The Patient

by Jasper DeWitt

"A clever cocktail of psychological thriller and supernatural horror." Kirkus

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., an ambitious young psychiatrist, chronicles the harrowing account of his time working at a dreary mental hospital in New England and his attempt to cure the facility's most difficult, profoundly dangerous case.

Originally admitted to the hospital as a child, the man has no known diagnosis. Every person who has attempted to treat him has been driven to madness or suicide.

Parker, brilliant and overconfident, takes it upon himself to discover what ails this mystery patient and finally cure him. But things quickly spiral out of control ...

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.

PRAISE FOR THE PATIENT:

"A stunning debut! DeWitt's The Patient is a thrilling, compulsive page-turner that will appeal to fans of F. Paul Wilson, Sarah Pinborough, and Alex Michaelides." Brian Keene, bestselling author and World Horror Grandmaster Award winner

"'Insidious evil' is such an overused term, but there is no other way to describe what prowls the hallways of this riveting novella. A compulsive read I devoured in one day. And the ending ... it still haunts me." F. Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling creator of the Repairman Jack series

"The Patient is a fascinating and frightening read that comes at you like the monster under your bed." Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times bestselling author

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Adult

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2020

About the author

Jasper DeWitt is an award-winning horror fiction writer.

Reviews

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
It's been a few days since I finished this but I needed some time to process how I felt about it. I think I'm settling at a 4.5 stars, I loved it so much. And one thing I can say for sure is that this is one of the scariest books I've ever read. It took me a few days to finish this book because I actually had to put it down because it was scaring me so much. Reading this late at night in the dark is a truly terrifying experience.

This story follows this young Doctor who wants to take on this patient named Joe who has been in the insane asylum since he was 6 years old. His family is super rich and his story is pretty well-known because of strange and unexplainable things that have been happening with him. Like the fact that nearly every doctor that has tried to help him over the last few decades have either gone insane themselves or killed themselves in some violent way. And the strange unexplainable noises they can hear on the recordings of him overnight, noises that no human should be capable of making. And the way this guy knows the nightmares that the doctors had as children and uses that knowledge to taunt them and scare them.

This book scared the shit out of me. There is something really scary to me about children acting sinister and strangely. Also, this book is not only a thriller & horror book but it also dives into the supernatural and has an ambiguous ending... which if you know my reading taste at all then you know this is my ideal book.

I just can't stop thinking about this book.

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A horrifying, dark, bleak asylum: a young idealist psychiatrist who suffers from guilt trips because of his inability to cure his own mother, becomes a volunteer to treat a real dangerous patient who has been ruining/haunting and ending the lives of the people try to cure him.

Of course when a plot’s beginning resembles Silent Patient and story’s premise, world building gives you Stephen King, Peter Straub’s creepy, eerie, blood freezing stories, you go half blind and jump into to read this novella and devour it at one sit, biting your nails, pulling your hair, jumping up and down at your seat, feeling petrified with high tension. You want to stop reading because you get really scared but you cannot admit. Hanging on your big girl’s pants ( or adult diapers because there are really petrifying chapters) and resume your reading as brave as you can be.

The story is told by Parker’s entries to the internet message board describing his time working at the asylum and meeting with patient named Joe who hasn’t been diagnosed properly because any doctor or staff member, other patients connect with him end up committing suicide or suffering from mental breakdown. So Parker is getting a real risk but he couldn’t have saved his schizophrenic mother and his savior complex forces him to take more challenging and complex cases! But of course poor young man has no idea what he’s getting into!

Joe has been in the hospital since he was six. His parents have brought him because he insisted that a creature hid behind the walls harmed him with its clutches. Did he have a complex, thrilling imagination? Did someone abuse him? What was happening to that boy? Nobody found it including his dead cellmates.

Parker finally meets and interview with him. Joe insists there is nothing wrong with him and he is held at this place without his consent and nobody wants to believe him. Anybody tries to help end up death or leave the mental hospital forever!

Who is telling the truth? Did Parker put himself and other people’s lives in danger by being obsessed to treat this patient?

