The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides, is the story of Theo and Alicia and their parallel childhood traumas and how their lives collide in the same story. Alicia is a talented painter with a traumatic childhood. She is also a murderer. She shot and killed her husband, but has refused to speak a single word, even years later. Theo is a psychotherapist with a similarily traumatic childhood. He sees Alicia as someone he can save. Someone he needs to help. He tries to get to the truth about what happened the night Alicia killed her husband.
The writing style of this story is clever. It sucks you in and holds on until it throws you for a loop you will not see coming. It's part thriller, part mystery as Theo goes on a quest to discover what drove Alicia to murder, and how to get her talking about it.
Mr. Michaelides is a brilliant storyteller. The way he put it all together made the ending all that more surprising. You think you know what's happening right up until you realize you really have no clue. Then it all makes sense. It is seamlessly done.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes mind games, thrillers, and mysteries because this book is all of the above.