I thought that The Therapist would be my kind of book based on the synopsis. A psychological thriller written by a psychologist - what wasn't there to like? Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed.

It's hard to say exactly what was wrong and meant that the book just didn't hit home.

It's fair to say that I struggled to connect with the main protagonist which didn't help. I found the characterisation rather flat in general. Perhaps the structure of the book didn't help - chapters were very long which made it awkward as a bedtime read, just where do you stop? This may have added to a sense of a slow pace. It wasn't that thrilling.

The ending, I thought, was good - perhaps had I not gone in with such high expectations I might have enjoyed this more?


With thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for an advance copy.

A fantastic book which is well written and completely engaging. I have been completely pulled in and kept hostage by this one.
This is unique, intriguing and one that I have devoured.

I love the strapline to this novel – “The truth is inside her head“. Sara is a therapist, treating her patients in her office at home. Her husband Sigourd is supposed to be renovating their big old inherited house. But Sigourd is so busy with his work, he doesn’t get around to doing much renovating. He needs a break away with the boys for the weekend, so Sara is home alone. But when Sara gets a call to say Sigourd never arrived, things start to unravel. At first Sara thinks its a weird stupid joke from the friends of her Husband, friends she never really liked. But as the hours pass, Sara gets worried.

Sara was not a likeable character, but as a therapist, I enjoyed seeing the way her mind worked. As the police investigation continues into Sigourd’s disappearance, strange things continue to happen around Sara. So much so that she starts to doubt herself. We didn’t hear to much about the investigation from the police side of things and as their suspicions are told to Sara, this is when we learn about them. The fact that a Sigourd left a message on Sara’s phone to say he arrived to see his friends makes this all the more strange and makes the reader question, why Sigourd lied? For the first half of the book, I didn’t have any suspects, which is odd as usually I suspect everybody. As I got into the second half of the book, more suspects appeared.

The writing and translation of this book was excellent. If it wasn’t based in Norway with Scandinavian names, then I would not know it was not originally written in English. I have read quite a few Scandi Noir books over the years and I was not disppointed with this one. The ending of the book was very good and I felt satisfied that all ends were tied up.

Author Helene Flood is a psychologist herself. The book has already had been bought for film rights, which I look forward to seeing. She also has another book due out next year which I look forward to hearing about.

Flood is a story teller, gripped the whole way through as I couldn’t tell where it was going, a good twist at the end! A well paced story, easy to follow… I will definitely be recommending!

Sinister and compelling mystery set around a puzzling disappearance, the unravelling of a marriage and a psychiatrist's inner thoughts. Couldn't put it down.

Sara's husband is taking time out with 'the boys', a regular retreat which this time means an escape from the pressures of married life and renovating the family home.

Sara receives a voicemail message from him to say that he's arrived at the cabin, but shortly afterwards his friends call, asking where he is, because in fact he never did join them.

She struggles to get the police to investigate so has to continue with her work as a psychiatrist, focusing on the issues facing her clients while puzzling over the state of their marriage and whether it is this which has caused him to leave.

Eventually the police become involved but the fact that Sara deleted the message she received puts her under suspicion.

Her situation grows ever more fraught and intense with twists and turns keeping the reader guessing and unable to put the book down.

I very much enjoyed it, though was a little dissatisfied at the conclusion. I'd like to read it again, more slowly, paying more attention to Sara's musings on life and her job. Being eager to find out what had happened kept me turning the pages rather too eagerly perhaps! 

Translated from the Norwegian, I'll certainly be looking out for this author again.

Sara is a therapist who works with clients in their late teens. She's not particularly successful in her chosen career. Somewhere along the line she rather lost her mojo. She doesn't like touting for business, and she doesn't bring in enough money to live the life that she and her architect husband Sigurd would like and had hoped for. His business isn't doing as great as he'd hoped either. They inherited a house - more of a 'project' than a house and an unfinished project, a long work in progress that's all the more dismal during the cold Norwegian weather.

Sigurd heads off for a boys weekend at a friend's cabin: that's the sort of thing Norwegians do, apparently. He calls mid-morning, leaving a message that he's arrived safely. Then several hours later, his friends call to ask where he is. He was never at the cabin. So either Sigurd or his friend is lying and Sara's not sure.

I would hope that if somebody were to die in unusual circumstances in this country that the police might show a bit more sympathy and a bit less suspicion to the grieving widow than happens in this book.

An intruder gets into Sara's house and moves things around. Or did she just imagine it in her hysterical widow way? Paranoia abounds. She follows up some clues as to what might have happened although that sort of thing doesn't go down well with the police. The police continue to keep her in the dark and treat her like a suspect.

It's rather a slow-burn book. It moves very slowly. It gets a bit repetitive. We don't get the impression that Sara is particularly desperately upset, especially as she learns that Sigurd had a secret life outside their marriage. She realises she's very lonely and alone - a bit like the clients she tries to help but doesn't appear to achieve much success. It's a rather dull book filled with seemingly rather dull people - interspersed with bursts of violence.

I can't put my finger on anything that's actually 'wrong' with the book, but it just didn't move me. I couldn't care for Sara, Sigurd or any of the other characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my review copy.

The Therapist is a fun, solid psychological thriller featuring Sara, a psychologist whose husband, Sigurd, heads off to meet his friends for a weekend in the woods but, according to said friends, never actually arrives… despite calling her to say he’d just got there.

As Sara begins to untangle what really happened to Sigurd, and his movements in the lead up to his disappearance, she finds out that not everything in their marriage was as she thought… but as someone is evidently set on preventing her discovering the truth, at times Sara seems to start to doubt herself. Is she starting to recall some of her past memories incorrectly?

