The Usual Silence is the first book in the Arles Shepherd Thriller series by award-winning, best-selling American author, Jennifer Milchman. When her dismissal from Wedeskyull County Hospital coincides with an online result on the woman for whom she’s been searching for decades, psychologist Arles Shepherd takes the opportunity to turn a secluded family retreat in the Adirondack woods into a wellness centre specialising in family therapy.

Getting control of the property, setting it all up, and getting Louise Drake and her ten-year-old son to come, all take some doing, but Arles is resourceful. “Very bad things had happened in this place, and the rooms held on to their residue like creosote in the twelve -foot-wide chimney. Poisonous events within these walls, on the sweeping front porch, and in a hunting blind high in a tree in the woods in pursuit of a stag.” Overcoming the bad feelings the place has always held is another challenge, but effectively distracting her are a very hot fuel supplier, a pair of squatters and, eventually, her first clients.

Meanwhile, jobless after a warehouse shutdown, Cassius Monroe watches over his twelve-year-old daughter, Bea while her mother, Maggie works two jobs to pay their bills. He’s understandably distraught when Bea gets off the school buss but doesn’t make it home while he naps. Search teams, dogs and drones find nothing, but near a favourite spot in the woods, he finds a tiny trace of their daughter. His helplessness is marginally eased by interacting with two young women who do a true-crime podcast.

Louise Drake’s life changed beyond recognition eight years ago when her son, Geary stopped talking soon after he turned two. The autism diagnosis eventually saw the break-up of her marriage: she has always believed there’s more going on inside Geary’s head than her ex, Michael will accept, but lately, she feels something is upsetting him. She hopes that transition to a new therapist who specialises in family therapy might be a positive step.

Milchman uses three narrators to tell the story, interspersed with an anonymous narrative that details the experience of a twelve-year-old girl captive in a van with a man. The story features child abuse and trauma, enabling partners, eating disorders, PTSD, and controlling partners. Milchman’s descriptive prose easily evokes the setting, and the plot has plenty of intrigue and a good twist to keep the pages turning right up to the resolution. More of this cast in book two, The Fairest, will be eagerly anticipated.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.

The Usual Silence by Jenny Milchman is a suspenseful, emotionally charged thriller that intricately weaves together the lives of a psychologist, a desperate father, and a mother seeking answers. Arles Shepherd, a psychologist in the Adirondacks, grapples with her own traumatic past while treating troubled children, including a mute boy who may hold the key to a long-hidden secret. Meanwhile, Cass Monroe searches for his missing daughter, turning to true-crime podcasters in a last-ditch effort. As the past and present collide, the story builds toward a shocking revelation. With its complex characters and haunting atmosphere, this novel delves into the devastating power of silence and the haunting secrets that can resurface when least expected. A gripping and thought-provoking read.

Milchman bites off a lot in this new series. With three different storylines, at times it’s hard to follow. Disjointed at times, the journey is worth it in the end. Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this book, though I found myself disliking Arles more and more as the plot went on. I wanted less about her and more about the mystery. It felt like we were only given enough information about her to justify her being "traumatized" and it didn't add a lot to the plot.

I initially enjoyed this book, but as the story progressed, it became evident that there was a lot happening, which made certain parts confusing. The complex narrative, combined with a limited amount of truly engaging content, made it difficult for me to stay fully committed to finishing it.

I was particularly excited about the themes involving the therapist and traumatic childhood. Unfortunately, these elements didn’t play a significant enough role in the story to maintain my interest throughout. While it wasn’t my favorite read, it also wasn’t terrible—just not quite the right fit for me.

3.5/5 stars

This was such an interesting book, I cannot stop thinking about it.
It was a rather mixed bag for me with some captivating aspects but also things that fell flat and didn't work.

Let's start with the positives.
The premise is what drew me in and the author was able to maintain an aura of mystery, thrill and a sense of looming darkness that encourages the reader to keep turning the pages. I like the format of the stories - the three-way split made for an interesting storytelling method and also suspended us in the mystery as I impatiently read on to know what happened next.
As a psychology student it's always nice to see good therapy and psychology portrayal so I was happy on that front although an average reader might be able to tell you better whether some of the concepts felt too theoretical and forced, I personally found it a good blend.

