Coincidences are weird, but sometimes you just have to roll with them. That is how this blog post idea came about. It was not my intention, but it seemed many of the books I had been reading contained the theme of the main character being a psychiatrist. Buckle in and prepare to question reality in the following mind bending recommendations! The Doctor will see you now. . . .

The Boy Who Could See Demons by Carolyn Jess Cooke

This is one of C.J. Cooke’s early novels (she used to write as Carolyn Jess Cooke). For being an early novel, I immensely enjoyed it. Alex (our boy who sees demons) was an absolute delight and a well written, slightly awkward young boy. I loved his character so much. But the question is: can Alex really see demons or is he suffering from a mental health disorder? This is what Anya, our main character psychiatrist, has been tasked with finding out. Alex has come under her care after his mother attempted suicide.

Alex claims that his best friend is a demon named Ruen. Ruen is thousands of years old, knows a lot of history, and is the rank of Harrower. Ruen is not what you would expect of a demon (for which I was pleasantly surprised). Yes, he can appear terrifying, but instead of being a creature out of The Conjuring or Insidious, he is witty and interesting. He has a depth of character that pulls you in. He claims that he is studying Alex as Alex is the only human who can see the demons. According to Ruen, everyone has a demon assigned to them. Alex can see them all.

What is Anya to make of all this? She is dealing with her own trauma. She could not save her daughter that was suffering from a mental illness even with her psychiatric background. Her daughter jumped out of a window at twelve years old. Anya believes that Alex shows the same symptoms that her daughter did. She is desperate to make sure this tragedy never happens again. The stakes mount as Alex’s behavior gets worse and worse. He claims he is just doing what Ruen tells him to do. The more time she spends with Alex, the more troubled Anya becomes. Alex knows things-things he could not possibly know. Is Alex suffering from a mental health disorder or is Ruen a real and frightening danger?

At times this books felt like a love letter to The Skrewtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. He and that novel are referenced quite a bit. This was something I delighted in. If you have not read The Skrewtape Letters, I will also include a link below to access from our catalogue. I was pulled into The Boy Who Could See Demons and spent many a late night reading this one.

Click HERE to request The Boy Who Could See Demons!

Click HERE to request The Screwtape Letters!

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

As a psychiatrist I can imagine that the last thing you want to happen is your patient jumping from the roof of your clinic. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened to Ophelia. Dr. Ophelia Bray comes from possibly the richest family in the galaxy. People are constantly judging her based on her family name instead of who she is as a person. In fact, her family pretty much hates her due to who her father was (you will have to find that out, I am not spoiling!). Seeing as things are NOT going well on Earth and the fact that her patient’s suicide is all over the news, Ophelia makes the decision to sign onto a deep space mission. Her purpose on the mission is to monitor the team for ERS, a mental disease people get in deep space that turn them into serial killers.

The team Ophelia joins up with have their own problems. They recently lost a member of the team on a mission and are dealing with their feelings about that. As part of her job, Ophelia is available to counsel them through this. Things get weird when the team gets to the planet and base they are supposed to stay at. It seems the previous team left things in a mess. The generator was left running, space suits are left in odd places, a lot of personal junk has been left. But teams just play pranks on each other, right? Before long Ophelia and the team start seeing and hearing things. Nosebleeds and headaches abound. Is there something out there in the frozen wastes or is what they are experiencing all in their heads? Though this is science fiction horror, the story had a very gothic feel. The setting is on this almost black and white planet of dark alien towers and snow swirling landscapes. The mission is to study the alien ruins. Something wiped out the entire alien population. Is there some connection to what is happening to their team?

There were a number of things I enjoyed about this one. The first was Ophelia’s character. She often doesn’t feel like she is good enough and is always trying to measure up to what she feels she should be. She has a hard time letting people in or getting close to anyone. Ophelia is afraid that she will become her father. A quote pertaining to this that I enjoyed: “Some of us are broken enough that we don’t get to be fixed. And maybe we’re better off that way. Not hiding from the damage like everyone else. Just accepting it and figuring out how to work around it. Just like we’re doing. Like you’re doing.” His gaze meets hers and holds it. “It takes guts to face the worst of yourself, the worst of your fears.” Seeing Ophelia grow and come to find herself was very cathartic as someone who has similar feelings about her own self.

The second part of this book that I NEED to talk about is Ethan Severin. I guess there is a reason that S.A. Barnes has moved from the horror genre to write romantasy now. There was not much romance, but the PINING between Ethan and Ophelia, my goodness. Yeah our author sure let us know how brooding and attractive he was. If his stubble was mentioned one more time. . . I crushed hard on him this whole read, my dear readers.

Click HERE to request Ghost Station!

The Patient by Jasper Dewitt

This one was a complete psychological thriller that really makes the reader question everything. I can tell you, I am still questioning what was real and what was not in this book. Parker is an up and coming psychiatrist who is very eager about moving up in his career. Some may call him arrogant, and to be truthful, he is. However, it is not an off-putting arrogance, as he does have good intentions – he just possesses a superior overconfidence in his abilities. He is kind of a super eager naïve puppy. It was these traits that allowed me to sympathize with him and overlook his character flaws.

Parker’s goal is to help Joe, a mysterious patient who has been committed to this hospital for the last thirty years. Joe was admitted when he was only six years old! No one has been able to diagnose him. Pretty much anyone who has ever interacted with him has died, been driven insane, or both. All hospital staff are under orders to never under any circumstances interact with Joe. Parker takes this as a challenge. He must delve into Joe’s patient files for more information on how to diagnose and help this patient. From what is recorded, Parker knows he must be going into treating a raving, dangerous individual. When he meets Joe, he is very surprised to discover a different situation entirely. Parker begins to be pulled deeper and deeper into a reality questioning web. Can he survive treating Joe or will be be driven insane? What is real and what is not? What or who is Joe?

This was a very different book than many I have read. I would compare it to We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer, but I admit to liking The Patient better. The Patient is a rather short read and is almost a novella. I usually do not like open ended endings, but I feel that aspect really fits this story. Not only is Parker struggling with what is real or not, but the reader is pulled into questioning reality as well.

Click HERE to request The Patient!