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The Silent Patient

Debut novel of Alex Michaelides. A good psychological thriller, a page turner. Alicia Berenson, a young accomplished artist shoots her caring husband, shoots five times in the face killing him and goes silent and ends up in a psychiatric facility, The Grove. Theo Faber is a psychotherapist who is determined to break the wall Alicia built around her. His experience of having gone through long therapy sessions to overcome his own demons, makes him believe that he is the only person who can break through Alicia. Ofcourse he has other reasons too..
Pain of betrayal, pain of not being listened to, neglected and abused childhoods are all there.
Too much dependence on the good old, psychoanalytic theory and Freudian concepts makes it a little dark. But, then that is the very essence of the book. 

Altogether a very well written, intriguing thriller. You can't keep the book down until the last page is turned. The suspense holds right till the end. Enjoyed reading it.

Preetha Raj


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