Keep on reading to find out. It was interesting, horrifying, fast pacing reading. Some little plot holes and unanswered questions irritated me a little bit but I still loved the promising, gripping, twisty progression, dark and intense ending of the story. I’m rounding up 3.5 stars to 4! I scared sh*tless and interestingly had a great time!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for sharing this heart throbbing ARC with me in exchange my honest review. I’m looking forward to read more works of Jasper DeWitt.

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[MarilynW · Rating 4 out of 5]

The events of The Patient are related to us through posts to a now defunct online psychiatric forum. Dr Parker H. relates what happened at his first job, at a mental asylum, where he attempted to treat an incurable patient. The forty year old man had been at the asylum since he was six years old and those he came into contact with either committed suicide or were driven insane. Naive Parker determines that the patient has been unfairly and cruelly held prisoner and he wants to right that wrong. I'll let Parker tell his story but I will say that this type of horror is the most scary type, for me. It starts out so normally, it's related so matter of factly, and then the real horror is unleashed, as the doctor realizes that he is dealing with a monster. 

Warning-animal abuse
Published July 7th 2020

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and BookishFirst for this ARC. 

[Larry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixed emotions, between a 2 and 3 star book for me, but I gave it 2 stars based on the ending of the story. The story has it’s moments and shows promise, but in the end, I was disappointed.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my experience with The Patient from the moment I heard of it to the moment I turned the last page.

March 9th - Hears of book through interwebs (Goodreads I'd imagine though can't be sure). Reads synopsis and it speaks directly to my dark black soul. Shelved "To Read".

April 22nd - 9:15am NetGalley has arc's available to request. I. Am. So. Excited. Sends request and waits patiently. 🤞

April 22nd - 11:48am ARC APPROVED! YAHOO!

April 22nd - appx. 1:30pm Starts reading The Patient.

April 22nd - 4:55pm work is closing and I'm at 93% - gahhhhh!!!! 😲

April 22nd - 5:22pm arrives home after driving a ridiculous speed to get there. Runs inside. Stands at kitchen door with coat on and immediately pulls out kindle. Meanwhile, husband is asking what I am doing to which he receives the hand ✋ 5 minutes, please!

April 22nd - 5:30pm turns last page with a satisfied sigh.

Wow! Jasper DeWitt has exceeded my expectations. I was hooked on every single word. I just had to know what was going on. Before I go around recommending this book to everyone please know that there is a strong supernatural theme that may not work for every reader. Another thing I want to mention is how polished the arc edition is. As a reviewer sometimes you receive arcs with lots of errors and whatnot but not so here. I truly hope that this book will kick start a long and successful career for this author. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[megs_bookrack · Rating 4 out of 5]

When up-and-coming psychiatrist, Parker H., begins working at a dreary and underfunded mental asylum in Connecticut, he hears many frightening stories of their most infamous patient.



Known only as Joe, now 40-years old, he was first admitted at the age of 6. There is no diagnosis and no hopes of a cure. Joe is a Lifer, kept in total isolation; he's a mystery Parker wants to solve.



Joe has cycled through numerous doctors and caregivers throughout his hospitalization. Many reportedly driven mad, even to suicide, after spending extended time in Joe's presence.

In spite of the absolute horror stories, Parker is not afraid. He's sure that if he can get Joe to open up, he can come to a diagnosis and develop a possible treatment plan.



Parker's overconfidence leads him down a horrifying and dangerous path. What he ultimately discovers causes him to question everything, including his own sanity.

The Patient is told in what I would consider to be a modern form of epistolary format. Instead of traditional letters, it is told through a series of online forum posts.



I highly recommend the audiobook. The narrator nailed his character and truly brought the entire story to life.

I felt like I was sitting with Parker, listening to a first-hand account of his harrowing experiences with Joe.



Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this. The tone that DeWitt created definitely got under my skin. In a way, it reminded me of The Silent Patient.

I think like with Stephen King's, Revival, a book I personally love, there will be some people who aren't crazy about the ending of this.

With this being said, the people who do enjoy this though, will really, really enjoy it!

[Sumit RK · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Patient by Jasper DeWitt is a dark and disturbing tale with a clever blend of psychological thriller and horror. It’s a fast-paced read with several twists and turns to keep you hooked till the end.

