Black Out

by Lisa Unger

Book Overview

This is a stunning, mind-bending shocker with moments of sheer terror--one of the best thrillers I've read this year --Tess Gerritsen, author of The Bone Garden.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307338487
• ISBN13: 9780307338488
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books
• Length: 358 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

not worth it

Too much skipping back & forth. I was lost reading it

Edge of Seat Interesting

This is the third book of hers I have read and loved it! It is full of mystery and drama and characters that you can care about. Couldn't put it down. Great author!

Quality Psychological Suspense

There are many good authors out there who write enjoyable, well done novels on murders or serial killers with good suspense and usually a little romance. This novel is so superior to that genre. It is so literate and intelligent. It is character driven and provides amazing psychological depth to all the characters. We have Annie Powers Gray who has a very troubled past. She grew up in an abusive household and a serial killer became a member of her family at an early age. Her innocence was destroyed, she lost all ability to see any clarity in life and found love and identity where she could. As victims do, she became easy target for one particular predator and became his puppet as she lost her own identity more and more. She marries the man who saved her from this life and supposedly killed this man who haunted her life. She reinvents her identity and starts life anew. But is he really dead? Things start to happen that show maybe he isn't. But are these things really happening or all in her mind? Lisa Unger has created a psychological suspense novel of the highest caliber here. She has done her research and treats her main character and how she deals with her abuse with respect and knowledge. Every aspect of Annie and how her life works due to the abuse she has endured is carefully illusrated and explained. The victim is shown openly and honestly and she clearly shows what victims such as Annie actually do endure perfectly. Then she adds to this an amzing, edge of your seat story line that has no holes. You ride the journey with Annie and there are twists and turns that will have you just as confused as she is. But the bottom line is - it all works. This book is very intelligent as I stated and in no way pop fiction. The plot contains serial killers, murder, childhood abuse, mental illness and all are dealt with accurately, respectfully and with the highest skill. This novel is very intense and is one of the most satisfying reads I have had all year. I will now read all the books by Lisa Unger and put her on my list of favorite authors. She put me on a suspenseful journey that was so strong I could not put the book down. Do yourself a favor and venture into the world of Annie and read this book.

From J. Kaye's Book Blog

A few months back, I stated Lisa Unger's BEAUTIFUL LIES and the sequel, SLIVER OF TRUTH were the best of 2008 had to offer. When BLACK OUT was schedule to be out, I was thrilled, but also a bit worried I'd be disappointed. To say BLACK OUT was engrossing would be an understatement. I read it in two nights. That second night, I refused to stop until the last page was read. BLACK OUT was awesome, awesome, awesome good. I normally read more than one book during the evening. With Uger's books, I can only read the one. The way her story moves from scene to scene is the same rush I get when reading multi-books. It's an electric charge!

Psychic Thriller

In a suspenseful litany of traumatic horror, psychic defense mechanisms, and recovery, Ms. Unger keeps us on tenterhooks, as only she can, throughout her splendid tale of a young woman, brutalized emotionally and physically, caught up eventually in a cat-and-mouse game with her supposed rescuers. What is real and what is fantasy? These are the questions posed as this thriller leads us on a rollercoaster ride of flashbacks, present-day dilemmas, and eventual resolution. But unanswered questions remain, and even as you think you've discovered what is true, you realize finally that nothing is as it seems. The title "black out" refers to a fugue state, but can also describe an obliteration of reality, which is the final conclusion you may reach. Well worth the read!

If you just have one choice this summer, " Black Out " should be that choice.

If, like me, you are a Lisa Unger fan then you probably have already read this stunning novel. If you have not read any of Ms Unger's novels then "Black Out" is a great place to start. If you enjoy such authors as Ruth Rendell / Barbara Vine, Minette Walters, Denise Mina, John Connolly, Andrew Vacchs and Peter Robinson, you will surely enjoy "Black Out". This is possibly the best novel of the mystery, psychological thriller genre, although it defies genre labeling, in recent years . Simply put, it's unique. With the novel "Black Out" Ms Unger has taken the phrase "can't put down " to an entirely new level { in actual fact you have to put it down occasionally just to catch your breath }. Lisa Unger has the unique talent that makes it unable to make direct comparisons with each of her books, which to me is the hallmark of a great writer. No familiar format, no comfort zones for either the characters or the reader. Impeccable research, as always, by Ms Unger leads the reader to understand that the unthinkable is actually the truth. But the search for the truth in "Black Out" is multi-layered and brilliantly crafted. Black Out challenges many preconceptions that we, as readers, may have about mental illness and its far reaching consequences. Perhaps "Black Out" is a 2008 Catch-22 ? You need to be delusional to recognize the delusional. All of Lisa Unger's characters fit this premise. The premise of "Black Out" is simple, in that a subtitle for the novel could easily be " Ophelia. Is she fact or fiction ? " This novel as I mentioned has a brilliant multi-layered approach within each chapter. Each of the characters taking on their own persona and perception of themselves and almost like shape-shifters moving from points in time seamlessly backwards, forwards and sideways . A technique I've never experienced reading and it works to perfection. As I type these notes I realize that one of the fascinating features of "Black Out" is the difficulty of writing about the characters in the novel without giving some hints as to their role, which would be unfair to say the least. In summary, "Black Out" is a must read novel and deserves the highest praise and accolades, which it appears to be receiving on a daily basis. One final anecdote. Two of the characters in "Black Out" are called Ophelia and Marlowe. Now Ophelia as we all know is a tragic Shakesperian character. Add to this the fact that many people, to this very day, think that Shakespeare's plays were written by a contemporary of his called Marlowe. Some even believe that Marlowe and Shakespeare were one and the same person ? Just like "Black Out", nothing is ever what it appears to be and seemingly irrelevant anecdotes are anything but irrelevant. Douglas W Nelson