We also get an interesting cast of characters and a rather decent execution of the plot. All narrators were interesting to follow but I particularly loved Louise's POV and getting to know more about her.

I think the two major letdowns for me were pacing and unnecessary or underdeveloped characters and scenes. The pacing was a bit slow in the beginning which is fine but after maybe 20% it became very sporadic for me. It just felt certain things were very rushed and others were crawling at a snail's pace.
One of my biggest pet peeves is side-characters who are just there and unfortunately, this book has plenty. We know next to nothing about Dan, he's kind of just there so that we get to see more of Arles and her personality and backstory. The entire cast that came for family therapy could literally be omitted and it won't make a difference to the story which I hated. I was really getting into the Merritts' family drama but then they in addition to the cult recovering clients just disappear and add basically nothing. They're there just so that the group family therapy model makes sense which brings me to my next point - there were certain things that were quite unrealistic and pulled me out of the story. You cannot tell me Arles almost single-handedly fixed a rapidly deteriorating manor of sorts in a span of days?? There was just no planning on her part? What were her plans for care keeping and running of the whole system? None whatsoever, she found Stephanie and Tissa by chance and even then it's realistically very difficult for two and a half humans to run the entire place.
Plus the structure of group therapy felt a bit off and the 'fixing' of the Merritts family felt so rushed, as if the author just wanted to get done with them and out of the story.

I think these few things bugged me and ultimately weighed down my overall experience but I have to say I was quite glued to the book in the second half and found the revelations and conclusions extremely fascinating and shocking as well. Although the ending left quite a few loose ends with very little resolution for most of the characters which might explain why I'm still thinking about this book and wondering what happened to some of them.

So do I recommend this book? I think the idea is wonderful and the author does manage to execute it well but has simply tried doing too many things within one book. It's worth a shot if you're interested in psychological thrillers and darker themes.

Written from multiple points of view, we are introduced to psychologist Arles Shepherd, who treats troubled children while she struggles to recover from her traumatic past. The other part of the novel revolves around a missing twelve-year-old and the true crime podcasters who are willing to help.

As intriguing as the narrative sounds, I encountered some confusion with the character transitions. Labeling each chapter would have been a simple solution to this issue. Nevertheless, I maintained my momentum to unravel the plot and determine how all these situations were connected. The slow burn pace was somewhat tedious, but the last 100 pages or so were worth the wait. Overall, I did not develop a strong emotional bond with any of the characters, and there are still many unanswered questions, which I assume will be addressed in the sequel.

THE USUAL SILENCE reads as if it's book #1 in a series. The author must spend the time and energy to build a backstory, including in this case, three communities plus the characters to populate them. Giving Arles a complicated history adds to the threads that must be wound throughout the story. So many of the scenes that seemed disjointed could be a set up for the next book, or at least that's what they seem to me.
Three seperate major characters that will join together mid story to trace and track the "silence" gives the feel of a much larger book. It felt as if some pieces had been condensed when the story wraps. Milchman did have an obvious plan for Arles, Cass, and Louise. The stories wind together as the chapters build. This is a good book/story. It will be interesting to see if an Arles Shepherd sequel appears.

An enjoyable read, although it was paced pretty slowly and there was a lot going on and the storylines were at times hard to keep up with.

Mystery and intrigue…family and friends…this talented author has written a page turner that reads, at times, like nonfiction. This is a cannot put down novel that kept my attention. I did not want to stop reading. I look forward to more books by Milchman. This is a psychological drama about a woman who wants to help others…thanks Netgalley.

While this book deals with very dark subjects, the story was hard to follow because it switched between storylines so often. I was confused about the picture that Arles carried with her until I figured out the connection between her and the picture. I had not expected the bad guy in her past to be who he was. I loved that Arles was working in a field that allowed her to help children experiencing traumatic events which must have at least helped a little bit in her recovery. Overall, it was a good book and you could see the victims in the story were all trying really hard to find ways to heal from their trauma. Along with the parents of children going through other types of traumas or disabilities were all doing their best to help their children lead fulfilling lives.

The Usual Silence is a slow burn mystery about a child psychologist, a father with a missing daughter, and a mother with a nonverbal son with autism. Their stories are very disparate, but they come together. The psychologist, Arles, suffers from dissociation from unresolved childhood trauma. The story takes a little time to get going. There is a lot going on in the story and we’re slowly fed more details to understand the larger picture of what is happening.