Written like a series of online posts, in several installments under the thread ‘Why I Almost Quit Medicine’, The Patient is the story of Dr. Parker, a young psychiatrist, new to his job at a mental asylum. Soon, he becomes fascinated with Joe, an isolated, long-term patient, whom no one has successfully diagnosed since he was committed as a child. Ignoring the advice of his superiors, Parker delves into Joe’s background and uncovers secrets he was never meant to discover. But some secrets are never meant to be uncovered.

A remote dark asylum, creepy patients, and some equally creepy staff members, a young idealist psychiatrist with mental issues of his own and a mysterious patient… like stories by H. P. Lovecraft, The Patient has all the ingredients of a dark psychological horror story. DeWitt uses all the elements in a perfect mix and combines it with a solid central plot and some gripping storytelling to weave an intense story, full of thrills and horror. The story’s blog format gives a realistic feel and despite the somewhat familiar plot, there are some unique twists that make the story feel different. The first-person style of narration helps The Patient move at a rapid pace and at 200 pages it’s a quick read. The best thing about the book is that story is compact and most of the story revolves around 2 characters. So, you never know who and what to believe, and you never know which part of the story is real.

The conclusion of the story was disturbing and open-ended. I do leave questions unanswered and maybe it lacks in scares overall but as a story, it is dark, intense, and gripping throughout.

Overall, The Patient is a fascinating and a riveting read. The plot is absorbing and the storytelling keeps you on the edge. If you like reading psychological thrillers and horror, you will enjoy reading this book.

Many thanks to the publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for the ARC.  

[preoccupiedbybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chilling and dark supernatural horror, which terrified me, and haunted my dreams/nightmares!

A creepy mental asylum,
A fresh faced, over confident psychiatrist,
A supposedly incurable, and dangerous patient

Firstly, this is not like The Silent Patient at all, apart from the setting, its straight up supernatural horror, which is more comparable to Stephen King. If you go into this knowing that, and not expecting a psychological thriller, then you wont be disappointed. I do think this has been marketed wrong, as it was more fantasy horror, and was so creepy!

I really enjoyed the format, where Parker, the narrator posted blog posts on a forum, recounting his disturbing time working with a patient called Joe. Joe had no diagnosis, but had been in the asylum for 35 years, since he was six years old. He had apparently driven everyone who had tried to work with him to madness or suicide, and our narrator talked about his efforts to cure him.

I read The Patient very quickly, and couldn't stop myself turning the pages in horrified fascination! I had to know what had happened to Joe, so kept reading late into the night, and then of course had very bizarre and terrifying dreams! This author's writing style had so much tension, that I could hardly breathe! It was fast paced, and I read it almost obsessively, with my heart racing in fear, and my skin crawling!

I loved the build up, but was less enthused by the ending. This is possibly a me thing though, as I tend to often feel disappointed with the endings of horror books and films. Its almost as if I find the build up so terrifying, that the ending can never live up to my expectations?! I'm not sure that makes sense?! The fear and tension had me gripped throughout, but then I couldn't quite suspend belief enough, and think I built the ending up too much in my mind...I also had a few unanswered questions at the end too.

BUT I was so scared reading it! The setting was so creepy and dreary, it was perfect! I found the story riveting, and couldn't stop turning the pages, and kept looking suspiciously at the shadows!

The Patient was a scary, and quick story, that will stay with me for a while. I can see it as a film/movie! It was a great debut for this author, and I look forward to seeing what else he comes up with! I will definitely be sleeping with the light on tonight though, and will get my husband to check the wardrobes, and under the bed before I close my eyes...😱 😱 😱 😱

Published 7th July 2020!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review!

[Brandon Baker · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was very frustrating to read most of the time. Here’s a list of things that annoyed me lol

—I didn’t like the blog post format at all, and I honestly skimmed those parts because they got to be annoying.
—The plot progression is strange- I won’t get into it for spoilers, but it was somehow both drawn out and extremely rushed at times.
—I thought the main character was a complete ass.
—The buildup just wasn’t worth it and the descriptions not scary or disturbing enough to be effective.
—Didn’t care about a single solitary character.
—Some descriptions (mostly of laughing and voices) were like copied and pasted multiple times.
—The cast were bland caricatures of people.
—Just in general I found most of the actions, dialogue (there was ALOT of dialogue and a lot of it seemed unnatural), and phrasing to be very corny and cliche.
—The ending.

