December 3rd, 2024
Home | Log in!

On Top Shelf
Michel PrinceMichel Prince
Fresh Pick
NO RULES TONIGHT
NO RULES TONIGHT

New Books This Week

Reader Games

Video Book Club

Holiday Giveaways


December's delights are here! Thrilling tales, romance, and magic await you.

Slideshow image


Since your web browser does not support JavaScript, here is a non-JavaScript version of the image slideshow:

slideshow image
Family secrets aren't just dangerous, they are deadly.


slideshow image
A headstrong heiress and a noble gambler: wagers, intrigue, and irresistible romance.


slideshow image
An immortal vampire, a relentless agent, and a past that refuses to stay buried.


slideshow image
A PI protecting a determined daughter, a killer ready to strike again.


slideshow image
Three homeless puppies, two lonely hearts, and a massive snowstorm.


slideshow image
Two restless souls, one wild Christmas on the ranch�where sparks fly, and dreams ride free.


The Patient

The Patient, October 2019
by Steena Holmes

Lake Union Publishing
ISBN: 1542040388
EAN: 9781542040389
Kindle: B07H28CKM7
Trade Size / e-Book
Add to Wish List


Purchase



"Fall down the rabbit hole with this fabulous thriller!"

Fresh Fiction Review

The Patient
Steena Holmes

Reviewed by Monique Daoust
Posted September 19, 2019

Thriller

Pseudo-psychological thrillers are a dime a dozen, real ones rarer, and great ones surface once in a blue moon. As soon as I read the book description, I immediately grabbed THE PATIENT, and I'm happy to say it met all my expectations. Danielle Rycroft is a therapist in a small town where a serial killer has been wreaking havoc. While one of her patients, Ella, seems a likely candidate, Danielle is firmly convinced Ella is not the murderer, but what of her other two regular patients?

I have two ways of going about when reading a novel like THE PATIENT: either I let the author take me along for the ride, not thinking too much as I go, or I question and analyze everything, looking for clues, red herrings, not missing a single word. THE PATIENT belongs to the latter category. I don't believe I've ever worked so much intellectually reading a book and it was so much fun! I suspected everyone at one time or another, everyone! I took notes while reading on whom I suspected, who meant what to whom in which way, to end up completely confounded - too many times to count! - and tickled pink to be so masterfully manipulated!

I loved that the theme of Alice in Wonderland is almost a character in the story, and now I'm wondering if I missed some clues. . . Steena Holmes was a new-to-me author, but after reading THE PATIENT, she's now on my authors-to-watch list. Ms. Holmes' crisp and smooth writing style makes this intense and harrowing novel a joy to read. The story is impeccably structured, told in first person POV, mostly from Danielle's perspective. This is difficult to explain adequately: at first, the pace seems slow - therapy sessions do not wild action scenes make - yet the story moves along at breakneck speed because of all the twists and turns, the need to know what will happen next, what is true and what isn't, and is anyone who they appear to be. THE PATIENT is one heck of a thrilling ride!

Learn more about The Patient

SUMMARY

A therapist must face her own worst fear—one of her patients is a serial killer. Dani Rycroft suspects someone close to her has a dark secret. In the confidential setting of therapy, her patients share their anxieties and fears. Now, with a string of murders in town putting her on edge, Dani’s own worries come close to eclipsing her patients’. In each case, the pattern is the same: parents killed while their children sleep blissfully unaware in their beds. Her best friend, Detective Tami Sloan, is the only person she has confided in. Dani believes that there’s still a secret one patient has yet to share. But which one? Behind a familiar face is a stranger who’ll do anything to hide their worst compulsions. The anxiety brings Dani to her own therapist’s office, seeking counsel and comfort. But what is she willing to risk, and how much closer must she get, to stop them?


What do you think about this review?

Comments

No comments posted.

Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!

 

 

 

© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net  all rights reserved Privacy Policy