Adverse Effects

The Memory Thieves, Book 1

De: Joel Shulkin MD

Narrado por: Madeleine Lambert

Determined to help her amnesiac patients recover their lives, Boston psychiatrist Cristina Silva is achieving near-miraculous results by prescribing Recognate, a revolutionary new memory-recovery drug now in trials. She understands her patients’ suffering better than most, because she’s lost her memories, too. Desperate to become herself again, she pops the same experimental drug she prescribes to her patients. And, like them, she remembers a little more each day.

Until one of her patients, a successful accountant, jumps from an eight-story window to his death. And as Cristina’s memories return, with them come violent visions and an incessant voice in her head. Maybe the drug isn’t safe after all. But discontinuing it would mean forgetting everything she’s recalled and losing herself.

Then an enigmatic, possibly dangerous man appears at Cristina’s bus stop. He seems to know more about her life than she does and says she holds a secret that puts her life in danger. Perilously balanced between an unknown past and a terrifying future, if she wants to survive, Cristina must stay on the medication and unlock those memories before it’s too late - even if the adverse effects of the drug could destroy her.

©2020 Dr. Joel Shulkin (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

This one is a struggle …

Sorry to be negative but I would not have stuck this one out if the second book in the series wasn’t voiced by one of my favorite narrators.

That’s how I found this series - I was looking for more books that she narrated. You would think an author that has several books in a series that have been published would be something you can rely on, as long as the genre is appealing.

Not so with this one. The broad structure of the story is fine, interesting. But the details are confused and so many things jump out at you as implausible or factually questionable. (or just kind of dumb.) Even when you’re not looking for it there’s enough of those things that they just keep poking you in the ear.

And the narration on this one is really tough. It seemed to get better as the book went on so maybe this was a newer or less experienced narrator, but man, horrible cadence, bad accents, just really really tough.

I’m hoping the payoff (book 2 of the series) will be worth it. Hoping that the structure and flow of the story improves and the narrator I know will be fantastic.

Slow start

not my usual genre, so it was a little confusing to me in the beginning. I can tell that lots of medical research or knkw-how, went into this book. A quarter way in, things spead up, and got 'edge of your seat' interesting.

What kind of ending is that?

Convoluted plot that seemingly ends in the middle of the story. Too many characters, too many story lines that never come together

Fast paced and smart!

I listened to Dr. Joel Shulkin's medical thriller, Adverse Effects, and enjoyed the story immensely. The concept was intriguing, and I was curious how the author would handle amnesia, once a staple of soap opera stories. This is not your mother's soap opera!!! You can tell right away that Shulkin knows what he is talking about when it comes to the world of health care and clinical trials for new drugs, etc.

The story itself is fast-paced and no-nonsense. There is no purple prose to work through, which I appreciated. The writing style is short and to the point. There is enough detail to ground you in each element of the story, but no so much that you get bogged down. The action is always center-stage. As a former Boston local, I loved the references around the city; they made me a little homesick, even for the cold!

If you like a twisty-turney, smart thriller where the women are competent and not there just as supporting characters to the male heroes, Adverse Effects manages that beautifully. The hero, Cristina Silva, is smart, capable, and even funny at times. She feels like a real person, not a one-dimensional hero that you can't relate to. She felt like someone I might have known back in Boston, and I was rooting for her the whole way.

The recording was done very well. As a Boston native, I can be pretty picky with the accent, but the narrator handled it well. I listen to a lot of books, and I always appreciate a narrator who can perform the roles slightly, without me noticing very much.