A good slow burn thriller that kept me up late finishing it. Told from the POV’s of Fern, the sister of Flora whose organs were donated following her death and Saphy one of recipients of a donated organ. Flora was a lively party girl who lived life to the full until one day she was attacked and left in a coma. Her former partner has been arrested and is going to be charged. Quite an unusual topic and I like that this raises the important issue of organ donation.

Briefly, Saphy has received a new heart and whilst recovering feels that she knows who the donor is, having seen the media stories about Flora. Her thoughts are confirmed when Floras family get in touch and she arranges to meet them. They become close, very quickly, and the closer they get the more Saphy seems to be morphing into a Flora lookalike. Then a shocking incident happens…

The action ramps up in the last 25% of the book and although I had correctly guessed who the killer was there were some shocking revelations behind the killings. Well written with short chapters making it an easy read. Good character development and an interesting storyline that I enjoyed. An entertaining read.

What if your second chance at life is someone's second chance to murder? Yikes! This is the question to be answered as the author deftly navigates this nightmare scenario.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

Fern’s sister, Flora, was drugged, attacked and choked leaving her in a coma. After awhile, her body started to fail and she was taken off life support leaving her organs ready for transplant.

Saphine (Saphy) was born with a heart defect which got better until she hit her early 20’s and her heart began to fail. She is on the list for a list. When the call comes that one is available, she is scared but pushes herself to go through with the operation. She is told it was very successful and she is now healing. She can’t help but wonder whose heart now resides in her body. She heard about what happened to Flora and wonders if it’s her heart that she has received. Saphy’s parents have both passed away so she depends on her best friend, Zoe, and her mum, Claire, for her after care.

When Saphy receives a letter from the transplant organization asking if she would like to meet the family of her donor, she agrees. Thus begins a friendship with Flora’s family. Saphy is so grateful to them for making this difficult decision to donate her organs. However, there are some people who feel that the donor is not dead until they have been “killed" by retrieving the organs. A big controversy. But when some frightening events occur, the recipients are terrified.

This was a very educational read that is quite informative about the organ donation process. However, it also delves into who choked Flora and why while keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. Very well written. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was my first book by Teri Terry, and I will definitely be looking out for her books in the future. I really enjoyed this.

Saphy is in desperate need of a heart transplant since a congenital heart defect she has had since birth worsened when she caught Covid-19. She is alone family wise; her mum, died from cancer when she was 3, and her dad, who also caught Covid-19 when she did, sadly died from it. Saphy is open and accepting of the fact that she is indeed dying and that a heart may not be found in time. Then the call comes, a heart is available and it’s a match, cue her rush to the London hospital that will do the surgery with her best friend Zoe and Zoe’s mum, Claire, who have become family to Saphy. Meanwhile in London, Fern and her mother are saying their goodbyes to their beloved sister and daughter, Flora. Flora was a well-known socialite whose brutal attack by her boyfriend Benji shocked everyone. The attack led to her being in a coma and being dubbed by the press “sleeping beauty”. When brain stem tests were completed and came back non-existent Flora’s family knew they had to make the terrible choice to say goodbye to her. However, they felt that donating Flora’s organs would be the last little bit of good Flora could give to the world and so they said yes. Saphy’s transplant goes well and after reading about Flora’s tragic death she was sure her heart was once Flora’s and when she initiates contact with the heart donor’s family, she realises her hunch was right all along. Saphy meets Flora’s family and starts to get more integrated into Flora’s world but as she does so, she starts to wonder where Saphy ends, and Flora begins. Meanwhile Fern is finding out a lot of things about Flora that had been kept secret from her while Flora was alive. Then when the two other recipients of Flora’s organs get attacked Saphy starts to panic, is she is danger? And if so, who is behind the attacks and are they linked to Flora’s initial attack? When Saphy goes missing it’s a race against time for Fern to find Saphy and the killer, she still blames herself for Flora getting hurt, this time will she be able to save Saphy?

This was a very good and interesting read. I really enjoyed learning about the heart transplant procedure and all that follows afterwards especially when it comes to recuperating and all the dos and don’ts for the recipient. I liked Saphy’s attitude to life despite all that she had been through losing not only her mother but also her father too and then dealing with a fatal prognosis if a heart didn’t become available. I must admit I wasn’t really taken with Fern to begin with, however as the story went on, I did warm to her. I was led down the wrong path multiple times by the author so when the twist came, I was pretty gobsmacked, which is just what I love when reading a psychological thriller so great writing Teri Terry.

All in all, this was a good psychological thriller. I would definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy the psychological thriller genre, and I will be looking out for more books written by Teri Terry.

Thank you to NetGalley, Teri Terry and Bookouture for my advanced reading copy. Out now.

