Little Black Lies

To review this novel as the best thriller I've read this year is too mild. A reader’s hot sauce. The hottest of the hot. The height of suspense. Best. Thriller. Ever. Read. 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

Dr. Zoe Goldman is a psychiatry resident with 2 other physicians under the supervision of Dr. Grant at a hospital in Buffalo, New York. Medication keeps her ADHD under control. Zoe is hoping for more help from her psychiatrist as another part of life has remained elusive. She wants to piece together the puzzle of her recurring nightmare. Answers from her adoptive mother have always been limited, and now, with her mother in care, Zoe qualifies answers as BD or AD before or after dementia.

Mothers. The relationship between mothers and daughters show more is not lost on Zoe at home or work. Her latest patient, Sofia Vallano, has been in psychiatric hospital care for years for matricide. All of which influence her desire to locate her birth mother.

I loved every aspect of this well-written novel. Whether in the hospital, at home, in the coffee shop, or in the car, I was immersed and engaged by the descriptive writing. My top favorites:

"Raindrops squiggle down the window, racing each other."
"If Sam's office is a yacht, and the nursing home a Victorian tearoom, then the Coffee Spot is a funky bachelor pad."

And the description of Jean-Luc is one to luxuriate, revel, and bask within the words.

The story takes place over 4 months, from November to February. The vital clue to the mysteries of the answers Zoe is seeking is subtle. But then I must report it in that manner since the clue to it all was tucked in the story with care, and I flat-out missed the significance. At the reveal, I was in the first car of the roller coaster train approaching the tip of the top hat and then the drop. The track I thought the curves were taking wasn't even there. Shock! Adrenalin pumping, edge of my seat, gripping the rail with white knuckles, fantastic, extraordinary ecstasy. WoW! What a ride! 🎢🎢🎢🎢🎢

A Reading Group Guide and Discussion Questions are available at the end of the novel. show less

Little Black Lies is the story of Zoe Goldman, a doctor who suffers from ADHD herself and works in the psychiatry ward of a Buffalo hospital. When she was 4 her mother died in a house fire and she was then adopted by her mother’s best friend. Recently, nightmares that Zoe hasn’t had since high school have returned. These nightmares consist of her broken memories from the tragic night her mother died. Why have these nightmares suddenly returned? Why don’t the memories in her dreams coincide with what she’s been told by her adopted mother all these years? And why does her new patient, Sophia, who killed her own mother 20 years ago, suddenly start showing up in them? These questions lead Zoe on a hunt to find out who her birth show more mother really was and what really happened to her.

This is a great read for anyone who loves fast paced and completely engrossing psychological thrillers. There are many dark twists and some unexpected turns, I honestly did not see the twist coming so I was blown away! It’s hard to believe that this is a debut novel; it’s beautifully crafted and expertly written. Sandra Block does have a medical background and it’s clearly evident. The inner workings of the hospital and its psychiatric ward along with its cast of doctors and patients ring absolutely true and make this story that much more believable.

Sandra Block does an amazing job in conveying Zoe’s “crazy” ADHD mind to the reader. I’ve read some reviews in which the reader was bothered by the many inner references by Zoe regarding her own ADHD but I actually thought this was spot on and kinda the whole point. My 19 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD and OCD when he was young and his thought patterns are very similar to how Zoe’s were written. He constantly discusses his ADHD which cracks me up and yes, sometimes drives me bonkers! So I loved reading Zoe’s inner dialogues, they were some of my favorite parts of this book. For me, it was like getting an insight to what I’ve always imagined went on in my son’s mind.

I absolutely loved Little Black Lies and was extremely happy to review it! I’m also very excited to have learned this will be a first in a series. Already looking forward to reading more about Zoe and her group of flawed and often times funny friends and family.

**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review** show less

Even after the finality of my 3-out-of-5-star rating for Little Black Lies, I still find the premise completely fascinating. The psychological thriller genre is one among my favorites, and combined with my personal/professional interest in the field (I'm currently studying psychopathology), I couldn't resist picking this one up. While the originality of the plot and extensive psychiatric research and experience that went into this book impress me greatly, I do have to say this book isn't exactly the thriller I expected—or wanted—it to be.

Dr. Zoe Goldman has a tragic past, having lost her birth family in a housefire as a baby. As an adult though, she's doing quite all right because she doesn't remember any of it. This was a fabulous show more starting point—I love the idea. Sudden dreams and flashbacks of the fire, which she hasn't had since she was a very young child, coincide with the arrival of her newest patient, Sophia Vallano, a beautiful sociopath who murdered her own mother. As both the nightmares and paranoia intensify and Zoe's own psychiatric care begins to go awry, she becomes obsessed with questions about her birth mother's death, including what really happened in that fire, especially when her adoptive mother begins to slip up on Zoe's own life facts, which are too eery to be due to the dementia.

The premise is excellent, and in summary, the book sounds complete. Completely for me. Unfortunately the poor characterization and technical annoyances disappointed me immensely, rendering the book to fall short of what I was initially hoping for.

