# The Silent Patient

> A seeded debut thriller reached No. 1 on the NYT hardcover fiction bestseller list.

- Owner: Alex Michaelides; Celadon Books (US); Orion (UK)
- Kind: Book
- Sector: Media & publishing
- Seed date: Jan 2019
- Observed peak date: Week of Aug 8, 2020
- Date basis: Observed peak within the documented measurement window; not an all-time maximum. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 41 (Notable), v1.2
- Mechanics: Mystery & lore, Maker origin, Underdog, Platform jump, Press loop

## Summary

Advance copies, giveaways and ads preceded a NYT hardcover No. 1 debut. Instagram posts and later BookTok videos widened discovery. Deadline reported more than 12 million copies sold when Sony joined the film adaptation.

## Timeline

- Feb 2018 — Celadon Books (Open web) — Celadon sought author blurbs and sent advance copies with handwritten notes to librarians and booksellers.
- Jul 2018 — Celadon Books / Goodreads (Open web) — A giveaway offered 100 copies and attracted 2,910 entries.
- 2018-12-07 — Publishers Weekly (Press) — Publishers Weekly profiled Michaelides's move from screenwriting and reported sales of rights in 40 territories.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/the-silent-patient

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “The Silent Patient.” Case HIS-01319. Spread Score v1.2: 41/100. Updated 2026-10-22. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01319