The Patient is twisty and character driven plot that instantly pulls you in and has you by your toes. Saphy received a heart transplant and when the donors family get in contact Saphy is sure that she received the heart of Flora. She has so many questions and wants to know everything about Flora but it may be darker than anyone expected. I could feel the danger building through the pages but I had no idea where it was coming from. I enjoyed reading about the subject of donors as I find it fascinating how our body parts can potentially be put in someone else and possibly save there life. The twists shocked me too my core and I thought they were over and then another major twist came along and knocked my socks off! I found this book exciting and well written as it had me flipping through the pages at a alarming rate.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Finally a thriller with a rarely done topic, organ donation! In college, I had to write an ethics paper regarding donations/organs for profit. Reading the book blurb signaled this would be right up my alley.
Saphy is a 28 year old heart transplant recipient from a 25 year old Flora. Flora was a local social lite surrounded by cash, both parents and an easy life. The exact opposite of Saphy. Flora goes through an accident leading to her donation of multiple organs, including a heart for Saphy. Saphy begins a relationship with Flora’s family and friends and everything changes.
I’m an avid thriller reader and have found myself a little bored with the genre as of late due to the recycling of trendy tropes. This is a fresh topic that I have personal interest in but isn’t overly focused on just transplant information. I truly did enjoy this book but did feel some lag on certain parts, a little too much fluff that wasn’t necessary for the true bones of the story the author was trying to tell. Luckily the chapters are short and easy to breeze through.
I enjoy the switching POV but found the constant switch back and forth a little not needed especially when describing low impact scenes like getting tea. Often the view points didn’t overlap terribly but occasionally when they did they were a little repetitive.
I do know if I read about Saphy’s special chair for healing one more time i was going to go a little mad.
My one major gripe or critique was how quickly Saphy adopted Flora-isms. It seemed like overnight Saphy became flippant with financial concerns or if someone said not to care about something Saphy would immediately listen and dial back caring.
Overall I am glad I took on this book! I will be watching for more work by this author.

Saphy is learning to live with the fact that her heart is going to give out and she'll die. But she receives a new life when she receives a heart transplant. It's not long until she wants to know everything about the young woman whose heart is now hers. As THE PATIENT, Saphy will shocked to find her good fortune came about when Flora was assaulted and left for dead. Teri Terry builds this thriller in layers. We first hear from Saphy, then from Fern, Flora's sister. As Terry builds the backstory and moves Saphy into a future she had given up on, she'll lead readers to question how Flora's death will affect the patients who received her organs. I got chills several times reading this story, the tension and suspense was enough to keep me spooked and jumpy. My reading circle is going to love this book!!!

WOW, what a great book this is. Gripping from the start. It is a complex story with twists galore and ending that I could never have imagined. It would make a brilliant film. Highly recommended
Many thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC

The Patient is Author Teri Terry's first adult book. The synopsis of this book was so intriguing that I would stop myself from requesting for it on Netgalley.

The Patient follows the story of Saphy who has a heart condition & is in need of a heart transplant. She is soon lucky to find a donate in the form of Flora, who has been declared brain stem dead & her life is saved but she soon finds herself obsessed & involved in the life & the family of her donor, which in turn opens up a pandora's box of hidden secrets & untold mysteries.

The book is for sure a slow burner as the major twist & turns come in the last 25% of the book. I felt the beginning to be very confusing though after 10 chapters I was able to figure out where the story was headed & the connection between the characters. I liked that the book was told from a dual POV. The characters were okay. The plot was good but the writing was too repetitive. There was a lot of mind talking & reflections on conversations already had between the characters. I felt that the book could be easily shortened by a good number of pages or the author could has used it more wisely by giving us some real life insights on how a heart recipient really feels on receiving another persons heart. The author has raised a serious & thought provoking subject of organ donation but had she spent a little more time in that rabbit hole, she would have done full justice to this book. I would have loved to see that interview scene happen, had the author thrown more emphasis on it.

Overall, a good book & recommended to ppl looking for a slow burner.

Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture & the publisher for this ARC.

The Patient is a slow burning psychological thriller that will keep you wanting 'just one more chapter', then before you know it you've finished.

I've read things like this before with transplant patients taking on characteristics of their donor and integrating themselves into their donor's families.

Narrated from the POV of the donor's sister Fern, and transplant recipient Saphy, the author takes us on a twisty journey where the suspense is palpable and you know it's building up to something big!

The Patient by Teri Terry is an interesting slow-burn thriller.
My first time reading this authors work and I’m very excited to read more in the future.
An absolutely gripping, interesting and twisty mystery and suspense, that will just grip you from the very first page till the very last.
I really enjoyed how this story dives into organ donation and how it affects the ones involved. A very interesting storyline here.
I found this to be an enjoyable and entertaining story that I read in a couple of sittings.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

The Patient by Teri Terry
(Narrated by Sarah Durham)

Saphy had a heart problem and soon she was acknowledged that a heart was suitable for her. Shortly after the transplant, she started being obsessed to her donor - Flora.

