“You become increasingly comfortable with madness – and not just the madness of others, but your own. We’re all crazy, I believe, just in different ways.”
The Silent Patient is the 2019 debut novel from Alex Michaelides. In one of the most hyped mystery-thriller books of the past few years, readers are introduced to the story of Alicia Berenson, a woman whose seemingly idyllic life is brought to a shocking end when she shoots her husband five times. From the moment she fires the gun, she refuses to utter another word and is sent to The Grove forensic unit. Theo Faber is a psychotherapist and, having become obsessed by Alicia’s tale struggles to get her to reveal the motives behind her crime. The Silent Patient utilises an enthralling, layered premise, unreliable narrators, red herrings and claustrophobic settings to deliver one of the most shocking and impactful tales that more than justify its hype. If you loved the story of Alicia and Theo, join us at What We Reading for the best books like The Silent Patient!
The Family Upstairs – Lisa Jewell
Kicking off our list of books like The Silent Patient is Lisa Jewell’s gripping psychological thriller, The Family Upstairs. The story follows three intertwined narratives. Libby, a twenty-five-year-old woman inherits a luxurious mansion within London’s affluent Chelsea neighborhood where her birth parents were found dead under mysterious circumstances when she was a baby. As Libby digs into her past, she uncovers the truth about her biological family and the horrifying events that led to her being adopted.
Meanwhile, the story shifts to Henry and Lucy, two surviving members of the family who survived the tragic events and who are now living with dark secrets of their own. As the past slowly unravels, it becomes clear that someone will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried in the past.
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The Girl With A Louding Voice – Abi Daré
The Girl with a Louding Voice by Abi Daré is a compelling and heartbreaking novel about Adunni, a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl whose dreams of education and freedom are stifled by oppressive societal norms. After being sold into marriage, she escapes to work as a domestic servant for an affluent family. There, she is forced to grapple with the harsh realities of her new life whilst holding onto hope for a better future. Adunni’s resilience and determination drive the story as she finds her voice in a world keen to keep her silenced.
For readers who loved The Silent Patient, The Girl with a Louding Voice offers a similar exploration of a woman’s silence; only, in this case, it’s the societal forces that keep Adunni from speaking. Nevertheless, Daré’s work remains one of the best books like The Silent Patient for any reader looking for another novel that features complex characters and an emotionally-charged journey.
A Simple Favor – Darcey Bell
Stephanie is a stay-at-home mother and mommy blogger who forms an unlikely friendship with Emily, a stylish and mysterious woman. When Emily suddenly vanishes after asking her friend for what appears to be a simple favour, Stephanie finds herself thrust into a frantic search for her. As she digs deeper into Emily’s past, Stephanie uncovers shocking secrets about Emily’s marriage and life, leading to a series of unexpected twists. The more she uncovers, the more she begins to realise that nothing is as it seems.
For anyone who loved Alex Michaelides’ debut, Darcey Bell’s A Simple Favour offers a similar blend of suspense and shocking reveals, keeping you guessing with every chapter. This fast-paced psychological thriller is perfect for fans of books like The Silent Patient with its dark twists and complex characters.
Behind Closed Doors – B.A. Paris
From the outside, Grace appears to be the perfect woman married to the charming and successful Jack. For anyone who sees them, their marriage appears to be idyllic. But, behind closed doors, Grace is trapped in a nightmare. Jack is a controlling and manipulative partner, leading to Grace discovering that she is living in a prison of his making. As the story unfolds, Grace must find a way to escape Jack’s grasp before it’s too late, whilst keeping up the facade of the perfect marriage.
For fans of books like The Silent Patient, B.A. Paris’ Behind Closed Doors delivers a tense, page-turning experience brimming with suspense, deception and dark secrets.
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
No list of psychological thrillers would be complete without the behemoth that is Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. Flynn introduces a number of literary devices that Michaelides also employs in The Silent Patient, and the similarities between Alicia and Amy Dunne make for a nice crossover. There are also similarities between the two too-good-to-be-true male protagonists attempting to unlock their ‘silent’ female counterparts, with plenty of secrets to be unlocked throughout a read-through.
Gone Girl’s significance in the psychological-mystery genre is still as strong as ever, and it serves as a great book for anyone who loved The Silent Patient.
Check Out The Best Books Like Gone Girl
If We Were Villains – M.L. Rio
Oliver Marks has just served a decade in prison for a murder he may, or may not have committed. Detective Colborne was the man who put him behind bars, but he decided to meet Oliver at the gates of the prison. On the eve of his retirement, he decided to finally work out what happened that one fateful night.
As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite college, Oliver and his friends have mastered the art of blurring the lines between the characters they portray on stage and the ones they are off it. And when one of their own winds up dead, all of these actors will have to put on the performance of a lifetime if they want to keep the police’s suspicion off them. A Goodreads Choice Award nominee, If We Were Villains mirrors a lot of The Silent Patient’s use of unreliable narrators and the ambiguity between good and evil.
