I really really enjoyed this one. I had me gripped from start to finish. I found all the characters really interesting and I couldn't put it down. I love a book set in an institute and the police investigation fed into the story really well. I would never in a million years have seen the ending coming and was left wanting more. Part 2?

This was such a good read, psychotic serial killers are right up my alley. I loved the back and forth between Dr Fletcher and Trent as Trent truly was a great creepy serial killer who kept you on your toes. I did figure out the twist (or had a good hunch) towards the end but that didn’t make the book any less entertaining for me.

Dr. Fletcher is a psychiatrist specializing in working with people in the criminal system, focusing on those who are criminally insane to avoid the death penalty. After a major celebrity murder trial, notorious Trent Davis ends up in her care. He has been charged with murdering six women and mutilating their bodies… that they know of. Like all high-profile cases, a copycat murderer emerges.

Things I like:
- Suspenseful start
- Twists once figuring out who you think did it
- Unobvious ending

*Warnings of the devil and demons.

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

This was probably one of the darker and more graphic thrillers I’ve ever read, which I’m not sure was for me. I was definitely kept guessing earlier on in the book about the copycat killer and enjoyed the lead up to the reveal, though I did begin to figure it out ahead of the reveal. I tend to not enjoy speculative books as much and wanted more explanation at the end. Overall, I think this will be great for a lot of people and enjoyed the writing! Just a bit too dark and speculative for me.

This is the story of a therapist treating a serial killer. It’s gory and disturbing at times. There are lots of twists and turns just when you think you have it figured out. Great read but I would check trigger warnings on this one.

I really liked this book. It's a nice thriller. The story is told from the psychiatrist's point of view which is a nice change from the detective's view as usual.

My only complaint with this book: The first 50-60% of the book is a bit boring. I kept putting it down and picking it up for nearly a week or so. It's a bit of a drag in the beginning and I felt like some unnecessary descriptions could've been cut out.

The romance is a bit dry. I didn't even know Navarro was the romantic interest until she confessed to him. So I felt that part could've been done better.

Another thing: I guessed who it was very early on. I guessed it during the first few POVs of the killer when he/she is driving home.

But nonetheless it's a very intriguing book. If you can push through the first 40-50%, you'll definitely like it.

The twist at the end was chilling and a nice contrast to the beginning.

Insanely brilliant! And when I say insane, I mean it because this gripping thriller is set in a top security hospital for the criminally insane and it’s newest patient is the hugely successful rock star turned grisly killer, Trent Davis.

The detailed descriptions, the writing style, the psychological tension and the intense characters in this book just sucked me right in and I literally did hold my breath at times!

Dr. Steph Fletcher is the psychologist assigned to Trent Davis at Pantano Hospital and she is determined to get to the core of what makes Trent tick. The discussions they have are creepy and deep, with Trent throwing curveballs all over the place.

When a copycat killer starts sending body parts to the hospital, Steph is drawn in deeper and ends up working with the police detective in a race against the killer.

I was so drawn into what was happening on the main stage that I didn’t notice what was going on in the wings and when that ending hit with the biggest gut punch of a twist EVER…. I was breathless!

Well played, S. A. Falk 👏🏻

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, S. A. Falk and Storm for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I unfortunately had to DNF this book for some of the content. I made it about 40% of the way before I had a really hard time pushing through. I don’t do too well with the talks of the crimes he committed, especially in detail. I thought that the writing was intriguing and was definitely keeping me interested, but unfortunately I am a bit too sensitive to some of the gore.

Let me tell you a little about cheese.

Cheese is often a pejorative term in fiction, "so cheesy" "Block of cheese", and I too often use this as a negative term. HOWEVER...

Cheese is delicious

When properly prepared and utilized there is something distinctively satisfying about consuming cheese, and while all this intro may sound crazy harsh - I think its relatively non-controversial to say that Falk's story The Therapist is quite cheesy.

After all the plot is fairly transparent. 'Trent,' only the most edgelord emo rock star every to grace fiction, is an (alleged) serial killer in a psychiatric institute. Our MC is a brilliant but haunted psychiatrist who is determined to get to the root cause of his problems. Surprising none he's a manipulative game player and things quickly unravel! And again while it sounds like I'm being mean and critical the reality is this book is GREAT. It's written very solidly, its fun, scary, excited and a little weird. I genuinely wasn't too sure where things were going and devoured this book a LOT faster than I expected.