Yeah idk. It’s rare that I hate-finish a book, but this is one of them. Really really really did not like it.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Patient began life as a Creepypasta titled "The Patient That Nearly Drove Me Out of Medicine" a series of Reddit posts on the No Sleep board. It gained popularity and has the distinction of being one of the few of these internet horror stories to be expanded as a full length novel and enjoyed by a new audience (the only other major work like this I can think of is Penpal). Honestly, this sort of story delights the hell out of me. Hearing that a project that someone did in their free time hoping to entertain their friends and some people on the internet has now become an actual success story really just tickles me (especially as someone who used to hunt down Creepypastas when I couldn't sleep in my college years).

Plot: Parker has a confession to make. Years ago, when he was younger, he worked in a small mental institute with a weird patient. Joe had been institutionalized since he was six years old, and shows no sign of getting better… in fact people avoid his room entirely, and several weird stories have been told about him. He's the boogeyman in a building full of scared people. Parker being the sort of student who was top of his class and used to being the smartest man in the room, took this as an opportunity to prove himself to the other psychologists and make a name for himself. It was a mistake. Now he's recording his experience on the internet in a series of online posts. Names are changed, both the institute and all people involved, but his confession and warning remains for all of us.

Alright, so first off, how is the transition from internet posts to novel? Honestly, this works pretty well in this case. Each chapter is a post, and as it already was written like a first person confession, it translates pretty well. Some might say that in novel form it could have been changed to a diary entry or just a straight narrative, but I honestly like the online post feel. It makes it feel more like he's trying to get a message out to others and not just documenting his experiences for himself. It gives a sense of urgency. It also makes the narrative voice feels mostly real. At times it feels clinical and at times it feels like the author is just chatting with you. The forum nature explains both, as being a doctor he would be more clinical, but he's writing it still to people on the internet (I know my tone in a review is different than say a document written for work, even if I take aspects of that with me into my own writing).

Is the story scary? Well, it is a horror story and I admit that one of the chapters genuinely hit me. It's not the scariest of the Creepypastas I've read and on that note, I think one flaw in a novelization of a Creepypasta is that it loses some of the horror that comes from the added element of reading an online post. On the internet it adds another element, the feel that someone just wrote this up and posted it, and yeah, sure it's fake, but what if it wasn't? What if some guy recorded his experiences and posted it and this was just the only place he could… in contrast a novel has that wonderful "This is a work of fiction" notice at the beginning and thus will reassure you of what you already knew.

Still, I found it a solid horror story, one truly scary chapter, and a couple of unsettling moments. It's not the greatest of stories, but it doesn't need to be. It's a well crafted, creepy and entertaining tale and one I'm glad to have read. I hope this is just a start and that we see DeWitt grow as an author. I see a lot of potential here and would love to see more. 4/5 stars

[Beata · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young, ambitious psychiatrist finds himself employed in an asylum.Gradually Parker becomes obsessed with one mysterious patient called Joe, kept in isolation and with a limited number of staff allowed to have any interaction with him. This sounds like a terrific idea for a book and at least half of my reading time was enjoyable. However, the second half felt somehow short of suspense and implausible at times to me, especially the sudden change in the approach Parker presents does not sound professional. A bit naive perhaps?
A quick summer read that will not stay long with me.
*Many thanks to Jasper DeWitt, Houghton Miffin Harcourt and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*

[LIsa Noell "Rocking the chutzpah!" · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to Houghton Mifflin and blah, also Netgalley and the author Jasper DeWitt. Mr. DeWitt came up with one of the best messed up tales in a while! I really enjoyed this freak show. This is a story that I would tell my friends to read, without reading any other reviews. This was some kind of messed up! The kind of messed up that I like. Damn! My mind was working furiously! I had much of the puzzle, but just getting there was 😎 cool! I love when I'm right! Nearly as much as when I'm wrong! I liked this upended tale of crap that goes where it's not expected!

[Bridgett · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for a supernatural horror story, with a side of psychology, look no further!