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The Maidens – Alex Michaelides
If you loved Alex Michaelides’ debut novel, where better to turn to than his next release? The Maidens was released in 2021 and follows the tumultuous story of Edward Fosca and Mariana Andros. Mariana is a brilliant group therapist who is certain that Edward, a charismatic and handsome Cambridge professor, is a murderer.
Edward is revered by a secret society of young women known as The Maidens, but when one of the group winds up dead, it is up to Mariana to unravel the mysteries hanging over this professor. For those who loved the mysteries, the luxury and the Greek mythology prevalent in The Silent Patient, The Maidens is a perfect follow-up.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Maidens
The Girl On The Train – Paula Hawkins
A Goodreads Choice Award winner for Best Mystery and Thriller, The Girl on the Train is like The Silent Patient in how it sets up a gripping premise and keeps readers enthralled until the final revelation.
The story follows protagonist Rachel, who catches the same commuter train every single morning. With the train stopping by the same signal, her view out of the window overlooks a row of houses, including one owned by a husband and wife who seem to have the perfect idyllic life. Rachel names the pair ‘Jess and Jason’ and imagines having that sort of existence for herself one day. That all changes, however, one morning when Rachel witnesses something horrifying inside their house. It was little more than a fleeting glance, but it is enough to send Rachel hurtling into the pair’s lives, to potentially deadly extremes.
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The Widow – Fiona Barton
Just like The Silent Patient, Fiona Barton’s The Widow deals with a wife reeling in the wake of her husband’s death. For years, Jean stood by her husband even as the rumours about his seedy affairs and crimes began to mount up.
However, following his death, Jean finally allows herself to give in to her true feelings about her marriage, her husband and her true feelings. But, as more and more marital secrets on both the husband and wife’s side come to the surface, The Widow becomes much more of a dark psychological look at the discrepancies between the lies we often tell ourselves and the realities we choose to believe.
Check out our The Silent Patient Book Review
The Boy From The Woods – Harlan Coben
Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a feral boy living in the woods. He had no recollection of how he ended up there and, even as he grows up his memory continues to evade him. And now, another child has gone missing.
Criminal attorney Hester Crimstein seems to be the only person interested in locating Naomi Pine, but he must enlist the help of Wilde and the experiences that only he has in order to have any chance of working out where she has gone. But, helping Hester will mean Wilde will have to return to the same community that left him an outcast before, and where powerful people hold secrets that have the potential to ruin countless lives. New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben is renowned for being one of the finest thriller writers in the world and is the perfect author for those who loved the shocking revelations of The Silent Patient.
Check Out Books Like The Stranger By Harlan Coben
The Woman In The Window – A.J. Finn
For those who loved the unreliable narrator elements of The Silent Patient, The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn is the perfect follow-up.
Anna Fox lives alone as a recluse in her New York apartment. She passes her time by day-drinking wine, watching retro movies and spying on her neighbours. But her world begins to change when the Russells move in across from her. A mother, father and son, they look like the perfect family on the surface. But, when Anna spies something through her window that she obviously wasn’t meant to see, she begins to question what is real, what is her imagination, who is really in control and what the truth is behind this quaint family.
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Room – Emma Donoghue
What helped make The Silent Patient so nerve-shredding was the cramped feeling of The Grove, the forensic unit housing Alicia Berenson. That claustrophobia is also captured in Emma Donoghue’s thriller, Room.
For five-year-old Jack, his whole world has been contained within one room. The love shown by his devoted mother, the only other person in the room with him, has shielded him from despair for most of his life. However, as he grows older, the pair soon realise that the time for them to escape the room, or die trying, is almost upon them. Room mirrors The Silent Patient’s ability to convey emotion through extremely confined characters.
Verity – Colleen Hoover
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling aspiring writer who finds herself with the opportunity of a lifetime when she is offered a chance to ghostwrite a bestselling book series after its author, Verity Crawford, is left incapacitated by an accident. Moving into the Crawford home to review Verity’s notes, Lowen discovers an autobiography hidden in Verity’s office, chronicling disturbing secrets about her life, marriage to the charismatic Jeremy, and the tragic circumstances surrounding her children.
As Lowen becomes increasingly drawn to Jeremy, she wrestles with the decision to reveal the truth or keep Verity’s dark secrets hidden. One of the best books like The Silent Patient, Verity offers a similar blend of suspense, unreliable narrators and shocking twists that are guaranteed to keep you guessing up until the final jaw-dropping revelation.
Check Out The Best Books Like Verity
This post was originally published in June 2023 and updated in December 2024 to include additional recommendations.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
