British-Cypriot · b. 1977
Alex Michaelides was a screenwriter for fifteen years before his debut novel, The Silent Patient, became one of the biggest thrillers of the decade. The book debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list and has sold over 6.5 million copies worldwide. Born in Cyprus to a Greek-Cypriot father and English mother, Michaelides studied English literature at Cambridge and screenwriting at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. His background in film shows in his plotting—tight, visual, built for revelation. The Silent Patient's central gimmick—a woman who shoots her husband and never speaks again—generated endless discussion and a twist ending that readers either love or feel cheated by. His subsequent novels, The Maidens and The Fury, continue his interest in Greek mythology and psychological manipulation. He lives in London.