The Silent Patient started out amazingly. We have a very violent murder, a woman who won’t (or can’t) speak, and a therapist who is dying to find out what happened, to make Alicia talk. Where the book fails for me is in its twist.

We’re told things aren’t as they appear from the start, and the promotional copy makes sure we know there is a “most shocking, mind-blowing twist”. Unfortunately, for the genre-savvy reader, this twist is easy to predict. In fact, it was such an obvious twist, it made reading the rest of the book almost dull.

The writing is sound, and the author does manage to make his main character feel like the type of person you can’t always trust. I’m just not sure the writing is strong enough to hold out for as long as the book is. Still, it’s a fairly original idea and maybe if it’s the first mystery you’ve picked up in a while, you’re probably good to go.