The Patient

By: Jasper DeWitt

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

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 40-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.

©2020 Jasper DeWitt (P)2020 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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

Interesting Plot

I don’t usually read this genre, but the reviews were good so I gave it a shot. I really enjoyed this quick listen, & unlike some other reviewers I didn’t guess the ending. Very enjoyable, recommended. The narration was perfect, too.

Good, Quick Read

It was a good quick read, only 3 hours long. I enjoyed the ride while I was on it, but still feeling conflicted about the ending.

Pretty good finished it in one sitting.

I love of this book is set up as the main character Parker telling the reader the story from blog posts. Has a bit of a confusing ending but later got the point.

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.

No Sleep

This is an excellent No Sleep story.

I enjoyed it. I love psychology and scary stories.

There is quite a bit of that Reddit story time feel to this. If I am not reading books, I listen to true crime podcasts and listen to reddit scary stories. This book has that vibe of being written by someone who has read a lot of SCPs and really likes their old timey, captain's log kind of doctors who are somehow young but just as comfortable as inserts into games like Fallout or Bioshock.

I am not saying that is a bad thing but when you know the pattern popular No Sleep stories tend to take, you will know the pattern for this book.

The characters are interesting. The monster is interesting in theory but a little underwhelming as a genuine character. The characters are a little cliche ..... and I still loved it.

It was very fun. I was always happy to get to jump back into the story and I am glad I read it.

couldn’t stop listening

the way this was written is phenomenal, it wasn’t entirely the kind of book i was wanting to read but it was impossible to put down nonetheless. the plot was engaging and while i’m not well versed in psychological/ suspenseful books i found the plot to be quite unique. would definitely recommend for someone wanting a fairly quick book to get through with a mystery aspect to it, however, please look for trigger warnings before you read as certain parts mention sensitive topics (in a respectful and well informed manner, but still) i also love how this book portrays the reality of a lot of psychiatric facilities and the restrictions they face when it comes to funding and social stigma

Excellent book! I loved it!

Jasper DeWitt needs to write more books! He keeps you on the edge of your seat and you never know what’s going to happen.