The Patient by Cole Baxter.
I did enjoy this book. Cole has done it again. Gripping and twisty. I did not like Janet at all. I did feel for James. I did have a theory. I was right but still a brilliant read. Definitely recommend. 5*.

Worth 5 stars+, this gripping mystery latches onto the reader and provides a masterful ride. I was wowed as eerie events unfolded in the book. It is true that the beginning lags a bit, but after providing evidence as to the narrator's credibility, the ride intensifies. James, a recently released asylum inmate, confronts a complicated world, having spent much of his life as a patient. His psychotic behavior and past "supposed" crimes envelop the reader, but the reader's sympathy for James belies the evidence of any wrongdoing. Isolated and reluctant to interact with "sane" folks, he clings to therapist, probation officer, and sister Janet. A convoluted plot ensues. Ghostly phenomena, strange appearances, and unexplained disappearances manifest in his house, inherited from his overbearing, abusive father. Suffice it to say, crime devotees will salivate tensely while reading the text. Get it and savor it. You will not regret it!

Fast-paced, and pulled me in right from the start.
James has been discharged from a mental institution years after being convicted of murdering his girlfriend, and is placed on house arrest.
I really liked James, and enjoyed the dark direction this story went in.
i read this book in one sitting, and did not want to put it down.

The premise was interesting... a 30 something man recently released on probation after a long institutionalization in a mental health facility for killing his girlfriend as a teenager. He has not recollection of event, nor much of his childhood, and he is forced to confront his demons when he returns to his childhood home her inherited from his deceased and formerly abusive father. The delivery on the premise, however, fell very short. The writing was choppy and childish. The content was at best unrealistic, and at worst unbelievable or full of fallacies as if a teenager with minimal life experience attempted to white their first thriller. For example, if the power is out because the electricity is shut off to the house, you cannot be thankful for still having water because the house is on a well. You need electricity to run the pump to get water out of it. The medical pieces were suspect and even the general process of filling a medication prescription completely inaccurate. I might excuse these things if the author actually was a teenager, but I don't think that is the case.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

i really enjoyed the book. i liked the writing and the way the story played! i think it would be a bit better if there would be even more people playing a part in the book because some aspects were slightly foreseeable. overall i would recommend it if you are looking for a easy fast-paced thriller!

James is finally released from the mental hospital and able to accept his father's estate. The same estate that left nothing to his twin. He has a basis support system of a doctor and probation office. His twin is insistent on helping. The story is about his mental state as he recovers memories and regains a normal life. But is it really normal? What a mind bender and a superb ending. I was up way to late reading this one. I just had to know the ending.

This was my first book by Cole Baxter and it did not disappoint! This is a fast paced enjoyable thriller.

James Owen was released from a mental institution 10 years after his admission for a murder he doesn’t remember committing. He has very limited interactions with other humans. In top of the hallucinations, strange occurrences begin happening. Is James crazy or is something else going on?

I am a sucker for a psych patient story lol. This was great from start to finish and you will NOT see the ending coming

Disturbing, well written and twisty. An original story featuring an unreliable narrator and a claustrophobic setting
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was pleasantly surprised by this thriller. I had no expectations at all going in - I only chose it because the cover and title reminded me of The Silent Patient and I felt in the mood for a similar vibe.

This was actually quite different in tone, despite being a similar plot. The narration is an unreliable stream of consciousness. I particularly liked that the unreliable narrator was a man aond not a woman, as it usually is with this trope.

Not a whole lot happens in the way of plot but it's well paced so you can still fly through it. I was itching to find out what was coming next whenever I put it down.

***SPOILER AHEAD***

The final twist is incredibly predictable. But, with only a cast of 3 or 4 characters, the novel does a great job of confusing the reader throughout and wondering which way the plot will go.

Not a fan. Felt very choppy and ending was just not it. The writing style felt blocky, and it was hard to get into. I liked the premise at first, but then it just got repetitive

I was lucky enough to get an arc of this book and whilst I definitely noticed that I wasn't the right person for this book, I ended up enjoying it.

As someone who has mental health issues of my own, this book was very tough to get through at certain points, due to a lot of mental health/depression/panic attack talk, so keep that in mind if you're dealing with the same issues!

The main character was someone that I just wanted to shake at certain points, and tell him that he was being dumb, but luckily in the end he redeemed himself and finally figured out what was going on.

The thriller part of the book was good, especially with some twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I really felt like I'd gone through all of the drama together with the main character, which I enjoyed.

All in all, I enjoyed this book but I probably wouldn't be so quick to read another.

The Patient is an interesting, thought-provoking and complex psychological thriller. Although some parts were slightly too unbelievable I really enjoyed reading this and I was blown away by all the twists and turns. I loved that I always felt unsure of who to trust and what was going to happen next, it really kept me on the edge of my seat and I highly recommend to thriller fans.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. Unfortunately it wasn’t for me. I DNF at 30%. It just felt so silly and obvious!

