Sunday, July 27, 2008

Addiction by G.H. Ephron

I enjoyed the earlier book I read by G.H. Ephron and had one other checked out from the library, so I decided to read this one next. It was a quick, suspenseful read and I enjoyed it. I rate Addiction a B+.

From Amazon:
Amnesia, G.H. Ephron's acclaimed debut, introduced forensic neuropsychologist and expert defense witness Dr. Peter Zak. Returning in Addiction, Peter is back in the thick of things at the Pearce Psychiatric Center, coping with patients as well as everyday average administrative nightmares at the hospital, like budgetary concerns, construction, and colleagues' drug trials. And then the worst nightmare of all-the murder of a colleague.Such an event, if it weren't devastating enough, rekindles Peter's memories of the murder of his wife, which left Peter emotionally shattered and isolated; he's only recently begun to emerge. But he can't retreat this time; he must use his expertise to help reconstruct this baffling and intensely personal killing.Peter discovers his friend and former lover, Pearce psychiatrist Channing Temple, dead from a gunshot wound on hospital grounds. Her 16-year-old daughter Olivia is standing over the body, holding a gun. Did Olivia, who has been abusing Ritalin and other drugs, kill her mother? Peter thinks not, but she is quickly arraigned for murder, and he has only two weeks to find the killer before Olivia is sent to prison. In this tense and compelling second installment in a highly lauded series, the talented writing team known as G.H. Ephron tackles the dangers and misconceptions surrounding addiction...and the chaos of murder.

I really like Dr. Zak and there is good character development and we understand why he acts the way he is. I also love books centered around psychologists because it is a topic that really interests me. I always think that if I wasn't going to be a teacher, I would love to be counselor or psychologist. I guess in some senses, the two jobs are not really that far apart. There are a lot of medical terms used in the book but did not make it difficult to understand. I really felt for the teenager, Olivia, and I think that a reader could really relate to what she was going through and feeling. This series is definitely one that I will continue to check out.

Up next is Obedience by Will Lavender. I have heard a lot of buzz about this book around the blogosphere and I have to admit the premise definitely seems very interesting. I can't remember reading anything else that has the same premise and I hope it holds up to the promise. I hope to get through it quickly, though, because I have two more books that I picked up Friday from the library and they need to be returned in two weeks. I know I won't be able to renew them because there is a hold on them for other patrons. I always like to quickly return books that people are waiting for because I hate waiting! I hope everyone else had a good weekend and a good start to a new week! Happy Reading!

No comments: