Tortured Memory by Lawrence W. Gold, M.D., Outstanding!

"After a nurse's rape at San Francisco General Hospital, Abbie and several friends enrolled in a self-defense class. The instructor was a former Navy Seal...My methods are a bit unusual, but so am I, and you will be, too when I finish with you...

"C'mon, Abbie," the now helmeted and padded instructor said, "let's see some action."

"Abbie delivered two meek punches and a kick to his leg.

"Don't be a pussy, Abbie...go for it..."

"The instructor approached Abbie, and pushed her back with both hands, sending her to the mat.

"Abbie looked up. "What are you doing?"

"Get up," he demanded..."Pussy..."

"The instructor turned to the women. "This is what's wrong with the lot of you. The world has programmed you as victims.

"Stop! Stop! she gasped, but he squeezed her chest so tight she had trouble speaking. Abbie's pent-up rage spread over her face and neck. She stomped on his instep then turned and charged into him. Her furious punches and kicks drove him backwards and to the floor. When he fell, she continued to flail away, feeling nothing but rage, until two women dragged her off. As they pulled her away, she continued to scream, punch and kick trying to disgorge the years of frustration and pain.

"The instructor shook himself, licked a bloody scratch on his arm, and smiled. "Now you're talking, kiddo..."

~~~

Tortured Memory:
 Brier Hospital Series

By Lawrence W. Gold, M.D.

When I tell you I spent the weekend with a new author, I mean just that. This is the latest novel by Dr. Gold...
As soon as I finished it, I went out and downloaded two more on Kindle...

From the front cover of this book to the back cover, I think I read every word other than the copyright page. Fascinating is the first word that came to mind... although you all know that I have an interest in books related to child sexual abuse, eternally hoping that it will magically help to eliminate it some day...

This one, however, was much more dramatic, simply because the psychiatrist, Dr. Abbie Adler, had been abused herself. This resulted in an alternating draw of reader attention as we also try to solve the suspenseful mystery of what was happening. Was it her past coming back to haunt her, or were there one or more of her patients involved?

"Judy's improved, but she remains emotionally frail
and ultrasensitive. It's the damage we see in the
abused child, part of the Post Traumatic Stress
reaction. After Keaton Hill betrayed his daughter's
trust, I knew that it was going to take a long time for
her to develop the coping skills necessary to move on.
Most sexually abused girls never fully recover from
the experience. I have no doubt that Judy will need
years of treatment.
"What's your opinion, Doctor, about Mr. Hill's
request for visitation?"
"Abbie turned to Judge Greer. "Your honor. If you
expose this child to Mr. Hill in any way, supervised
or unsupervised, at the very least it will set her back.
At its worst, it will destroy her..."
"...I love that. He's responsible, but he's not responsible
...the best of both worlds." Abbie reddened. "Perhaps
rapists, murderers, and pedophiles aren't evil, but
sick. Let's close the prisons and move them all to
mental institutions..."
~~~

Was it natural for an abused woman to choose general psychiatry with a special interest in child and adolescent sexual abuse? Most of us who have been affected by abuse as children try to forget or get passed it...

Indeed, Abbie had spent much of her life in counseling and she was now a prominent and dedicated individual in constant demand. Perhaps too much so, because some came to Dr. Adler to take on their child that they had never been able to control, while still providing materially anything that they ever wanted. 

Two young men had just joined her client list against her own inclination. One was the son of her own counseling psychiatrist! Another was the son of another prominent citizen.

Also in that town, about the same time, a series of rapes of young girls had occurred. They had been found in the ritualistic pose of most corpses, with a flower in their hands...

Two of the victims had been Dr. Adler's clients. And another had disappeared...

And, of course, the individuals who had first abused their children and put them into counseling, were crying out for justice for their child's rape and murder...

While she also had to testify on a child's behalf to ensure that their abusing father could not "visit..."

Things were getting more and more intense as time constraints had forced her to consider putting one of the young men, a narcissist, into a group, who, while initially accepting, group members finally demanded he be removed. Abbie knew she had to stop working with him, but he refused to accept her decision, claiming that she was helping him...

Until one day, they found Abbie...catatonic and then unable to remember anything that had happened...

Fortunately, Abbie's husband was a loving supportive medical doctor who could get involved with not only her treatment, but also with the investigation into what had happened to her... 

Well, the author succeeded in totally stumping me! And I think you will be too... There is so much happening in this novel and so much evil going on that any of the suspects could be the guilty party... But what are they guilty of? That is the key question.  Does serving a prison term and being freed eliminate problems of a child sexual abuser? Dr. Gold has given readers much to think about, while creating a suspenseful murder mystery with a surprise ending that...I thoroughly enjoyed!  Another Review of this new favorite author tomorrow!

GABixlerReviews

Lawrence W. Gold, M.D.
Residence: Grass Valley, CA

Author bio:

I practiced internal medicine and nephrology (diseases of the kidney) in Berkeley, California for twenty-three years. I was an active participant in this hospital’s quality assurance program that monitored physician performance. In addition, I served as chief of the department of medicine and family practice.

My wife, Dorlis and I retired and set sail to cruise Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. We are back on land in Grass Valley, California.