The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

We call them Fogs, Friends of Garry - those people who worked with my dad on his movies - 18 films over the course of 34 years. My siblings and I would only see The Fogs when we visited our father on his movie sets. Since his death in 2016, I have started following many Fogs on social media. And instead of making me sad, it makes me happy to see the Fogs progressing their careers in film and television. When they start a new movie, play, or TV show, I get excited for them, and swell with my dad’s pride. Recently one of the Fogs went on vacation to Cabo, and she brought along this book, only to find one of her traveling companions brought along the same book. They posted pictures of their twin reads on Instagram. Of course, I immediately had to read the book, to see what all the excitement was about. "The Silent Patient" is the first novel by Alex Michaelides, who was born and raised in Cypress and now lives in England. Set in London, this thriller opens with Alicia Berenson, a famous painter, who literally shoots her fashion photograph husband, Gabriel, to death in their home late one night. Following the murder, she is sent to a diagnostics forensics unit called The Grove, to be observed by doctors. After the shooting Alicia stops speaking, and the doctors try to figure out the key to her silence. Enter Theo Faber, a criminal psychotherapist, who has studied the murder and longed to work with Alicia. While he interviews her friends, and notices the increasing worth of her art, he starts to piece together what happened the night of the murder. Both suspenseful and compelling, "The Silent Patient" is a good beach read in Cabo or just a good winter read for March. The twists and turns to the truth are unbelievable. I look forward to more books by Michaelides, as well as the future adventures of all the Fogs. To buy this book on Amazon click here.