Little Black Lies

January 5, 2015
Block's intriguing debut, a psychological thriller, relies too much on a final revelation that many readers will anticipate. Dr. Zoe Goldman, a psychiatry resident at a Buffalo, N.Y., hospital, has a lot of emotional baggage. Her mother died in a fire, a trauma that still gives her nightmares in which her hands are bleeding and she is hiding from someone, as the house blazes around her. Zoe works with her therapist to sort out the meaning of the dreams and why they have recurred after several years of peace. Zoe must also deal with her adoptive mother's descent into dementia. As she tries to sort through the mysteries of her own past, Zoe also has a challenging patient: Sofia Vallano, who has been institutionalized for more than two decades for having murdered her mother. Block's own training makes the medicine convincing, but the careful work she's done in creating an interesting lead comes undone by the end. Agent: Rachel Eckstrom, Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

February 1, 2015
Dr. Zoe Goldman is a resident in psychiatry at a Buffalo, New York, hospital. She takes a real dislike to one of her patients, Sofia, a beautiful sociopath who murdered her mother, maimed her brother, and has spent more than 20 years in hospitals. Zoe's supervisor suggests that Sofia be released, which makes Zoe very uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Zoe is dealing with personal issues: her boyfriend recently moved away, and the long-distance relationship is strained. The mother who adopted her is suffering from increasing dementia, and Zoe is desperate for information about her birth mother. The deeper she delves into her past, the more confused she gets. She is having recurring nightmares from her childhood, when she was caught in a house fire, and her therapist reluctantly tries hypnosis with minimal results. This is a serious look at a variety of mental illnesses, especially blocked memories, but the thriller element isn't ignored. The suspense keeps building throughout until the shocking ending. This is a riveting debut from a promising new author.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)