Book Review
Title: I'm a Therapist, and My Patient is Going to be the Next School Shooter: 6 Patient Files That Will Keep You Up At Night
Author: Dr. Harper
Genre: Short stories/Horror/Mental Health
Rating: *****
Review: I saw these books were recommended on my Kindle Unlimited and they sounded interesting, so I immediately downloaded them and read half of the first book in one sitting. We are following the patient files of Doctor Elliot Harper as he discusses the situation behind each file with us the reader and they are all disturbing in their own way so I will be talking about each file individually.
The first file follow Doctor Harper treating Alex for his anger issues especially surrounding his rejection by a girl at school named Emma. Sometime into his treatment Elliot sees a dramatic change in Alex’s behaviour and becomes concerned and his suspicions are confirmed when he sees Alex is planning a school shooting and despite attempts to contact the police and Emma’s parents, no one is able to stop Alex especially when another boy becomes involved. On the day of the shooting, Elliot manages to convince Alex to help him stop the shooting only to be double crossed but he eventually manages to get through to him and Alex shoots the other boy only to be shot by the girl who rejected him. This story really kicked off the collection with a bang and I flew through the next two stories.
The second patient files follows a husband and wife, the husband is suffering with what seems like severe OCD and he believes that someone is stabbing his wife and sister in law when he misses a ritual. Elliot investigates this and does see that someone is attacked the man’s family and decides to try and stop it. However, things that a dramatic twist when Elliot reveals that another one of his patients is the man’s daughter who he believed was dead. It turns out that both were kidnapped and brainwashed by a cult and the daughter managed to escape and that the man’s “wife” and her sister are the ones behind the brainwashing. This story took a turn I wasn’t expecting, and I loved it.
The third patient file actually belongs to Elliot himself as he claims to have been abused by God himself when he was a choir boy. His therapist, Doctor Cole digs into this and accuses a priest, his mother, and his friend. It turns out in the end that Elliot was in a homosexual relationship with his friend and was self-harming because he thought their relationship was against God and God was forcing him to atone for those sins. Doctor Cole helps him realises that there is nothing wrong with their relationship, but Elliot stole his own patient file from his former therapist as he knew it would stop him from becoming a therapist himself. Elliot in this file also displays a strong hero complex and a desire to save everyone even though it is impossible.
The fourth patient file is an elderly couple where the husband is having nightmares possibly causes by PTSD. The family is Mormon so Elliot has a really hard time getting them to agree to any form of treatment but when the man turns up on Elliot’s land mooing like a cow, he suddenly realises what is wrong with the man and is able to treat him accordingly. However, there are moments during this story where Elliot believes that the old man might be the “zombie” killer that is currently on the loose, however, we do get glimpses of who the real killer might be but I have a feeling this will be revealed in the last patient file.
The fifth patient file is a husband and wife both accusing the other of abuse and Elliot needs to unravel the lies to find out who is telling the truth. For most of the story Elliot believes the wife and acts accordingly even offering the girl a place to live in his safe room when he witnesses her tied up and her husband approaching her with a knife. However, the husband continues to seek therapy with Elliot and when one of the man’s friends tells Elliot that the wife is manipulative and has been manipulating him, he finally sees the truth. In this story we see the darker side of Elliot as he keeps the woman trapped in his safe room to keep the man safe and tells to change is identity to keep him safe and even offers him a job as an assistant who we have come to know and love, Noah. As we go into the final patient file, we now have all the information we need about Elliot and the important people in his life.
The final patient file belongs to Patient #220 and Elliot has already warned us it doesn’t show him in the best light. The last file brings together all the smaller story lines we have been introduced to as Elliot believe that Officer Donahue is the Zombie killer and locks him in the safe room with Kierra. However, it turns out both are part of the cult from earlier in the book and they want revenge of Elliot for taking their investment and slandering their “family”. Together they frame Elliot for the deaths of his patient which he had nothing to do with but the only deal he can get is life without parole in exchange for not getting the death sentence. Now, in prison, Elliot has no idea where Noah is or if he is even safe after the kiss they shared before everything went to Hell. In prison, Elliot received a mysterious note from another inmate telling him that neither of them belong there and together they can escape but this person needs Elliot’s ability to manipulate people. Honestly, I loved this book and I can’t wait to jump into book 2 straight away.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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