Book by: Alex Michaelides
By: Reilly Buselli
Six years ago, Alicia Berenson shot her husband five times and then didn’t speak another word. It is psychotherapist Theo Faber’s job to figure out why.
To the naked eye, it seemed that Alicia and her husband Gabriel were living a picture-perfect life. Alicia was a renowned artist who was famous for the emotions and stories that she was able to convey in her art, and Gabriel was one of the highest paid photographers in their area. With so much success, they appeared to have every reason to be happy, so why they weren’t is a secret waiting to be uncovered.
Theo’s investigation is tougher than he thought it would be because anyone who knew Alicia or Gabriel is refusing to speak about them. It isn’t until Theo uncovers Alicia’s diary that he discovers another person in their life that he wasn’t aware of before. Someone had been stalking Alicia for the weeks leading up to the murder. This person may be the key to finding out what caused Alicia to commit such a shocking act.
Theo is doing his best to solve this case, but his home life is unraveling before his eyes. He suspects his wife of being unfaithful to him but struggles to confront her, and the betrayal that he feels from this only seems to push him deeper into this case. His own sense of control seems to be slipping away, pushing him closer to being the psychotherapy patient rather than the therapist.
Theo and Alicia both grew up in broken, dangerous homes where they felt powerless against their environment. They were abused as children but chose different ways to cope with it. Theo became a psychotherapist to try to talk others through their trauma, but he seems to recognize that he is healing his own trauma in the process. Alicia, however, found an emotional escape in her silent suffering. Both characters choose to cope in completely different ways, leaving readers wondering which one will break first.
Theo’s journey to uncover the cause of this murder will have you marveling at the plot twists and leave you stunned by the character development. It’s no secret that Alex Michaelides knows how to write a murder mystery, and The Silent Patient serves as a chilling reminder of just how far people will go to hide the truth.
