Books Like The Silent Patient

If you've recently turned the final page of Alex Michaelides' mind-bending bestseller The Silent Patient, you're likely still reeling from that jaw-dropping twist. The haunting story of Alicia Berenson and her psychotherapist Theo Faber has left millions of readers craving more ingeniously crafted psychological thrillers. Thankfully, you don't have to experience literary withdrawal, we've curated a list of books similar to The Silent Patient that deliver the same addictive blend of unreliable narrators, psychological depth, and shocking revelations. So dim the lights, silence your phone, and prepare to be utterly captivated by these masterfully crafted tales of deception, obsession, and the darkest corners of the human mind. Just a heads-up, this post contains affiliate links, meaning we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you!)

Books Similar to The Silent Patient

Book Cover

End of Story

A. J. Finn

Much like The Silent Patient, A. J. Finn's End of Story masterfully plays with the concept of truth and perception in ways that will leave you questioning everything. The novel follows Nicky Hunter, a true crime writer investigating a cold case with eerie parallels to her own life. What makes this book so reminiscent of Michaelides' work is its brilliant exploration of psychological trauma and the unreliable narrator technique that keeps readers constantly off-balance. Finn, who previously captivated thriller fans with The Woman in the Window, delivers the same caliber of atmospheric tension and psychological depth that made The Silent Patient so compelling. The carefully constructed narrative reveals its secrets in precisely measured doses, building to a conclusion that rivals Alicia Berenson's shocking revelation in its ability to make you rethink the entire story.

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How it's similar to The Silent Patient

Subgenre

Literary Fiction
Mystery/Thriller

Tone

Dark/Serious
Suspenseful/Thrilling

Narrative

Character-Driven
Dialogue-Heavy
Lyrical/Descriptive
Multi-Perspective
Plot-Driven

Character Tropes

The Anti-Hero
The Hero
The Outsider

Plot Tropes

Love

Setting Tropes

Conflict Tropes

Betrayal and Revenge
Death or Threat of Death
Dysfunctional Families
Good vs. Evil
Identity Crisis
Man vs. Self

Theme Tropes

Grief and Loss
Search for Meaning
Book Cover

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins

Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train shares The Silent Patient's fascination with memory, perception, and the consequences of psychological trauma. Rachel Watson, an alcoholic who struggles with blackouts, believes she witnessed something significant during her daily train commute—but can't trust her own recollections. Like Theo's determination to uncover Alicia's truth in The Silent Patient, Rachel's obsessive quest drives a narrative filled with misdirection and unreliable perspectives. Both novels excel at creating protagonists whose psychological fragility becomes both a plot device and a thematic exploration. The claustrophobic atmosphere and the sense that truth remains tantalizingly just out of reach will feel deeply familiar to fans of Michaelides' work. Hawkins' skill at delivering multiple perspective shifts and devastating reveals mirrors the technique that made The Silent Patient such a standout psychological thriller.

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How it's similar to The Silent Patient

Subgenre

Literary Fiction
Mystery/Thriller

Tone

Dark/Serious
Suspenseful/Thrilling

Narrative

Character-Driven
Dialogue-Heavy
Lyrical/Descriptive
Multi-Perspective
Plot-Driven

Character Tropes

The Anti-Hero
The Lover
The Outsider
The Rebel

Plot Tropes

Love

Setting Tropes

Conflict Tropes

Betrayal and Revenge
Death or Threat of Death
Dysfunctional Families
Good vs. Evil
Identity Crisis
Man vs. Self

Theme Tropes

Grief and Loss
Search for Meaning
Book Cover

The Fall Guy

James Lasdun

James Lasdun's The Fall Guy echoes The Silent Patient's exploration of obsession, projected desire, and the dangerous power of unspoken resentments. When Matthew is invited to spend the summer at his wealthy cousin Charlie's vacation home, his long-harbored envy and suspicions about Charlie's wife create a volatile psychological landscape. Like Michaelides' work, Lasdun's novel excels at slowly revealing the unreliability of its narrator while building suffocating tension through close psychological observation. Both books share a preoccupation with the thin boundary between love and hatred, and the ways past trauma shapes present perception. The Fall Guy delivers the same meticulous character deconstruction and growing sense of inevitable disaster that made The Silent Patient so impossible to put down, culminating in revelations that force readers to reexamine everything that came before.