I started this novella (it's quite short at only 200+ pages), at 2:30 AM and finished up around 4:30...I was captivated. I loved the way Jasper DeWitt opted to tell the story...having our protagonist, Parker, write about his harrowing experience with a particular patient, on an on-line forum (using fake names and locations to protect the privacy of those involved, of course).

Perhaps I'm the only one, but this story vaguely reminded me of Stephen King's The Outsider...just a less refined version. I have a soft spot for the horror genre, so I found this be to an incredibly enjoyable read. There is a great deal of medical terminology and lingo thrown around, however, so that's something to take into consideration.

The setting, a dilapidated, state-run, psychological hospital in small-town Connecticut, was appropriately creepy. The aforementioned protagonist, Parker (side note...I have a very handsome son with the same name 😍), though a little too self-assured for a newbie doctor, was well fleshed-out and appropriately sympathetic.

My one huge gripe...a tortured cat. Hence, the reason I rounded down, instead of up.

Overall, I really enjoyed this fun, entertaining, little story, and I'll happily read works from this author in the future.

3.5 stars
Available for purchase on July 7, 202o

👎👎 TRIGGER WARNING: Animal torture 👎👎

**My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for my review copy.

[HorrorBabe911 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread Sept29,2025– still gives me the creeps the ending is wickedly good!
———————————
Creepy! Really had me thinking a lot about what I’m most scared of😰

Good story, easy to follow, creepy elements, psychological thriller, fast read. Would recommend👍🏼

Follows a doctors journey with an odd creepy patient who has a dark past. Everyone is afraid of this patient within the asylum— he is said to be a monster. The doctor tries to uncover the truth and find out more about the patients past but must learn to keep his fears at bay in order to survive.

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A horror and a psychothriller rolled into one. Nice twistie, chillingish horror and every bell and whistle of the genre in just the right dose.

Q:
But every hospital, even one with patients like these, has at least one inmate who’s weird even for the mental ward. (c)
Q:
True, blaming myself like that is irrational, but kids—and adults who are still processing childhood trauma—don’t blame themselves simply out of a secret desire for self-hatred. They blame themselves so they can feel in control of what seems like an impossible situation, because the only way to feel like they can process it is to reclaim their agency, even by blaming themselves for something they have no control over. (c)
Q:
It was like being X-rayed by a very judgmental machine. (с)
Q:
“Joe, you don’t think there’s anything wrong with you?”
“How the fuck should I know?” Joe shot back. “As far as I can tell, it’s everyone else who goes insane around me! It’s happened so often I sometimes wonder if they’re doing it on purpose, just to make me go as fucking nuts as they are from anticipating what crazy-shit thing someone will do next.” (c)

[Katie Colson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have known from the title and the back stating "for fans of Alex Michaelides" that this wouldn't be for me.

If you love The Silent Patient, you might like this. Then again...probably not...

It seemed to need another round of editing. My copy didn't say ARC anywhere but I kept checking. There were several typos and double-words and so much repetition.

This just had the tropes that make me so angry. One of which is the 'god/savior' complex male who thinks they are the ONLY man who can cure this highly dangerous patient. The main character of this book is so self-important and cocky. His ideas for treatment are so basic but for some reason he thinks he is the first person to ever have these ideas.

Also, there is the 'empty womb' trope, which I hate. There is only two female characters. One is the nurse that keeps everything running but doesn't get paid for her efforts. The other woman is the BOSS. Yeah, let that set in real quick. She is the boss of the main character. Is she treated with respect? Surely not. She is supposed to be smart but she says that she was bamboozled by this patient because she doesn't have children and wants to view basically anyone younger than her as her child. The fuck? Why do male authors do this? None of the male characters in the book had children. But none of them were viewing this patient as their son. Pfffffff. I can't. I simply can not.

[Saswati · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars 🌟

Don’t all crazy people think they’re the rational ones?

Premise:-
In a series of online posts, Parker, a young and overconfident psychiatrist, gives an account of his time working at a mental asylum when he had made a catastrophic miscalculation by undertaking the treatment of a mysterious and profoundly dangerous patient 'Joe'.

