The Patient

The Silent Patient by way of Stephen King: Parker, a young, overconfident psychiatrist new to his job at a mental asylum, miscalculates catastrophically when he undertakes curing a mysterious and profoundly dangerous patient.

In a series of online posts, Parker H., a young psychiatrist, chronicles the harrowing account of his time working at a dreary mental hospital in New England. Through this internet message board, Parker hopes to communicate with the world his effort to cure one bewildering patient.

We learn, as Parker did on his first day at the hospital, of the facility’s most difficult, profoundly dangerous case—a forty-year-old man who was originally admitted to the hospital at age six. This patient has no known diagnosis. His symptoms seem to evolve over time. Every person who has attempted to treat him has been driven to madness or suicide.

Desperate and fearful, the hospital’s directors keep him strictly confined and allow minimal contact with staff for their own safety, convinced that releasing him would unleash catastrophe on the outside world. Parker, brilliant and overconfident, takes it upon himself to discover what ails this mystery patient and finally cure him. But from his first encounter with the mystery patient, things spiral out of control, and, facing a possibility beyond his wildest imaginings, Parker is forced to question everything he thought he knew.

Fans of Sarah Pinborough’s Behind Her Eyes and Paul Tremblay’s The Cabin at the End of the World will be riveted by Jasper DeWitt’s astonishing debut.

Narrated by Earphones Award winner Edoardo Ballerini.

Great Performance & Ok Story

The reader gives a fantastic performance of the characters and has an enjoyable voice to listen to. The story is interesting and gives a really great buildup, however I feel that it fizzled toward the end. I kept looking at the time shocked that it was almost finished right when I felt it got to the best part. Hoping for a part 2 in the future.

Something to really frighten you

This was a story twist I did not see coming. And an interesting version of psychosis vs occultism. Very entertaining in a dark room alone.

5 star

So good. Riveting from beginning to end. loved it so darn much. must read now

It was so close…

Oh, boy. This is a conflicting one for me. This story has all of the ingredients needed for an absolutely great horror/thriller book, but it never really comes together in a satisfying way for me.

The book needed to be longer. It’s really interesting, but it moves at such a fast pace, that with it being as short as it is, doesn’t leave enough time to flesh out really any of the characters. Could have probably used another 100 pages or so to just add some more depth.

As it is, it’s still very enjoyable. I just can’t help but feel there’s a lot of wasted potential here. It’s good, but it should be great.

Slow burn, but terrifying

Wonderful mix of psychological, supernatural, and cosmic horror. Not an avid reader, but I picked it up and read it all in one day.