This is gripping Nordic-noir, and it’ll keep you guessing – what actually happened to Sigurd? Was he hiding anything? Can we rely on Sara as the perspective we’re seeing (a potentially unreliable narrator is something I always enjoy in a book)? And many more which I won’t list here to avoid giving anything away!

I raced through The Therapist quickly, despite some parts feeling like they could have been edited down a little – it’s definitely more of a slow-burner than a high-octane thriller, but this had no effect on how addictive it was – this book kept me engrossed throughout. The translation by Alison McCullough is also excellent.

Definitely recommended!

Sara kisses her husband goodbye as he sets off for a weekend with the lads . He sends a quick voicemail to say he has arrived safely and he will speak to her later. However she receives a call from one of his friends to ask why he hasn't arrived yet-they have been waiting for him all day ....... So where is he and what is going on ???
As Sara struggles with the past and the present she is desperate to find out what has happened to her husband .
Just when you think you have it all sussed out -there is a little unexpected twist at the end which felt like a reward for sticking to what would have been a run of the mill story.

Thankyou NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review

Domestic, psychological thriller. Clever, full of suspense with lots of twists and turns. Slightly petered out at the end, but all in all an enjoyable read

Norweigan thrillers are usually darkly atmospheric and full of unpredictable and shocking twists. And The Therapist does tick these boxes to an extent. But I did find the plot sometimes laboured and bogged down with unnecessary detail which became a little repetitive.

Sara's husband Sigurd has left for a weekend with some friends. He calls her to say he's arrived. But some hours later, his friends get in touch to say he never arrived.

And then a body is found with two bullet wounds. Forensics confirm it is Sigurd.

As Gundersen investigates it becomes clear Sigurd was hiding a secret from his wife.

And is Sara losing her mind, or is someone breaking in to her house and moving things around.

I did enjoy this mystery but I had guessed the twist and there wasn't really any shock value for me.

Overall I'd say this is a decent read for those who like a little darkness in their thrillers.

This was gripping - a twist on a who-dunnit? It keeps you guessing the whole way through! I was constantly suspicious of the different characters, constantly changing my mind as to what I thought had happened.

What a read! So creepy and the insight from an actual psychologist makes this even better.

This kept me hooked and is so delightfully twisty.

Must read if you like tense thrillers.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Holy moly...what a book!! Drags a bit but the ending was unexpected!

Unfortunately, I really couldn’t get on with this one. I’ve seen some wonderful reviews so I know some people have loved it, but it just wasn’t for me.

I found the main character difficult to get on board with and I found the way the story developed quite predictable.

I had a feeling I knew ‘whodunnit’ and could see how it was going to unfold, so I did feel that most of the intrigue had disappeared.

I’m sure so many people will love it and I’m disappointed I didn’t enjoy it more.

Only 2 stars for me on this occasion.

I was sadly disappointed with The Therapist. Having been excited by the synopsis, I thought this book would be right up my street but I found it severely lacking.

One of the main issues for me is that I didn’t care much for protagonist, psychologist Sara - I found her rather unlikeable, struggled to empathise with her and didn’t connect with her character at all. Also if I’m being brutally honest, the story was quite boring. There weren’t really any situations or events that grabbed my attention and made me desperate to keep reading. I finished the book because I did have some notion of wanting to find out how it would be concluded and although the ending was better than I thought it would be, it still wasn’t enough to save the rest of the book for me.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rounded up from around 3.5 stars ⭐️

The therapist tells the story of Sara, who’s life is turned upside-down when her husband Sigurd goes missing.

I absolutely loved the beginning chapters of this book. I could not stop myself reading them and felt a deep tension as I desperately tried to read as quickly as possible. I really enjoyed the sections involving therapy from the therapists perspective. Additionally, Sara’s sanity seemed to be spiralling and I found this both exciting and wonderfully written. The gothic noir and thrilling nature slightly petered out for me later on in the book.

The biggest downside for me was the length of the chapters in this novel. I love short chapters but the ones in this book were pretty long, which sometimes made it feel like it was dragging. I would also warn those with chronic health issues or disabilities to read this with a little caution. There was a small section of this book that I found very tough to read as someone with health issues/disabilities. Although Helene Flood made it very obvious that the opinion expressed by the character wasn’t acceptable, it didn’t make it easier to read. That being said, I found the ending of this book satisfying even if I wasn’t shocked by the twist.

I would recommend this novel to anyone that likes thrillers, especially if you like them to have a noir feel. I would like to thank Netgalley, Quercus Books and Helene Flood for allowing me to read this and give my personal thoughts.

A good story which was well told. Very atmospheric and lots of twists to the tale. An excellent ending which I did not see coming but in fact there had been subtle clues throughout the story.

Huge thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this.

The Therapist was an instant hit with me and just my kind of book. Sharp, absorbing and thoroughly chilling throughout and I really didn't want it to end! Helene's writing style is engaging and compelling and I am looking forward to reading more by her.

It took me a while to connect with the main character in this as I feel she lacked emotion in the way the book was written but wow, the ending. As far as thrillers go, this ticks all the boxes, you have no clue about the ending until you get there but when you're there you realise there are all these clues but so subtle. I think it's such a clever book one that I'll still be thinking about for a while.

For me, there was a lot lost in the translation. It felt clunky and didn’t & stilted often which made it hard to get into the storyline. I liked the overall premise & the characters, although they often felt very two dimensional..

Overall, a good read and thank you so much for my arc copy 🙏🏼 Look forward to reading more from the author in the future.