Thoughts:-
Definitely terrifying, this story took a very unexpected turn at the end. Also, I'd like to thank this book for increasing the chances of me having nightmares for the foreseeable future 😶

[Kelsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a supernatural horror novel(la?) that absolutely horrified me. In under 200 pages, and through the format of online blog posts by an anonymous psychiatrist, the story of a man who has spent his entire life in a mental institution is terrifyingly told.

I thought the supernatural element was the perfect addition, and probably the reason I won’t sleep tonight.

[Mandy White (mandylovestoread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What did I just read? Oh my goodness that was twisted and creepy - and I loved it!! At just over 200 pages, The Patient is a book that can very easily be read in one sitting, and that is exactly what I did last night.

I loved the way this book was written. The story is told by Doctor Parker H on an online forum. He is a young and ambitious doctor who has his first job in a mental hospital. When he learns about Joe, the incurable patient who has been there since he was 6 years old he becomes obsessed and determined to work with him. Joe is now 40 and is locked away from all other patients. Anybody who has come into contact with him have been driven to suicide or gone mad - but this does not put Parker off. But what will he find behind that locked door?

This book is dark, it is scary. It is a horror story, not a thriller. Set in an old, dilapidated building it will give you chills. Not for the faint hearted.

[Lyn❤Loves❤Listening to Real Voices Only!!!!❤️🎧📚 Addict ON HIATUS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio 5++ STARS
Story....4.25 Stars

So...um...monsters are real?! 😱😱😱

[Flo · Rating 2 out of 5]

A medical mystery with a supernatural solution. Written for Stephen King fans. Not sure if they will like it or not. I was bored.

[Melissa (Mel’s Bookshelf) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this horror-mixed-with-psychological thriller. The format was refreshing. Apparently it was originally conceived on Reddit threads, so has a bit of a forum-post feel to it. Kind of like diary entries. It didn’t blow me away, but it was a good read.

A young idealistic psychiatrist begins working in an asylum and is intrigued by Joe, a patient who has been in the facility since he was a child. Whenever people come into contact with Joe strange devastating things begin to happen. Can the psychiatrist find out what is truly wrong with Joe? Or will he end up another victim?

I really enjoyed the concept. It was very clever and the author captured the atmosphere really well. The format was unique and captivating.

Ultimately it just missed the mark for me. Yes, it was enjoyable and I appreciated how short the novel was. But I felt that it lacked a depth of character and setting that was detrimental to the overall book. Perhaps it worked much better as snippets on Reddit, to give the reader a gradual immersion into the story. But it just felt like it was missing something.

I was also expecting it to have a bit more of a twist or climax and I was left ultimately underwhelmed.

Despite this, it was well written and gripping. Extremely good for a debut. I will be interested to see what else he has in store!

Would I recommend this book?
It was captivating and a good read. I just felt that it lacked a bit of depth and excitement that I would expect from a horror. But I still enjoyed reading it and got through it in one sitting.

Many thanks to Harpercollins Australia for a copy of The Patient to read and review.

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[Jaidee (lost in Vegas for a few days) · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.8 "curiosity killed the...." stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Houghton, Miffin Harcourt for an ecopy. This was released July 2020. I am providing an honest review.

Well ummm well....ummm well

At around 20 percent I wanted to throw this in the trash. I decided to make a pivot, however, dropped reading this as a psychological thriller and began reading this as a horror....kind of sort of worked....still fairly mediocre but needed to see how this pans out....

The prose is sort of fair average (2.5 star worthy). Very easy to read and flowed fairly well.
The psychological theorizing and diagnosing is absolutely amateur and often just awful and don't get me started on the ridiculousness of some of the psychodynamic interpretations (jeesh almighty).
As a horror it was sort of fair, I wanted to finish, I sort of predicted what I was in for, not terribly frightening but kind of creative and had potential.

So in a nutshell, this was a mildly awful book that I wanted to finish...not quite two stars but will sit on that shelf.

[Chelsey (a_novel_idea11) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parker is a young medical school graduate from a prestigious school. Though he has many doors open to him, he is committed to staying local and helping the less fortunate because of personal past experiences. His mother suffered from depression and had a psychotic break and the trauma from it deeply impacted Parker.