Flora was killed violently. Saphy read all the news about Flora. Until a day she was invited by Flora’s family to their grand house.

Saphy then found out more about her younger life as an adopted child and more terrible secrets were revealed.

I loved the dual POVs, from Saphy and Fern (Flora’s sister). A more completed and complex storyplot.

Many thanks to NetGalley, publisher and the author for my copy.

Pub date: Feb 13, 2024

⭐️3.0

It was alright. It pains me to admit that I did not enjoy this as much as I thought I would have based on the synopsis,especially because this book had all the ingredients to be so epic and mind blowing.
Told from the POV of Saphy, the heart recipient and Fern, Flora’s sister. This was more of a building connections and learning the way these two women express themselves in various aspects of life.

This was one of the slowest paced thriller books I’ve ever read 😭 and despite it all I didn’t feel that connection to any of the characters. There is a psychological thriller element to it but it only picks up around 70% and by 90% you’re like woah woah woah,what a revelation ! but up to the 70% there’s basically nothing thriller about it. I did enjoy the ending though so that’s a win.🏆

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for access to this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Due to a heart condition, Saphy is awaiting a transplant. Ever since the attack, Flora has been in a coma and has been declared brain stem dead. Receiving Flora's heart should have reinvigorated Saphy's passion for life, but instead she becomes fixated on Flora and her family. When some of Flora's organ recipients are under attack, she worries about her own life being at risk.

I loved it, especially because of the captivating cover that caught my attention, so I was eagerly anticipating reading it. The story was captivating, intriguing, and enjoyable. Saphy and Fern (Flora's sister) provide their unique perspectives in the story. The author did an excellent job of writing the characters, both main and secondary, and I felt a deep connection with all of them. I found the story to be enthralling, and it was enjoyable to puzzle out the events. I was pleased with how the story concluded, and the unexpected turns added excitement. Although the major action and attacks took longer to unfold, the rapid pace afterwards kept me engrossed in the story. A fantastic thriller all around.

Many thanks to @TeriTerryWrites @Netgalley & @bookouture for a spot on the tour.

This was my first book by this author. I thought the premise was something that I have never read before. I feel like I always say it but with the amount of thrillers I read it is really hard to find new and different things in them. This one had it. Unfortunately for me it kind of fell flat of what I was wanting from it. I felt like a lot of things were repeating itself. It kind of got annoying by the end of it. I did like the different perspectives of the book though. Overall I don't think it was bad but it also didn't blow me away.

This novel was a fast-paced, page-turning psychological thriller.

It’s told through the perspectives of two protagonists.

Saphy is a young woman in her late twenties, living in London. Saphy's life hasn't been easy. As a baby, she was adopted by a loving family. But her mother died when she was young, and her father recently died of Covid, the same Covid Saphy inadvertently passed on to him. The same disease that damaged her own heart, already weakened by congenital heart defects. Saphy's only chance of survival is a heart transplant.

Fern is a young emergency room doctor. Introverted and working long hours in a high stress job, Fern suffers debilitating guilt for the younger sister she has just lost to a brutal murder. And, heightening the guilt, is the knowledge that the presumed murderer of her beautiful and glamorous sister, Flora, was a fellow doctor Fern introduced to her sister.

Saphy's life is saved by a heart transplant, but as she begins to heal, she has strange visions and feelings. When she learns the high-profile murder victim Flora is her heart donor, she becomes increasingly obsessed with the life of the glamorous young woman. Events come to a head when Saphy meets Fern's family and it becomes evident that someone is targeting Flora's organ donors.

I enjoyed this fast-paced tale, and the dual perspectives. In the last chapters, there were a few too many twists and turns for my personal preference, but I still enjoyed this page-turning tale.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy - all thoughts are my own.

This story is told alternating between the perspective of Saphy, and Fern.

Saphy is a 28 year old in heart failure, and she receives the call that there is a heart for her. She undergoes transplant and shortly after, meets her donor family. She begins to have a slight obsession with Flora, her donor, and wants to be a part of her family.

Fern is the sister of Flora, dealing with the loss of her sister. Flora was murdered, strangled to brain death, and her ex boyfriend, who is Ferns long time crush, was arrested for her murder.

There are underlying themes of organ donation being right or not, which I could have done without, and the medical aspect was very vague and lacking. She has a congenital heart defect that was never explained, and as someone who works in the cardiology field I found that infuriating. Some medical research would have been awesome to at least give a name to her diagnosis for some awareness.