Now that said there is one major beef I had with this book is that it is simply too SHORT, or more specifically it ends just as it feels like the story was really ramping up. There basically isn't a denouement in this novel. Obviously its a little hard to review without spoilers on this point and the ending is certainty fine it just left me wanting more deats!!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StormPublishing for the book #TheTherapist by #SAFalk. What did I just read? I read this book in one sitting and now I am just in a fog. This book will blow you away. Stephanie is a psychiatrist is a mental hospital for hard criminals. She gets a new transfer inmate just days after her friend and psychiatrist dies. A copycat of this new inmate starts murdering in the same way as he did. Stephanie gets wrapped up in the investigation. All I can say is YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK!

Clear your diary and lock your door because you won’t be able to put this book down! It’s so clever I need to read it again. Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for letting me read and review this book. 4.5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this book. This was a little darker than I normally read but, I did find it thrilling and it did keep me on the edge of my seat. I’m all about reading and watching things having to do with serial killers; it may be the Dateline obsession in me. Every time I thought I had it figured out; I was surprised!! If you enjoy psychology thrillers and/ or a fan of Freida McFadden books, then I would recommend giving this book a chance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! I felt that there was great character development and I got to really know some of the characters. Although there was a lot of misdirection, I did have a feeling that I knew what twist was coming at the end, but that didn't make me want to stop reading. I enjoyed this psychological thriller. Be aware, it was a little gory, if you are not a fan of gruesome reads, and there was some child abuse discussed, which should be expected when reading a book about therapists and mental patients. The middle did get a little repetitive but overall I thought it was a 5 star read.

Ummm....excuse me? That ending!? It's going to take me a bit to digest that one.

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller and it reminded me a lot of Silence of the Lambs. I would love this to be a movie or show, I felt like I could picture what was happening and I credit that to the author. I was also familiar with some of the locations mentioned in the book, especially living in Oregon.

I don't want to spoil anything, so I highly recommend reading this book. Check trigger warnings, there's dark subject matter since this story center's around serial killer's and the gruesome way the victims were tortured.

*One spoiler*

I actually didn't mind this ended on a cliffhanger. It threw me for a loop but I feel like it was well done.

3.75 ⭐ This is a darker thriller. Fast paced, engaging and definitely suspenseful. My first book by S.A. Falk and won’t be my last.

The storyline starts off very suspenseful and definitely brings you in. The part I loved most is getting a glimpse of the mind of a killer.

Loved the writing style and it reminded me of books by Freida McFadden and the book The Silent Patient.

However, I think the ending felt a little bit rushed as 70% of the book was getting to the big reveal at the end. I think I just expected a little more but nonetheless, I did enjoy this!

Thank you Net Galley and Storm Publishing for this arc.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. I was very intrigued by the title and description and got about 40% of the way through the book, but so much of the content was demonic-focused, and I couldn't bring myself to finish it. I wish the description had warned or hinted toward that.

After loosing her therapist recently and been given the morning off to go to her funeral, returning back to work is hard but she must put on her professional face and get on with it.

When Trend Davis is admitted to the unit, he’s known as the vampire. He’s killed 6 people, fed on their blood and presumed to have eaten some of their organs and it’s her job to get deep into the mind of a serial killer again.

This is my second read of SA Falk, and whilst this wasn’t as gripping as The Patents Secret for me, I still enjoyed this book.

One word to describe this psychology thriller is wow!!! It had all the rollercoaster emotions, the in-depth story telling of serial
Killer was very clever with the added background of words within a song association was perfect.

The plot, was face paced and entertaining. I really enjoyed the first half of the story but felt it was really rushed at the end, which I think lets the readers down. That being said overall , this was amazing I would still recommend this book as it was gripping and the authors ability to write and bring the reader in to see inside a person’s mind I was hooked. Would love to read more from this author just felt the story needed a bit more thought to finish off this thriller.

Nothing pulls me in a story like a disturbing psychological thriller about a therapist who treats mentally insane serial killers.
Decoding the songs and their lyrics made the mystery aspect even more interesting.
It was interesting to understand about the psychology of criminals and the role mental and childhood trauma disorders play in it. This book is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
"some people are just born evil or the circumstances make them evil", this book got me thinking a tad too obsessively about this notion.
I think I ending was quite predictable and the reveal was abrupt. Nonetheless I still loved this book and the goosebumps it gave me while reading it at midnight!!
Thank you Netgalley, Storm publishing and author S.A. Falk for providing me a copy of this arc. The publication date is 25th April, 2024.

Trigger warnings:
Child abuse (both physical and sexual), talks about satanism, gore, mental disorders, drugs

This book was fantastic!! I didn’t see the twist coming at all, and it made me extremely uncomfortable (which is how I know it’s doing its job!).