Buy on Bookshop

How it's similar to The Silent Patient

Subgenre

Literary Fiction
Mystery/Thriller

Tone

Dark/Serious
Suspenseful/Thrilling

Narrative

Character-Driven
Dialogue-Heavy
Lyrical/Descriptive
Multi-Perspective
Plot-Driven

Character Tropes

The Anti-Hero
The Outsider

Plot Tropes

Love
The Journey

Setting Tropes

Conflict Tropes

Betrayal and Revenge
Death or Threat of Death
Dysfunctional Families
Identity Crisis
Man vs. Self

Theme Tropes

Grief and Loss
Search for Meaning
Book Cover

Disclaimer

Renée Knight

Disclaimer by Renée Knight shares The Silent Patient's ingenious structure and its themes of buried guilt, revenge, and psychological manipulation. The novel follows Catherine Ravenscroft, who discovers a mysterious novel that reveals her darkest secret—one she thought no one else knew. Like The Silent Patient, Knight's thriller uses a story-within-a-story approach to gradually unravel a complex psychological mystery. Both novels expertly play with the question of who holds narrative power and how the act of revealing or concealing truth can be weaponized. The calculated psychological warfare at the heart of Disclaimer mirrors the manipulative therapeutic relationship in Michaelides' novel, while its exploration of how past actions haunt the present creates the same relentless psychological pressure that made The Silent Patient so effective. Knight's precision in timing her revelations delivers the same kind of devastating final twist that left readers of The Silent Patient reeling.

Buy on Bookshop Buy on Libro.fm

How it's similar to The Silent Patient

Subgenre

Literary Fiction
Mystery/Thriller

Tone

Dark/Serious
Suspenseful/Thrilling

Narrative

Character-Driven
Dialogue-Heavy
Lyrical/Descriptive
Multi-Perspective
Plot-Driven

Character Tropes

The Anti-Hero
The Outsider
The Rebel

Plot Tropes

Love
Sacrifice

Setting Tropes

Mysterious Location

Conflict Tropes

Betrayal and Revenge
Death or Threat of Death
Dysfunctional Families
Good vs. Evil
Identity Crisis
Man vs. Self

Theme Tropes

Grief and Loss
Search for Meaning
Book Cover

The Turn of the Screw

Henry James

Though written over a century before The Silent Patient, Henry James' classic novella The Turn of the Screw establishes many of the psychological thriller conventions that Michaelides' work perfects. This gothic tale features one of literature's original unreliable narrators, a governess whose account of supernatural encounters at a remote estate grows increasingly suspect. Like The Silent Patient, James' work deliberately creates uncertainty about whether we're witnessing actual events or the projections of a disturbed mind. Both stories use isolation as a pressure cooker for psychological deterioration and leave crucial questions strategically unanswered. The governess's obsessive need to protect her charges parallels Theo's fixation on Alicia, with both narratives blurring the line between protective instinct and psychological compulsion. Despite its Victorian origins, The Turn of the Screw delivers the same ambiguous psychological horror and narrative tension that makes modern thrillers like The Silent Patient so compelling, proving that the best psychological manipulation transcends time.

How it's similar to The Silent Patient

Subgenre

Literary Fiction
Mystery/Thriller

Tone

Dark/Serious
Suspenseful/Thrilling

Narrative

Character-Driven
Dialogue-Heavy
Lyrical/Descriptive
Multi-Perspective
Plot-Driven

Character Tropes

The Anti-Hero
The Outsider

Plot Tropes

Love
Survival

Setting Tropes

Mysterious Location
Period Setting

Conflict Tropes

Betrayal and Revenge
Death or Threat of Death
Good vs. Evil
Identity Crisis
Man vs. Self

Theme Tropes

Grief and Loss
Search for Meaning