Starting work as a psychiatrist at the Connecticut State Asylum, Parker is happy to be helping people. Most of the patients at the state run facility are only there for short term stays due to insurance refusing to pay for long term care. However, one patient has been locked behind the asylum's walls for over thirty years. Known only as Joe, Parker begins to hear rumors about Joe's effect on any person who encounters him. Almost as if Joe's undiagnosed psychosis is contagious, orderlies, nurses, and doctors have routinely gone mad or committed suicide after having Joe in their care.

Determined to diagnose Joe and help him find a cure, Parker volunteers to take him on as a patient. But after spending several sessions with Joe, Parker begins to wonder if Joe is actually sane, and there is something more sinister happening at the hospital to keep him locked away. Who can Parker trust? Is Joe sane or is he such a skilled sociopath that he's even fooled Parker?

Written in letter form, this was a fast paced thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't put it down and read it in nearly one sitting. This novel had some Stephen King vibes which I really enjoyed and if you're looking for something unique and quick, this is it!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

[CYIReadBooks (Claire) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read an excerpt from The Patient and wasn't impressed when I first read it. However, I decided to give the book another chance since the complete novel was available on Scribd. It was very promising until the end. I can't say too much without spoiling the story, except that the high hopes I held for this book were bashed to pieces.

The book's synopsis pretty much tells the storyline. It's written in first person -- like a diary, which made it somewhat interesting. Unfortunately, this is one novel that really turned out to be a dud for me. I'm sure others will disagree, but this particular novel wasn't what I expected. I'm going to be generous by giving it 1.5 stars rounded up to 2.

[Suz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! A different psychological, medical, psychiatric institution based horror. It suited me that it was a short one, I guess it is a novella.

Parker H, a young impressionable but enthusiastic psychiatrist finds a job close to home in an imposing hospital. He is trying his best and wants to help people who need it the most.

Apart from the usual fare, a group of men who all believe to be Jesus and the like, he desperately wants to cure Joe, a man with such a hectic and unbelievable past. This individual is the unusual patient, his files hidden, and the only contact with others is with the orderlies unlucky enough to strip his sheets and to provide meals, and the dogged nurse who seems to hold the place together who is tasked with providing his medication.

All that come into contact with this individual are tortured mentally by their dealings with him, they are deranged. Parker H is sure he can help; get to the bottom of the craziness that is Joe. The patient's past encounters with those unfortunate enough to be placed in the same room faced horrible and horrific fates. This is where some readers may not like to read such horrors.

The patient seems to access the minds of those he comes across, things no one could possibly know. This fascinates Parker H. The patient accesses these parts of Parker H's psyche, too.

One section I particularly liked, and as I was listening to the audio version, did not have the chance to note down verbatim.

Parker H was reading some old notes where the experienced psychiatrists concluded his session saying words such as these: Dealing with this child has challenged my 20 year sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous that much, that I would like to make note that I do not wish to treat this patient any longer. I respectfully ask he be seen by another doctor. Such a shame I couldn't find it listed under the quotes portion of Goodreads. I may re borrow it and transcribe the quote. It was very very clever.

Not my usual fare at all, and a pretty good read for me. Though I was certainly happy for it to be a short read.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been reading horror since I was a kid. I went from Little House on the Prairie, to aalll the Nancy Drew books, then in 1984, on the school bus, my friend Kim showed me a Stephen King book and asked if I wanted to borrow it. It was any of The Shining, Firestarter or Pet Sematary… I can’t remember because after I read the first one, I consumed the others, quickly, like sweet sweet candy. I walked that first book over to Kim’s house to return it and her parents told me I could borrow any of the other books they had… and they had all the Stephen King books he had written by that point. Love at first read. 🖤

I think it’s really difficult to write a good horror story. It’s not easy to create tension and make the reader break out into goosebumps. It’s easy for a story to fall flat or feel ridiculous. Not everyone can be Stephen King. 🤷🏽‍♀️ So, I’m fairly forgiving of this genre.

I liked the format of The Patient. It was originally written as a series of posts in the NoSleep subreddit before the author adapted it as a novel. It’s written as a series of such posts.

The story takes place in a psychiatric facility where a patient, Joe, in his 40s, has been kept since he was 6 years old. Every patient, nurse or doctor who has spent time with him ends up losing their mind. The new doctor, Parker, thinks he can figure out what’s wrong with Joe and help him.

