JDCMustReadBooks

By: Sandra Block

ASIN: B00SRRIMWG

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Publication Date:  2/17/2015 

Format: Audio

My Rating:  3 Stars 

Sandra Block introduces an intriguing new complex character, Dr. Zoe Goldman, with her debut, LITTLE BLACK LIES -- A gripping psychological suspense of a tragic past, suppressed memories, family, dark secrets, and lies.

Black lies involve an underlying secret that is hidden with lies, deception and secrecy.

Dr. Zoe Goldman, a psychiatry resident at a Buffalo, N.Y., hospital, suffers from ADHD, with a number of personal issues. She is haunted by her past. Her biological mother, died in a fire, a trauma that still gives her nightmares. She constantly wonders about her mother and the events surrounding her death.

Suffering from recurring dreams, she tries desperately to make sense of her dreams, memories, reality, and her own madness. A blank slate with broken memories.

She also has other problems, dealing with her adoptive mother's (a former social worker) descent into dementia in a nursing home. She is of little help with answers about her biological mother. Her mother is not even sure who she is now, much less who she was. Zoe, becomes more obsessed with uncovering the mysteries and truth about her past.

If this is not enough to drive someone over the edge, she now has a patient, Sofia, a sociopath, who has been institutionalized for more than two decades for having murdered her mother, and the attempted homicide of her brother. As Zoe comes closer to learning the secrets behind the lies, can she come to terms with the real truth?

A fan of legal, medical, and psycho-thrillers, I enjoy the intensity, research, and suspense surrounding the environment, patients, and of course the professional’s personal/work interactions.

My negative with LITTLE BLACK LIES was the narrator,Kara Bartell; found her voice annoying while listening to the audio, with the ongoing need to fast forward. I would also have preferred more focus of Zoe’s past, which I found intriguing, versus her present relationships.

Overall, a good mix of medical (mind), family, humor, sarcasm, deception/lies, and an array of secondary characters for a slow paced psychological suspense.

While currently reading an ARC of Block’s second novel, upcoming, Sept 8, THE GIRL WITHOUT A NAME, wanted to read/listen to the first book, to explore a little more about Zoe, the main protagonist. I think fans will enjoy the second installment featuring Zoe, and another patient with a mysterious past, and her obsession to find answers.

With Block’s own professional career, she definitely adds inside expertise which further enhances the overall reading experience.

“Black lies are about simple and callous selfishness. We tell black lies when others gain nothing and the sole purpose is either to get ourselves out of trouble (reducing harm against ourselves) or to gain something we desire (increasing benefits for ourselves).” Like malevolent spiders, liars of black lies often draw others into their web of deceit.

Are we all a little crazy?