered in a suspicion of the “unreliable narrator”. The Silent Patient was one of those books that, after you pass a certain point, you have to finish, which is how I spent four hours of my Saturday listening to the last third of the book. The varying perspectives and alternating timelines are engaging and enticing without losing the reader along the way. For those wary of “thrillers” due to an unkown element of fear, I have an incredibly low threshold for terror and was completely absorbed in the story the entire time. If I was fine, you’ll be fine.
As I write this reflection, I’m struck by how easily I became immersed in the story. I felt intimately familiar with characters without realizing I had gotten their “backstory reveal” and found I didn’t need elaborate descriptions to understand the feelings and emotions playing out before me. The stories you naturally fall into are some of my favorites. The element of suspense sneaks in unbeknownst to the reader and suddenly your entire Saturday is gone and you’ve finished the book.
Personal rating: 8/10 ~ I considered 7.5 but I’m so happy to have re-discovered this genre it deserves the extra .5 bump.
Recommend? Absolutely.
Re-read? Probably not, but how many thrillers do you re-read once you know the ending?
Time: 1:56
Bonus Content: If you’re a sucker for a British accent, listen to the audiobook. You’re welcome.