Each character is depicted vividly, and I had a great sense of each person and their relationships with others. The audiobook was well narrated by Sarah Mollo-Christensen. I really enjoyed her performance, especially of other characters.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing this ebook and audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I expected a psychological thriller, but this book is so much more. This story is about a woman that heals herself by helping others. It is about mental illness and the ways in which the mind breaks in order to protect us. It is also about autism and the different connections that result from this disorder. And lastly it is about the resilience of children and the need to use extreme care when working with these sensitive minds. The mystery is first rate; the way the author weaves all of the other psychological factors into the case of a missing girl is incredible. The characters were real to me, and I had a vested interest in their outcomes. I expected to like this book; I did not expect that I would not be able to put it down. But I was pulled in tighter with each chapter until I just had to know what was going to happen next! Right up to the end. I love the main character Arles and hope I get to read more of her in the future!

I enjoyed this book, at first but it quickly became obvious that there was a lot is going on. This led to some confusing parts and between that and the limited amount of interesting content I had a hard time committing to finishing this one. I was excited for the therapist/childhood trauma/ autism piece, but it wasn't enough of the story to keep me engaged. It wasn't my favourite book, but it also wasn't terrible, maybe just not quite the right fit for me. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this one.

I was excited to read this one as it sounded interesting and overall the book was a good thriller, but I did feel that it had a bit too many storylines and along the way, the story for me started to get muddled and confusing. It gave me the same vibes of Family of Liars by E.Lockhart where you enjoy the book, but you are still left with that feeling of what I read as I sat here afterward trying to process and wrap my head around the book. The book starts with a young girl kidnapped and then it jumps to a therapist named Arles Shepherd whose therapy skills are seen as out of the box she gets a few complaints and the board decide to let her go. She then inherits her family's old house to open it as a residential therapy. There she invites Louise and her son. Arles has been searching for the identity of Louise as she has had in her possession for the past 20+ years a photo of a young girl. The girl in the photo is the daughter of a person who kidnapped her when she was young. The young girl is the only thing that kept Arles going and she has been determined to find out everything that happened to her and get justice and the girl in the photo is the key. When Arles discovers that Louise has a son with autism and mutism, she reaches out and as it turns out Louise's son has been misdiagnosed as before two-three years he was a chatty baby and toddler. What happened back then to stop him talking? Is it connected to Arles' reason for meeting Louise? Find out in The Usual Silence by Jenny Milchman, though this book was a confusing read - I am willing to give her other books in this series a read and see if this was just a one-off odd read.

THE USUAL SILENCE
Jenny Milchman @jennymilchman


Thank you, #partner @booksforwardpr #thomasandmercer and the author for including me on this tour and my #gifted copy.

This is a thriller with multiple viewpoints, several timelines, and three core stories. I love multiple POV and timelines so I enjoyed it, but if these are not your comfort area be prepared to take notes.
I enjoyed this one. It was full of red herrings and twists that kept me guessing till the end. I was most interested in the PoV of the mother with the child with autism but liked all of them.
This is a perfect spooky szn book because they are in a rural area with woods surrounding them and no cell service (all of my worst nightmares😹)

First I've read by this author. Solid read. I would be interested in reading something else by this author in the future.

Thank you #netgalley and #thomasandmercer for the eARC.

This book just really didn’t resonate with me. I thought there was way too much going on with the multiple storylines and I just found myself not really caring about what was happening or even wanting to know the ending.

I think this book would be great for the right audience but it just wasn’t for me.

There are three seemingly unrelated storylines bouncing back and forth in this one. It’s billed as a suspenseful thriller and yes a child is missing in one of the storylines, but I really found this more of a study in the characters.

I love how Geary, his life and his family are presented. He’s an autistic child that his parents would do anything to give him his best life. His struggles are real and so are his parents. It felt really raw and real.

It takes a while for the storylines to converge. And I had a moment wondering if they would. But it all made sense in the end. I’d be interested to see where this series heads.

The Usual Silence by Jenny Milchman was a great story - it kept me on edge from the first couple of chapters. The suspense built with every page, it was so well written.

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