White Noise

This book puts us front-and-center in the life and times of prison psychologist Dr. Laura Flemming, who has been tasked with writing a parole report for Justin Jones. Jones is a felon that, on the surface, appears to be a model prisoner and the epitome of someone who has been fully reformed by the system. Laura quickly gets the impression, however, that still waters do in fact run deep and there's a lot more to Jones than initially meets the eye, making her desperate to uncover the secrets that he might be concealing that could still indicate he's a danger to the outside world. This proves increasingly challenging as she begins to appear more and more unhinged herself as she chases those instincts making those around her, as well as this reader, begin to doubt her impressions and competence as things move forward.

I was surprised to learn after reading this that this was, in fact, a debut novel from the author Mercedes Mercier. Surprised in a good way because I have certainly read weaker stories from more established authors in the genre. This was an excellently put together story from someone who obviously has personal insight into the dynamics and culture within a typical prison, and this personal experience shone through to give credence and authenticity to the setting and institution where this took place.

I thoroughly enjoyed the character work in this story. Mercier did an amazing job of creating Flemming, who is a very flawed protagonist in many ways but these flaws are also grounded and realistic based on her backstory. In some thrillers I've read, authors attempt to create flawed protagonists that often manifest in extreme naïveté and critically poor choices that can sometimes be such a stretch that it almost insults the reader's intelligence. By contrast, Laura Flemming is an intelligent woman who has been through some shit yet battles on and is incredibly committed to both her job and her family. I found her commitment and resolve to be inspirational and admirable and the true definition of "strong female lead".

The twists and turns along the way were numerous, and I was always guessing and second-guessing myself as to who was truly involved in the plot. As I mentioned, there are many times when you even start to doubt the narrator herself and when you get towards the end of the book there are numerous viable outcomes for what is to ultimately play out. This kept me thoroughly engaged throughout and indeed the novel quickly enters the "page turner" realm when things begin to unravel.

As an aside on the character work, I want to explicitly point out how Laura Flemming's teenage daughter was written in the novel. She was annoying, frustrating, and challenging to deal with at times and that's PRECISELY what you'd expect from a 14-year-old. In many novels I've read, authors write child characters at times indistinguishably from adults, but Mercier here absolutely nailed the typical teenage attitude! It was great.

This book deals with some pretty serious and dark topics, which are undertones throughout. In particular, domestic abuse (physical and psychological) and drug addiction (painkillers) play prominent roles so readers should steer clear if such material is problematic to them.

Overall this was awesome thriller that would appeal to any fan of the genre. It was a relatively short read but a little slow to start out, with the action and tempo ramping up a lot later in the novel than perhaps it could have. It's well worth it though and a lot of the early slowness does help with the build-up and character building.

I'll certainly be reading more from this author and will be checking out the second book in the Dr. Laura Flemming series: Black Lies.