Eventually, someone begins injuring and killing people who have received Floras organs. Is Saphy next? What actually happened to Flora, who killed her? And is that same person now coming after her organs?

A really cool concept that I found to be a little off in execution. The writing was nice, lots of short chapters, easy to follow storyline, decent enough characters. It was lacking in some details, as stated above, and turns very convoluted to give us an ending.

Also the last page of the epilogue ruined it for me, although I get why it was put in, I just didn’t like it.

The Patient tells the story of Saphy, the recipient of a donated heart, and how the donor's violent, tragic death seems to impact on Saphy's post-transplant life. The fast-paced plot deals with medical issues, family bonds and breakdowns and dangerous romantic obsessions. The two narrators--Saphy herself, and the donor's sister, Fern--are somewhat flawed, but engaging, and the action and suspense is played out through their dual points of view. The intermingling of their lives as Saphy is welcomed into her donor's family circle, and begins to take on some aspects of her donor's personality, leads to an exciting ending, with many blind-siding twists and reveals!

Teri Terry's THE PATIENT is a twisty, character-driven, highly entertaining psychological thriller about a heart transplant. When a recipient becomes entangled with the donor's family, nothing is as it appears when dangers are lurking below the surface.

COVER: Firstly, the cover was striking, and I was hooked immediately.

AUDIO: Secondly, I highly recommend the audiobook, narrated by a favorite, Sarah Durham. I have enjoyed her narrations with other books, such as Daniel Hurst, Rona Halsall, and others. Her performance was stellar, making this a 5-star rating! She made the characters come alive!

AUTHOR: Last but not least, this is my first book by the author, Teri Terry, and I was highly impressed. I enjoyed her writing style and look forward to reading more by this author!

Set in London, it is A mix of medical, crime thriller, psychological suspense, mystery, and family drama with unreliable narrators and a killer twist. WHODUNIT!

Saphy has a heart problem that COVID-19 made worse. She is on a waiting list for a heart transplant. Her father passed away recently from COVID, and her mom passed away when she was a little girl. She was adopted.

Zoe is her best friend, and Saphy knows she will die without a transplant. She is unsure even if they call her that a heart is available; she does not know if she wants to go through it because there are many dangers, including infections and the risk of rejection. She is uncertain.

Someone has to die first.
She gets the call.
She is a match.

Fern, a doctor, is Flora's older sister. Flora is gone. She is the donor. She was the beautiful sister, wild and impulsive but possibly troubled. Benji, her boyfriend, was arrested and charged with her murder. She was drugged, tied down, and strangled in a specific way with carotid artery compression for long enough to deprive her brain of oxygen and cause brain damage. The girl from the society pages was in a coma.

However, Benji pleads innocent. If not him, who?

Saphy is the recipient of the heart transplant and becomes obsessed with knowing more about her donor when she discovers that her donor is the sleeping beauty everyone talked about.

Then, the family invites her to their beautiful home and into their lives. She even agrees to a news story about donors after much negative publicity about donors and recipients. This puts her in more danger.

Then, people who are recipients are attacked. Something sinister is going on. Now, Saphy may be in danger. She meets Jack, who may not be who he seems. There are lots of suspects.

Also, Fern's mom seems to be taken with Saphy, but Fern is unsure about her intentions. She begins dressing like her and thinking like her. Their lifestyle wows her since she has no family now.

However, things are not as they seem. Told from the POVs of Fern and Saphy, we also go back to find out about Saphy's birth mother and how she came to be adopted. Then, there is another mystery surrounding her birth.

The last half of the book speeds up with non-stop action and suspense as the tensions are high trying to figure out who murdered Flora and if the same person is killing the organ recipients. Then Saphy goes missing.

A multi-layered suspense mystery that will keep you turning the pages and glued to your AirPods. Smartly written, THE PATIENT is a wild ride, scary and frightening. One of moral dilemmas. How far will the murderer go to cover up his secrets of the past?

I had the privilege of reading the e-book and listening to the audiobook, which I enjoyed. For fans of Daniel Hurst, Freida McFadden, KL Slater, Miranda Rijks and Leslie Wolfe.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for introducing this new author to me and a gifted ARC and ALC for an honest review.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Feb 13, 2024
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Completely and utterly brilliant!

The prologue sent chills down my spine and that was me, hooked!

When Saphy gets the call that there may be a match for the donor heart she has been waiting for, she becomes obsessed with Flora, her donor who was murdered.

The character development was really effective and as I was drawn deeper into the lives of Saphy, Flora’s sister, Fern and their families. I couldn’t stop reading, knowing something huge was coming.

Once the twists started to drop, they came in thick and fast, shocking and captivating me right up until the very end.

A compelling read.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Teri Terry and Bookouture, for an ARC in return for an honest review.