This book caught me off guard a little. It started off much lighter than most mysteries I read. Meaning not with a murder or traumatic event. It jumped right into life in the psychiatry ward of a Buffalo hospital and its colorful cast of doctors. Dr. Zoe Goldman, one of those psychiatrists, is our main character. Extremely tall, as referenced throughout the book, adopted at the young age of four by her mother’s best friend, and in a relationship with the “Frenchman”, Zoe has some issues of her o...

Lies. When do white lies become black lies? When do the protective little lies that (m)others tell us become the lies we tell ourselves? I did a double-take when I saw the title of Sandra Block’s book featuring psychiatric resident Zoe Goldman, Little Black Lies, as one of my favorite authors, also named Sandra, has a thriller by the same name. This one is quite different.Dr. Goldman is assigned a small caseload of patients in a Buffalo, New York, psychiatric ward. Along with several other resid...

Little Black Lies by Sandra Block is a psychological thriller that sets a tempo and pace that will draw you in slowly until like a literary anaconda, it takes you in its coils and squeezes you until it makes you its own. Tense and powerful. Little Black Lies heralds a new series by a talented new voice in this genre. One that takes her place, with authority in the genre. "...She rubs her arms. 'I'm getting cold, honey. Ready to go back in?' 'Sure,' I say, fighting a yawn. I have to get home to s...

This is the first book I have read by this author and wouldn't have known about this but for Net Galley. I love a good thriller sometimes and this one was based around a psychiatric hospital, along with the differing patients and their mental health along with the varied psychiatric staff.Dr. Zoe Goldman is one of the main trainee residence, if not 'the' main one on the staff there that we come to meet and get to know, she has many things in her past that she wants to discover and uncover. It wa...

RELEASE DATE: February 17, 2015RATING: 2 Stars Maybe, if you can check it out at the library for freeGENRE: Women’s Fiction / Mystery and SuspenseAUDIENCE: Fans of Jonathan Kellerman may enjoy this book. SERIES: StandaloneSUMMARY: Blurb from Netgalley: “From first-time novelist Sandra Block, a gripping pageturner about a psychiatrist determined to discover the truth about her past.”REVIEW: Immediate problems I had with this book are plentiful. Zoe is supposed to be plain, average, and a little t...

Dr. Zoe Goldman, a psychiatric resident in a Buffalo hospital, has some problems. She has ADHD, controlled with medication; her adoptive mom is in a nursing home, suffering from dementia; her boyfriend, Jean Luc - a chemist in Washington, D.C. - seems to be distancing himself from her; and she has recurring nightmares about the night her birth mother died in a fire. In the disturbing dream Zoe is a little girl hiding from someone in a burning house.Zoe, who was four years old when she lost her b...

Loved this book & can't wait for the next one!

This is a 3-star read that ended up getting bumped down to 2 in the final chapters. It starts out with a lot of promise: menacing suspense about Zoe's memories that she's somehow suppressed but are now popping up in her dreams. A psych resident, Zoe is also fascinated by a young woman who's spent most of her life in the psych ward after killing her mother.Unfortunately Block's writing occasionally felt a little flat, but then I kept getting pulled out of the story by little screw-ups. She nails

This book was a happy accident. Kandice has been telling me about a book she loved called "Little Black Lies". So I went on Audible, typed in the title, and this is the only thing that came up. I bought it. I started listening to it. And though it had my attention, I knew it wasn't a Kandice-type-book, at least not a Kandice-five-star book. So I checked and low an behold, this is a totally different book. HA! (Turns out that the one Kandice loved isn't even available to us readers in the states)...

This is just an ok book about a psychiatrist, Zoe Goldman, who was raised by adoptive parents after, what she was told, her real mother died in a fire. Now Zoe's adoptive mother is fading away into dementia and for some reason Zoe begins doubting the story about her birth mother. As her adoptive mother's memories fade, and as Zoe finds clues that show her that the story just doesn't add up, she is in a race to find out who her real mother is before it's too late. While trying to figure out her o...

3.5 Stars I won book 3 in a book giveaway of this series. Since this was a series, I decided to start with book 1. I really did enjoy this book. I found it very interesting. I almost gave this four stars but found the beginning to be a little slow but the second half is extremely excellent. I ended up loving this book. This is a great read for anyone who loves a fast paced and completely engrossing psychological thriller, once you have gotten through half the book. There are many dark twists and...

This was a great psychological thriller. Spooky and believable.The nutty, flawed, insecure and little crazy psychiatrist, Dr. Zoe Goldman, is looking for her mother(s) - supposedly Sarah Meyers, Beth Summers... But wait a minute! There's a Beth Winters too!One dies in a fire, and one is slowly giving up life through dementia (early onset Alzheimers). She needs to figure out the confusing, recurring dream. Unbeknownst to her, she might get killed for not knowing the truth about her background.The...

When I got approved for reading and reviewing, “The Girl Without a Name” by Sandra Block, though Netgalley, I felt in order to do it justice, I should start with her debut novel, called “Little Black Lies”. This is the review of “Little Black Lies”, her debut novel, a totally involving psychological suspense novel, based on dark secrets, and lies. Dr. Zoe Goldman, a psychiatry resident at a Buffalo, N.Y., hospital, suffers from ADHD, and a troubled past. Her biological mother, died in a fire…for...

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.

Zoe, a resident in training in a psych ward, has her own set of issues to deal with -- a recurring nightmare from her childhood, questions about her birth mother and how she died, a not-so-great boyfriend, etc. Her main patient has a LOT of problems since she is in the psych ward for murdering her mom when she was 14. I couldn't put this one down, although there were parts that weren't as interesting for me, and left me anxious to get back to the good stuff. The twist at the end is a doozy. I do...

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 myst...

I loved, loved this book and highly recommend it. It doesn't come out until February, so you have a chance to buy it ahead of time now. I was lucky enough to receive and Advanced Reading Copy. The story takes place mostly in a psychiatric ward with Dr. Zoe Goldman, a resident in training, as the heroine. Not only is she faced with problem patients daily, but she has her own skeletons in the closet. She wants to know what exactly happened to her birth mother. Her adoptive mother knows or knew, bu...

I actually went and revised my review of Book 2 based on my increased reading pleasure with Little Black Lies. I now believe book 2 to be interesting, but a disappointing follow up. Perhaps because the story in this book was more personal. Dr .Zoe Goldman, a psychiatric medical resident, is interested in learning more about her past. Who was her birth mother? Why is Zoe having nightmares? Who is the woman named Tanya that her adoptive mother keeps talking about?The plot was a bit more fast paced...

Book Blog | Bookstagram "Gorillas in the dining room. Dinosaurs in the backyard. That's the least of it. The truth is, we are all a little crazy." I really liked this book. Really. I liked the secondary characters and all their unique personalities that came to life with small, but thought-out details. I liked the pacing of each chapter and each milestone. I like the narrator's voice and the easy-breezy quality of the storytelling, despite the serious subject matter. I was utterly engaged in e...

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 t...