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Summary and Reviews of The Blind by A.F. Brady

The Blind by A.F. Brady

The Blind

A Chilling Psychological Suspense

by A.F. Brady
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • First Published:
  • Sep 26, 2017, 416 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jul 2018, 400 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

A razor-sharp debut about a woman who goes so far off the deep end, she might never make it back up…

Sam James has spent years carefully crafting her reputation as the best psychologist at Typhlos, Manhattan's most challenging psychiatric institution. She believes if she can't save herself, she'll save someone else. It's this savior complex that serves her well in helping patients battle their inner demons, though it leads Sam down some dark paths and opens her eyes to her own mental turmoil. 

When Richard, a mysterious patient no other therapist wants to treat, is admitted to Typhlos, Sam is determined to unlock his secrets and his psyche. But she can't figure out why Richard appears to be so normal in a hospital filled with madness. As Sam gets pulled into Richard's twisted past, she can't help but analyze her own life, and what she discovers terrifies her. And so the mind games begin. But who is the savior and who is the saved? 

In this unexpected and addictive psychological debut, A.F. Brady takes readers into the psyche of a deeply disturbed woman desperately trying to keep her head above water, showing that sometimes what's most terrifying is what exists in your mind.

October 18th, 9:40am

I'm kneeling on the floor in my office, tying the top of the garbage bag into a knot, and squeezing out the excess air as I do it. The maintenance guys always leave extra bags at the bottom of the garbage can, so I can replace this one with a fresh one, and just dump the tied-off bag into the bin. I find this is the most discrete way of hiding the rank stench of alcohol when I throw up in my garbage can. I want to believe that my tolerance is high enough that I never throw up, but the truth is, more often than not, I find myself on my knees in my office the morning after.

My name is Sam. I'm a psychologist, and I work in a mental institution. It's not like the ones you see in Rain Man or Girl, Interrupted. It's in Manhattan. It doesn't have sprawling grassy lawns, and manicured hedges. It doesn't have wide hallways and eleven-foot doors like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It smells like a combination of antiseptic and bubble ...

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Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

The abuse Sam suffers at boyfriend Lucas' hands is graphic, almost clinically described. It is in keeping with her voice and character, but not for the faint of heart. As the novel progresses, a theme emerges: Does personal experience with a problem help a therapist be more effective? Brady hints that if this line has been crossed – if a drug counselor has had his or her own drug problems for example – then the therapist might be able to be more effective than another person with no personal experience to bring to bear. As Sam and her patient Richard find out more about each other, this intriguing and controversial question makes The Blind a satisfying psychological read...continued

Full Review (558 words)

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(Reviewed by Kate Braithwaite).

Media Reviews

Library Journal
Starred Review. Brady's fast-paced, riveting psychological chiller will wow suspense and thriller lovers alike. Brilliant character study and superior writing make this an outstanding debut.

Kirkus Reviews
A satisfying, darkly funny tale of redemption.

Publishers Weekly
[A] complex, intricately planned debut...This psychological thriller grabs the reader and doesn't let go until the truth about Richard's past is finally revealed.

Author Blurb Kimberly Belle, bestselling author of The Marriage Lie
Sly, dark, and completely enthralling, The Blind is a knockout debut.

Author Blurb Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet and June
Sometimes stark and often startling, The Blind asks important questions about the arbitrary lines we draw between the sane and "crazy" members of our society. Along the way, this quick-paced debut novel pulls its reader into a web of deceit, recrimination, and ultimately, redemption.

Reader Reviews

Shilpa kaushik

Suspense, mysterious, psychology thrillers
Sam James is a top psychologist at ‘Typhlos’ a psychiatric hospital, which houses some of the most difficult and hard to treat patients. She boasts the highest success rates with the most disturbed patients, believing if she can't save herself, she'...   Read More
Shilpa

Suspense, mystery, psychological thrillers
Sam James is a top psychologist at ‘'Typhlos'’ a psychiatric hospital, which houses some of the most difficult and hard to treat patients. She boasts the highest success rates with the most disturbed patients, believing if she can't save herself, she...   Read More

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Beyond the Book



Borderline Personality Disorder

In her debut novel, The Blind, A.F. Brady, a licensed psychotherapist, has created a memorable narrator, Sam James, who suffers from borderline personality disorder.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the handbook used to describe and diagnose mental disorders, lists ten forms of personality disorder that are further defined into clusters. Borderline personality disorder falls into cluster B, the dramatic, emotional and erratic cluster. The four disorders in this cluster share problems such as impulse control and emotional regulation. They are:

  1. Borderline Personality Disorder
  2. Narcissistic Personality Disorder
  3. Histrionic Personality Disorder
  4. Antisocial Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality ...

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Read-Alikes

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