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Review: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Kate CullinanLeave a comment
the silent patient - alex michaelides thriller NYT bestseller

Just like any typical 20 -something I seem to be drawn to psychological thrillers these days. Not to brag, but I can usually see all of the “unexpected plot twists” coming from a mile away. I am also notorious for predicting the ending of a movie 10 minutes in and whispering to my boyfriend “she did it”, which he is obviously really fond of.  I started reading The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides with the expectation that I would be able to use my amazing skills to see the ending coming early on. However, I am pleasantly surprised to report that this was not the case.

 The Silent Patient is the story of a psychotherapist, Theo Faber, who takes a job at a high security psychiatric hospital in the hopes of triggering a breakthrough in one of the most notorious patients there, a woman who shot her husband five times without any known motive. Alicia Berenson has not spoken one word since she was charged with the murder of her husband. She is a well known local artist and her last attempt at communication was a self portrait entitled Alcestis.  To provide some background Alcestis is a lesser known Greek play in which the Queen Alcestis volunteers to die in the place of her husband Admetus. She was rescued by Hercules and brought back to life. Alcestis is the epitome of a selfless woman/wife in the setting of ancient Greece. Alex Michaelides uses Alcestis to help build Alicia Berenson’s character and to set the stage for the events leading to her husband’s death.

Theo Faber has a personal history of mental illness. He uses his experience with depression, child abuse and PTSD to help foster meaningful bonds with his patients. He is determined to help Alicia come to terms with her crime and speak out about what happened to her. As the novel unfolds we slowly learn that Theo has some unresolved issues of his own that still haunt him, and that he relates to Alicia’s situation on a very personal level.

The author does an excellent job at periodically introducing less significant characters that may or may not have played a role in the crime. This led to numerous moments where I thought I had figured it all out- but alas, I must admit I did not accurately predict this one.

Beach Reads · books

Book Review: The Flight Attendant

Kate CullinanLeave a comment

When in Dubai…

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian was exactly what you would expect from a book that you pick up on your way home from a trip to Florida. The story was comparable to a turbulent flight that regained its composure with an unexpected surprise landing; the elderly people on your flight would give it a few loud claps.

Our main character is Cassandra “Cassie” Bowden. She is a seasoned flight attendant known to her co-workers for disappearing with passengers during their layovers, and drinking a little too much. Despite her party girl exterior she is a reliable employee and her passengers enjoy her. We soon learn that she puts out this carefree persona to cover up a darker, more complex past. Our story begins in Dubai where Cassie spends the night with a passenger, Alex, which is something pretty routine for her. This “run of the mill” one night stand takes a sinister turn when she wakes up with her lover in bed next to her, dead, after being murdered at some point in the night.

The rest of the novel follows Cassie as she faces the consequences of her drunken actions. Cassie as a character is inherently interesting because she is a single flight attendant and also a drunk. She has gotten away with a lot in life due to her good looks and is not accustomed to having to deal with the repercussions of her poor choices. In other words she’s flighty (ba-dum bum). Being that she woke up next to the dead passenger it is assumed at first that she killed him, except she was too drunk to remember if she did or not. Going forward, much of the book depicts Cassie waiting to hear from her lawyer regarding if/when she would be charged with murder, while also continuing to work as a flight attendant and have romantic rendezvous with foreign men. 

Elena (aka Miranda) is the other female lead in the novel. She is the errand girl for a prominent Russian gangster. She is introduced to us as an acquaintance of Alex (Cassie’s dead lover) and the three share a nightcap shortly before Alex ends up bleeding out in bed. The reader learns that Elena’s father was involved with the KGB and she followed a similar path. It is clear early on that Elena is involved with Alex’s death but the reader slowly learns a lot more about the black widow as the story unfolds.

The novel has potential. There are your typical Russian ex- KGB villains, multiple romps across Europe, and spies. Although it has the ingredients for an enthralling story I found myself bored for most of it. I did appreciate that Cassie as a character ended up being deeper than I initially thought. I found her carefree, fly- off -the- seat- of -your pants attitude endearing and definitely rooted for her for the whole entirety of the book. The ending made up for an overall slow story progression but it was also somewhat confusing and I felt as if the author was pulling things out of “thin air” to get the book over with. All in all giving this one * 2 paws up *.

Categories: Beach reads, travel, spies, mystery