My first problem was with Zoe herself; even acquainted with her as a first-person narrator, I just couldn't connect with her voice. She's clearly intelligent and very grounded, but as a character, she is stiff, more intellectual and mechanical than relatable. The few sequences of emotion she displays (sympathy for her mom, attraction to her boyfriend, etc.) come off very unconvincingly, which I feel is more an issue with Block's writing than anything else. In the same vein, I didn't like any of the characters in the book, so this reinforces the notion that Zoe isn't just a megabitch, but that the author created weak characters in general. While well edited and concise, Block's hand lacks the fluidity and style that a good novel needs to really reel me in.

That being said, I had no problem reading the book or following the plot. The directness and clarity of the story's progression made it effortless to get through, which is saying a lot, provided the disorientating nature of Zoe's random, mentally unstable flashbacks of her childhood. Block takes two distinct story lines—one in the present and one in the past, that, together, would otherwise be very confusing—and has produced a readable, manageable novel, which is a feat in and of itself.

The rising tension in the novel is so prolonged, that it actually eventually got boring... but I still didn't hate it. I was definitely engaged in following Zoe's journey of discovering the inconsistencies between her unreliable memory, actual childhood, and what she was told by her adoptive parents growing up.

My biggest quip is with the climax/ending. The entire point of the book was to culminate in a dark dangerous secret (which I will abbreviate as D.D.S. from now on) that even the synopsis on the back cover hints at, but it just didn't enthrall or terrify me, as a good thriller should. The climax isn't predictable necessarily—by which I mean, it did surprise me. However the D.D.S. revealed didn't exactly have me reeling, either; it was rather inevitable, and even the back cover teased it in the back of my mind from the beginning, so it was rather anticlimactic.

Pros: Original plot // Interesting medical/psychiatric background and terminology // Creative intentions

Cons: Not the most stylistically written // Inevitable, not-so-frightening D.D.S. // Hopeful premise, but overall not memorable or remarkable // Romance subplot not only is irrelevant/disjointed, but also cringe-worthy and clichéd // Zoe is a straightforward, no-nonsense protagonist, but rather irritating and unlikable // Weak secondary characters

Verdict: Slow paced, technically flawed, and lacking in developed and believable characters, Little Black Lies was a let-down for me all-around—mostly due to my enormous anticipation for it as a psychological thriller. Psychological and at times thrilling? Well, sure, but it's not one of those searing, edge-of-your-seat, mind-blowing thrillers, mostly due to its languid, stretched-out rising action and unavoidable climax. There are moments in the story, especially regarding the solidly researched and written medical topics, that did indeed excite me, but overall Sandra Block's debut novel doesn't particularly stand out to me as a top recommendation.

Rating: 6 out of 10 hearts (3 stars): Decent for a first read, but I'm not going back; this book is decidedly average (whatever that means!).

Source: Complimentary copy provided by publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Wunderkind PR!). show less

Holy freaking crap. Just when I thought I had everything figured out Block throws in a HUGE plot twist that almost had me jumping out of my seat. I totally did not see it coming. Well written and a suspenseful page turner. Definitely will be reading more of her books.

I found it to be a really entertaining story, and I'm excited to hear there are more books with this narrator. I usually do guess twist endings, but I didn't see this one coming.

This is an enjoyable story about a resident trainee psychiatrist. Although it is a mystery, that seems to be almost secondary to the story of the main character's (Zoe) life as a resident in a Buffalo area hospital.
A large focus is on the relationships that she has with her co-workers, patients, and her adoptive mother, who is now in a nursing home with dementia.

The mystery involves a mysterious dream that keeps haunting Zoe and the questions about her natural mother's death. Although the mystery was somewhat interesting, what kept me reading were the other aspects of the story. Having had a father in a nursing home with alzheimer's, I could relate & found the scenes in the nursing home to be spot on. Sandra Block brought insight and show more humour to these scenes and to the day to day life of a resident.

The mystery itself has a few holes, but because of the other storylines in the book, I wasn't overly bothered by any of them. I'm looking forward to Sandra Block's next novel. A solid 3.5 stars! show less

3.5/5 Little Black Lies is Sandra Block's debut novel.

Zoe Goldman is a resident on the psychiatric ward of a Boston hospital. Balancing her work and personal life becomes even more challenging for Dr. Goldman when a difficult patient is assigned to her. This woman killed her mother as a teenager. Her case spurs Zoe to again try to piece together memories from her own past. She's adopted, has ADHD, fragmented nightmares and more. And the only woman who may have the key to unlock the past is succumbing to dementia.....

Block has crafted a calculated suspense novel with an eye for the finish line - and the final twist. I must admit the twist was a good one. But careful readers will suss out the reveal before the final chapters. Although I show more did, it didn't detract from my finishing or enjoying the rest of the book to confirm my suspicions. Some plot points do seem quite coincidental though, as do some actions and omissions on Zoe's part in investigating her past.

A love interest does add a nice side plot to a novel. Block includes two for Zoe - one (Mike) absolutely works. I really still can't figure out Jean-Luc's yes/no/maybe so inclusion in the story - it seemed extraneous to me.

Block is herself a doctor and the medical jargon (prescriptions) procedures, (hypnosis, therapy. etc.) diagnoses and treatment of mental illness absolutely reflect her 'insider' knowledge.

Those looking for a entertaining, light suspense novel will find it in Little Black Lies. Sandra Block is working on the second Zoe Goldman book. show less