The ending was not predictable and while it was interesting and creepy to think about, it wasn’t scary for me. I think it had something to do with how short the story is. The book is only 200pp. Fleshed out a bit more, I think the build-up could have been creepier and the payoff a bit more shocking.

Anyway, I liked it and I understand it will be made into a movie. I’ll keep an eye out for it!

Recommended for the original ending. 😉

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Using the superfluous device of blog posts, a young psychiatrist recounts his experience with a patient who has been the nemesis of a series of psychiatrists for over 20 years since he was first committed at the age of 6. The book is short, but really could have been shorter. The lead up to the conclusion was really dragged out. I never found it scary at all, and the conclusion didn’t satisfy me.

Whoever wrote the blurb for this book needs some remedial education. Other than the facts that each book has “patient” in its title and deals with psychiatric patients, this book is not similar to “The Silent Patient”. This book is straight horror. It’s not that I think that one book is superior to the other, they are both kind of meh, it’s just that I don’t think you should mislead potential readers.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Justin Chen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Probably worked just fine on a Reddit forum (the story's origin), but extremely unpolished as a published novel; The Patient has some interesting ideas, but they are clouded by surface-level development and amateur quality control.

I have not been this distracted by spelling and grammatical mistakes for a long while, but The Patient has extremely noticeable amount of them; which is odd because the author acknowledged he has revised and expanded on the original Reddit submission prior to publication, and there was clearly an editor attached judging from the acknowledgment — so it's a little baffling why the final product still feels like it was copied and pasted from an online forum, without the refinement of a publishing house.

The writing is 'enthusiast' level rather than professional, with a 'made-up-as-we-go-along' quality to its plot; the characters are plagued with unrealistic reaction and stiff dialogs (most of the arguments among medical professionals come across as childish whining of 'I'm right and you're wrong'). The genre-switching mechanic in its final act shows potential, but the current execution is deeply flawed with some obvious inconsistencies, making it easy to question its logistic, without appreciating the bold choice.

I think context really hindered my experience with The Patient; if I have encountered this in an online forum, I would've enjoyed it as an above-average #creepypasta. But by removing it from the interactivity, anonymity, and questionable authenticity (is it actually a true story?) of that environment, it is just an ill-conceived, under-written draft of a story that got printed way before its due date.

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an advanced digital copy of The Patient. I was expecting a psychological thriller but would consider this more of a supernatural horror story. There was some psychology involved, mainly an outdated Freudian interpretation by elderly Dr. A. Treatment for mental illnesses within the hospital involved medication and group therapy.

Parker, a young, academically brilliant psychiatrist begins his work in a mental asylum. He is overconfident, arrogant, and believes his ideas and methods will be more effective than those of the past and present medical staff. I wanted to know whether his conceit interfered in his outside social interactions with individuals he regarded to be less intelligent. He was not a particularly sympathetic protagonist.


There is a patient, Joe who is in his forty’s, He was admitted when he was only six-years-old. He is considered profoundly dangerous by the staff and is confined to solitary with minimal contact and is medicated. Those who tried to treat him by psychiatric means have either committed suicide or gone insane. No one has ever come up with a diagnosis. Parker naively believes he can learn the origin of his mental disorder and cure him through psychotherapy when everyone else has failed.

When Parker meets Joe, he finds his patient to be remarkably normal after years of confinement. Parker likes Joe and comes to believe that his very wealthy parents had him admitted when he was a very small unruly child. He suspects some of the psychiatrists who treated him falsified their written reports to keep him confined and to have his parents’ money rolling into the underfunded institution.
Guided by some unfortunate events in his past, Parker is determined to succeed with a cure for Joe. Eventually, he plans to help the man whom he considers to be a harmless victim of the system to escape. This was a stupid idea coming from the arrogant Parker. He had never given any thought to how such a highly institutionalized man would survive in the outside world.

Later, Parker learns he has miscalculated and has been manipulated by both the staff and Joe. He decides to investigate further while his patient is still confined to solitary and frequently placed in restraints. He realizes most everything he believed was wrong. He is now confronted by elements of horror, terrible visions, and the supernatural. Will he survive and maintain his sanity?

Recommended for readers who enjoy the supernatural and over-the-top horror stories.