James is let out of a mental institution after ten years for killing his girlfriend. He is schizophrenic and has no memory of the crime. The story was kind of up and down for me, as he's clearly being gaslit, and is aware of it at some level, but continues to just go with the flow. It was really good for the most part, but I just wanted him to wake up and deal with what was right in his face!

⭐️ BOOK REVIEW ⭐️
The Patient by Cole Baxter
My Rating: 4/5 ⭐️

**Spoilers**
Review: Wow. Just wow. This book has left me speechless and my mind spinning in circles. I felt completely insane reading this book and what a great job Cole Baxter did of that. It follows James Owens just after his release from a mental hospital after being found guilty for killing his girlfriend. His twin sister Janet stays with him and ‘helps’ him adjust to life outside of the hospital. But let me tell you, something is OFF about Janet from the moment the reader meets her.

The entire Owens family history is hard to digest and left my thinking how any child could survive such abuse. With an abusive father and what was told to be an unwell mother, Janet and James were left to fend for themselves to try to avoid beatings as best they could.

Riddled with aggression the father beat their mother to death in a memory that took James weeks of intense therapy to recall. Janet had always claimed to be on his side when in fact she was the one who was behind his arrest and being put into a mental facility. The entire family history of horror comes to a head in the final few chapters revealing the truth about James’ childhood and adulthood.

This book will make you think you’re going insane while reading it and make you question every move James and Janet take. Are you ready to jump on the roller coaster that is this psychological thriller?

Trigger Warnings:
Domestic abuse
Child abuse
Murder
Hallucinations
Mental abuse
Physical abuse

3.5 Stars

The novel begins with James, who has just been released from a mental facility where he had been committed after he had killed his girlfriend. He remembers none of it, but he's convinced that he did it, because everybody says he did.

He learns that while he was away, his father had passed away, and he has inherited his father's estate. He doesn't know how he feels about this, because he had a very difficult relationship with his father, who was an abuser. James also has a twin sister named Janet, but their father hasn't left anything for her in the will.

Once he comes to live in the new house, he interacts with only two people-his probation officer, Brianna, and his psychiatrist. That is, until his sister shows up on the scene, claiming that he's incapable of taking care of himself, and she would be handling everything henceforth, from ordering his groceries to managing his bank account.

He's not too pleased with this turn of events, but when strange things start happening around the house, he can't seem to figure out what's real and what's imagined, so he lets her stay and help him out. One moment he suspects his sister, the next moment he can't help but believe that she's in his corner and wants the best for him. He's still undergoing therapy and taking medication, so his grip on reality is hanging by a thread.

What I liked about the story that it was set in one place. They were inside the house almost all the time, and that gave it an atmosphere. Imagine not being able to trust your mind, an then being confined inside a house, and not knowing whether what you hear and see is imagined or real. The story was gripping, it had real potential, but the writing somehow fell short.

The character of James was, I think, a good representation of what mental illness can look like, which is to say, that it can look like different things in different people, and it's a very difficult thing to identify. So even though I was exasperated that he was letting his sister intrude too much in his life, I also understood why he was doing it, because if you can't even trust your own mind, then you need someone else who you believe has your back.

Even though you will most likely know who the culprit is early on, the gaslighting should have been done in a more insidious way, to up the creep factor and build the tension. Instead, you have a very abrasive character with blatantly ulterior motives and wispy excuses and lies, that not even a child would believe.

And then there is the matter of letting Janet walk all over him, and he just letting her. Why? What hold does she have over him? What does he have to lose, if he just tells her to F off? On multiple occasions, he offers to give her half his inheritance, but she refuses, saying that she doesn't want or need it. And yet, she's mad at the end that she didn't get any of it?? Huh?

The dialogue was very flat in some places, and the progression of scenes was disjointed in some areas (suddenly, a sex scene!). However, it was interesting enough to keep me reading, since the story had good bones, but the execution could have been better. Perhaps with a little more research, and a few more revisions of the draft to iron out the crinkles, this could have earned the author a few more stars.

James was convicted of a murder he doesn’t remember committing. He has finally been released from the mental institution after a decade if incarceration. His father had left him plenty of money, but he is still terrified of what he doesn’t remember. He is hopeful that between his probation officer. His friend, and his sister he can get back on the right track. He just wants to live a normal life. But when things start happening that can’t be explained James worries that he isn’t ready to be on his own yet. His sister comes to help him, but then he is convinced that she is seeing the same crazy things he is and the house is haunted. James must explore what is happening to him and figure out who to trust!

This story stayed close to the main character, James, which made it feel visceral and like you were inside his head.

The author did a good job of creating suspense as they took you on James’ journey of self-discovery. I wasn’t sure where it was going to go, but it was an interesting journey with a satisfying end. I was questioning what (and who) to believe as James begins to question what made him kill. He confronts his demons in an attempt to understand himself, and pinpoint where his life took such a dark turn.

I love Cole Baxter's books and this one, as well as being a class thriller, really highlighted mental health issues and the stigmas often attached to these issues so well.
It was one of those books where you think you know where it is headed and then a ferocious twist will send you spinning down another track.
Another triumph for this author.