Black Out

A Novel

By: Lisa Unger

Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee

Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

"When my mother named me Ophelia, she thought she was being literary. She didn't realize she was being tragic."

On the surface, Annie Powers' life in a wealthy Floridian suburb is happy and idyllic. Her husband, Gray, loves her fiercely; together, they dote on their beautiful young daughter, Victory. But the bubble surrounding Annie is pricked when she senses that the demons of her past have resurfaced and, to her horror, are now creeping up on her.

These are demons she can't fully recall because of a highly dissociative state that allowed her to forget the tragic and violent episodes of her earlier life as Ophelia March and to start over, under the loving and protective eye of Gray, as Annie Powers.

Disturbing events - the appearance of a familiar dark figure on the beach, the mysterious murder of her psychologist - trigger strange and confusing memories for Annie, who realizes she has to quickly piece them together before her past comes to claim her future and her daughter.

©2008 Lisa Unger (P)2008 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Twisty, riveting, and enormously exciting. Lisa Unger is a powerful and elegant writer, and Black Out is her best novel yet." (Joseph Finder)

"I read Black Out in one hungry gulp, and spent the rest of the night trying to calm my jangled nerves. This is a stunning, mind-bending shocker with moments of sheer terror - one of the best thrillers I've read this year!" (Tess Gerritsen)

"Black Out is riveting psychological suspense of the first order. If you haven't yet experienced Lisa Unger, what are you waiting for?" (Harlan Coben)

Almost ...

This was a unique storyline and I feel that the author could have done so much more with it. Some parts were not that believable but they could have been. Perhaps I just don't like the style of writing? At times confusing and drawn-out. Narration was good. Would love to have a version of this story done in the style of a Laura Lippmann or similar. It had all the right ingredients but still didn't quite do it for me.

Black Out

Although the story line was a little difficult to follow because it kept bouncing between past and present, I enjoyed this book. The way the author explores the mind of her main character and the difference between reality and perception is enough to keep you guessing and contemplating the implications in real life

first time L.Unger listener

Overall, I really liked this book! It was full of
twists and turns and surprises. I am looking forward to more of the author's books. This said, I didn't particularly care for the narrator. I can't put my finger on it but it may have been the speed in which she read, a bit slow, or the pitch of her voice. I had to listen on a CD player that did not have the option to speed up the voices so I was stuck. That minor complaint though, did not take away from the story line. I highly recommend this book and have said as much to several friends!

"Wow"

This is one of the best books I have written in a really long time!

Narrator annoying

Sure it's a story about a woman in hiding, but does the narrator have to make the whole book sound like a 10 hour, whiny prologue? When she's in the main character's voice she manages to make every sentence a breathless quiver. It makes the character much less like able - shakily explaining how awful her million dollar life is, dripping with self pity. Not sure I can bear to keep listening.

Narrator's characters are awful

This book had a kind of a convoluted plot which held my interest, although I kept feeling as though I'd missed something somewhere. But what bothered me most is the narrator. Just reading the book, she was fine, but her characters were HORRIBLE. The men in particular were just awful caricatures, which really took a lot away from the book.

Far fetched

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This book was entertaining enough, but the story was so convoluted that it was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't.

Would you recommend Black Out to your friends? Why or why not?

I can't say that it is that good that I would recommend it.

Have you listened to any of Ann Marie Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't listened to any other of Ann Marie Lee's other performances, but I thought she did a good job with this one.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I would, so that maybe I could get more clarity about the story.

Any additional comments?

I found the writing to be ok, but the story was confusing, and while a far-fetched story can be really good, this one was so wierd that I was losing interest.

Boring and long way to tell a story

Save your points
Oh, and when the “little girl” talks, it’ll make you so irritated!!!!!

Pay attention

If you want to listen to a book that you must listen to carefully, this is the one for you. I loved to story but I did have to go back and listen to parts again. There are so many characters, real and not, that it can be confusing. But i loved this story, it was really good. Very different.

A different kind of thriller

On the surface, BLACK OUT sounds like a typical thriller. A serial killer, thought to be dead, seemingly returns to threaten a woman out of his past. But in Lisa Unger's hands, what could have been a by-the-numbers story becomes much, much more.

First, she turns what could be a predictable plot on its head. Not only isn't the potential victim, Annie, not who she seems - but as the story unfolds, neither is virtually anyone around her - her husband, her in-laws, her friends, even her young daughter. Then, as Unger drops clue after clue, the revelations aren't just surprising - they're unsettling.

But what really sets BLACK OUT apart is the characters' psychological depth - Annie, first and foremost. The story is not just a trip from Point A to Point B. It is a journey through Annie's psyche. And Unger's prose is more than up to the task - at times purely expository, at times entirely dream-like. In the best thrillers, you eagerly await the resolution of the plot, which is certainly the case here. But in BLACK OUT, the real nail-biting surrounds Annie's personal journey - and the resolution there is anything but simple.

I know it's a cliche, but I sat in my driveway listening to the end of BLACK OUT. And then, as the last word faded, I had to keep sitting to think about what I just heard. Even as I'm writing this the story, in all its complexities, has stayed with me.