Kevin Davis makes a living in mental health, but Kevin is a phony. He is a liar, a cheat, a fraud, a quack, a bootleg psychiatrist peddling unorthodox treatments while posing as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. Still, Chicago has its share of ailing patients desperate to alleviate their burdens, and Kevin is all too willing to take their money and talk through their troubles, booze through their burdens, and light up over their lows. He may not have a license, but he is, after all, an expert in the field. After years of mistakes and disastrous choices, Kevin has found creative ways to cope with his own crippling mental instabilities. He does care for his patients, and his therapeutic efficacy is enough to maintain his practice and support his lifestyle, though not every patient is pleased. Molly, a client whose brother’s life ended tragically, blames Kevin for many things. So when Kevin’s practice comes under investigation, it seems obvious that Molly raised the alarm. But there is something off about the cops looking into his therapies. And lately, sleeping with a client is getting even more precarious. Sure, Kevin’s taken many pharmaceutical trips over the years, but his life is about to become trippier than any drink, pill, or powder could ever deliver. He’s falling for sure, and this time, there’s no telling where rock bottom will finally catch him.
Therapy session calm explodes into unbounded chaos in Chris Wilkensen’s dizzying thriller, Chats with a Charlatan. The prose is casual, ringing with an everyman tone that lures audiences into Kevin’s confidence. But he is the perfect unreliable narrator, a man whose own delusions crowd out the sanity on the page. The plot is controlled in the beginning, moving at a pace that instills a sense of order. But when things go sideways for Kevin, the illusion of order is completely decimated! Relationships get dicey, interactions get weirder, and the author makes sure you know you’re getting into a dark psychological read. Unfortunately, occasional continuity errors and awkward word choices keep the story from reaching its full potential. Still, the overall experience lands with the unsettling grace of the novel’s pontificating protagonist, a man of grand principles and small personal discipline. Wry humor, impossible choices, brutal fallout, and a dose of vigilante justice are all waiting for readers in this spiraling tale of broken trust and broken minds. Lines are crossed, and the healer becomes the hunted in Chats with a Charlatan, a neo‑noir thriller with a dangerous pull.
