The Patient

This story is told through multiple posts that were shared on a medical forum (kind of like a Reddit) about the case that almost made Parker give up being a psychiatrist. So it starts off with freshly out of medical school and starting his first job at a run down hospital. He quickly learns that there is a patient that the hospital staff keep behind locked doors and almost no one is allowed to talk to him. Only the most veteran staff is allowed to go in to change his sheets, give him food and medicine. They aren't even allowed to use his full name, and only refer to him as “Joe” to prevent newer professionals from researching about him. The only thing our main character knows is that this patient has been there since he was 6 years old and has stayed there for over three decades, he is considered by all incurable but is so dangerous that no doctor can in good conscience let him out. But is he really as evil as they say or is there more to the story? Well that is what Parker tries to find out...

Overall I thought this book was okay. I thought the writing style was great, although very formal for the style of book it was supposed to be. I can't imagine anyone writing on a forum that way even if it is amongst medical students/professionals.

I loved the discussion on mental health practices especially the dark side of it all. I know there are a lot of professionals who go above and beyond but there are many that are like Dr. P who just want to medicate all the patients and call it a day. And the whole hospital being under funded and the effects it has no only on the patients but also the professionals and quality of care, since this a reality for many facilities.

There were two ways this book could have gone and it went in a way I wasn't really fond of. It's hard to talk about without spoiling but it just wasn't a scary read. It felt more mystery/thriller than horror. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to start dipping their toes in horror but is hesitant because they scare easy. Maybe at most the ending could leave you with existential dread but to me it didn't really do much, it was kind of cheesy at times. However, I don't think it was badly done it just wasn't for me.

In the next few paragraphs I'm goin to spoil this book, especially the ending SPOILERS AHEAD.





When Joe first went to the hospital it was due to night terrors. He said he would see this monster at night and when he screamed for his parents this monster would disappear into his walls. The doctor told him it was in his imagination and he could control it because it's a part of him. That night he confronts the monster and after that it is noted by doctores that he started having behavioral issues. Parker goes to his family house to investigate further because the doctors think his dad is the monster and Joe was sexually abused as a child (why no one before him did this is beyond me).

There is also a theory that the hospital is making everything up because his parents are rich and funds a lot for the hospital. This is due to the fact that Parker who finally got to talk to Joe sees him as a regular functional man with no violent tendencies.

Anyways, he does to the family home and turns out the dad passed and both parents are actually very loving and really wanted Joe to get better. Parker tears down the wall and find skeletons of a child. Joe is actually dead... hospital Joe is an actual monster. Parker goes to confront him, tells him “he knows he is not human” and watches him transform. Parker is voice recording this interaction and the monster says all these awful things to him etc. when “Joe” goes back to normal he has a worried face and tell him to check the tape. Parker leaves and does, turns out that the things the monster said weren't recorded, you could just hear “Joe” pleading. Next day the hospital had a pipe burst, energy got cut off and “joe” escaped.

The monster shifts into what people say he is. When is called a bad boy, he becomes one, when little Joe said he was a part of him, he becomes him, when people treated him like a human he was stuck, when Parker said “he knew he wasn't human” he was freed. It also feeds off people's biggest fears.

Parker has a girlfriend and shortly after the escape she gets attacked. When he goes check on her at the hospital he notes her “crooked smile” he also described Joe to have a cooked smile...it's heavily implied that the monster became the gf but Parker never realizes even after she changes. In the end Parker has his own private practice and works with kids. The monster implies there are more like him so Parker always wonders if he is dealing with real life kids or one of those things.

I think if it went the route that humans were the bad guys, that the doctors indeed were making it up to help get funds would have been more haunting for me. If Parker who figured it out changed his tune because of the manipulations of the other doctors and somehow harmed Joe in the process thinking he was a monster (he did take an axe with him to confront him, so he could kill the monster he didn't even up doing but imagine he did) and only after he realizes maybe he was right after all. Maybe Joe really only had night terrors that went aways eventually but the hospital didn't want to stop receiving his parents money. It would have been a lot more bleak that's for sure. And would have made the “check the tapes” conversation make a bit more sense. And then Parker had to live his whole life knowing he could not save his patient because he did the one thing he never thought he'd do and that fulfilled his biggest fear all on his own. That would have sent shivers down my spine.