The Patient

Jasper DeWitt

Jul 2020 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

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 forty-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 upon the outside world. Parker, brilliant and overconfident, takes it upon himself to discover what ails this patient and finally cure him. But from his first encounter with the mysterious 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.

Ratings and reviews

I fell in love with the premise of this novel. Admittedly, I was nervous about it being compared to The Silent Patient, which I actually wasn't a fan of. Unfortunately, this book didn't have a lot that I loved. Firstly, it pretty much read like a long creepypasta to me. The plot and the use of an online forum for our main character to tell his story was just a little too on the nose to all the creepypastas I used to read in middle school. This also gave the novel a slight "tell, not show" habit that I couldn't get into. I think that this could be a lot better of a fit for people unfamiliar with creepypastas and who maybe don't have as much experience in the horror genre. There were also some parts of the psychology I had an issue with: - Parker, our main character and a PSYCHOLOGIST, mentions that he thinks Joe might have sadistic personality disorder. This is a diagnosis that was taken out of the DSM in the 90s, and this story takes place in the 2000s. - very stereotypical depiction of schizophrenia - considers that young Joe might have had antisocial personality disorder when no competent psychologist would give that diagnosis for a child (they'd likely go with conduct disorder) - wow, was Parker gullible considering he thought Joe might have psychopathic traits All in all, not bad, but not anything special, either.

A bright-eyed and eager new psychiatrist wants to truly help the forgotten and patients of a state-run mental institute. He soon discovers, through a frightening series of events concerning a dangerous patient, that not everyone can be helped. The story started out really good. It has a very excellent premise, good pace and a very interesting chapter after chapter of twisted and creepy entries from the main character. honestly, I would have given it a perfect star if only the ending did not destroy my overall impression in the book. At first I am not sure where the story will lead me, but as I near the 90% of this book, I was too afraid to admit to myself, that this is not a Psychological book I was really hoping for. But in fact, it was a horror novel. Imagine my disappointment when the story came to an end. I was really hoping for a more realistic and real life explanation of what really did happened to "Joe". It never occurred to me that this will be a horror story. What a best way to ruin the overall rating for the book.

First off, I am glad that this book was a novella because it is definitely a read in one sitting story. Otherwise it will drive you crazy with wanting to figure out the whys. It takes place mostly in an asylum and is about a young doctor, Parker, who takes on a patient only know by a short name "Joe" that has been there since childhood and has defied explanation for years in how he drives other doctors and orderlies to madness and suicide. This is creepy and mind twisting and did not turn out how I was expecting. For a novella, it is pretty good and wraps things up in the pages allotted without feeling like the story should have been longer though it did leave a couple plot holes. If you read this, be prepared to be thinking about it for awhile after.