Author: Alex Michaelides
# of Pages: 8 hours and 43 minutes
Genre: Adult, Mystery, Thriller
Synopsis: Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....
Review: Wow, this book EXCEEDED my expectations.
I didn't hear about this book until I saw the audiobook version was available in my local library's e-collection. A "who done it?" mystery story with so many unexpected twists and turns, if I read this book rather than listened to it, I have no doubt that it would have been a page turner. I was hoping this book would last me for at least; I couldn't help but finish it in under a day.
This story is told in a first person POV (sometimes breaking the fourth wall by addressing the reader), switching between Theo's perspective and Alicia's diary entries. This is one of the few instances where I wasn't that bothered by POV switching; it was exciting to hear from both perspectives, and the mystery element where each perspective helped peel the onion of truth kept the plot driving forward.
In my reviews, I usually criticize books for being too predictable. This was not the case this time; every twist caught me by surprise.
Usually I am scared to read books categorized as "thrillers," but I would say this book isn't so much of a thriller as it is an incredibly compelling mystery story. I wasn't scared as some thriller aim to make their reader feel, rather I was intrigued. I would highly recommend this book.
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