In her first standalone thriller, following the success of Beautiful Lies and Sliver of Truth, Lisa Unger scores a knockout with Black Out.

Annie Hill is not really Annie Hill, and she knows it. She's married to Gray and mother to little Victory, whose upbeat name was carefully chosen. But Gray is not Victory's dad, and Victory's origin was anything but upbeat. They live in the idyllic semi-isolation of the very rich on Florida's Gulf Coast, under the shadow of Drew, Gray's father (and employer), a Special Forces retiree who has created a privatized military organization under the guise of a large-scale insurance investigation company. These people are worse than scary, they're terrifying, and they are manipulating Annie's life more than she knows. Gradually, Annie begins to sort out what is real from what is not. She must battle with demons from her own abused childhood and her abduction by a serial killer she thought was in love with her. She must find reality in order to save herself, her daughter, and her marriage to Gray, who is almost as much in thrall to his father as she was to her psychopath.

Lisa Unger writes with almost unbearable intensity and skill, always from Annie's point of view. She takes us nonstop through dreams, fugues, hallucinations, past and present. It's one hell of a ride, and a rewarding read.