"Don't judge a book by its cover", you've heard this over and over again. It couldn't be more true for this book. This cover is not the best I have seen, however, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. A unique story of drug side effects and brain manipulation with crossing paths, mystery, and romance. This book has it all. The narrators did a great job with various accents.

Synopsis ~~
Neuropsychiatrist Cristina Silva cannot escape her past. The voice in her head of her former identity won’t let her. Cristina also can’t quite manage to force herself to forget the ex-boyfriend she dumped: handsome police detective Gary Wilson.

Soon after beginning her new job at the Longwood Memory Center, Cristina receives a startling phone call from her contact at the FBI: an assassin is crisscrossing the country, killing anyone connected to the now-defunct pharmaceutical company ReMind—people like Cristina. The shadowy criminal enterprise Zero Dark is back.
REVIEW ~~
What an epic listen ! I really wasn't sure what this audio would be like but I thought I'd give it a go, its good to read outside your comfort zone once in a while and this audio did not disappoint. It was thrilling and complicated and utterly enthralling. The narrator, January LaVoy was great and brought the story to life brilliantly..
Christina is two people, weird? no not when you read about the mind altering and memory restoring drugs that she was experimented on. Her real self, Serena is still there in her mind but her new self Christina has been created. Complicated? yes, intriguing? yes, worth a listen? absolutely yes! I could go but this is such a in-depth book that it is just better to buy it and listen with awe and wonder, with a bit of "Oh wow I wonder if they can actually really do this?"

Toxic Effects
Joel Shulkin, MD
This is book 2 in this series. I recommend reading book 1, Adverse Effects, first, I didn’t, and I felt as if I had been dropped into the middle of a plot line and I found it extremely confusing. Apparently, a lot happened in book 1. This is a complicated tale.
Dr. Christina Silva, a neuropsychiatrist, has a lot of problems, memory loss, an extra personality living in her mind and someone is trying to kill her. Someone tampered with her memories leaving her with a unique problem. Bits and pieces of her memory comes back to her. There is a voice in her head that goes by the name Sabrina Carvalho (think split personality). They talk to each other, argue, hold discussions and occasionally Christina asks Sabrina for advice. Needless to say, this is all very confusing to both Christina and Sabrina. Christina takes a position at the Longwood Memory Center hoping to receive insight into what was done to her. Her former FBI contact warns Christina that an assassin is tracking down and killing people associated with ReMind, her former employer. ZeroDark is a wicked criminal organization backing ReMind. The assassin is Dama Branca, a female that goes by D.B; she feels a link to Christina but isn’t sure why. Both women had their memory altered by ZeroDark.
Gary Wilson Christina’s former boyfriend is a detective investigating the deaths of several teenaged boys. The deaths have several things in common: the boys exhibited erratic behavior, they knew each other, took a memory enhancing supplement, they had a connection to Reggie Horne, and someone they referred to as Sack Man. Who is Sack Man, a video game character or a murderer. When Wilson and Christina discover her case is connected the dead teenagers, they begin working together. The closer they get to the answers the more danger they court.
As I stated earlier this book is confusing if you haven’t read Adverse Effects. I found Christina a so-so character throughout the first half of the book. Once I got to know her better she made more sense. I liked the touch of romance between Wilson and Christina. I also like D.B. although she was an assassin, I liked her she was a victim. Wilson was a strong character and very likable. The third book in this series is The Memory Thieves.

This was so interesting! I loved the main character having 2 identities and then the other stuff having to do with the teens and what they are going through with a certain particular drug. Near the end it got so full of chaos I was like woahhh. Loved it! 4 stars for me

Everybody against everybody and no one knows it. Honestly though, that’s almost how this book feels. There are so many weird twists and turns that bring two separate plots together into one big one. Plus, there’s an underlying romance story that’s actually pretty cute too.

🌀Synopsis
As a way to get over her past, Cristina Silva is ready to take on a new job. She’s also trying to get over her ex- boyfriend too, so a fresh start is just the ticket.

Until she gets a call from an FBI agent that someone out there is killing people from her past. Now she’s watching her every move and has multiple run ins with multiple people trying to attack her.

Meanwhile her ex-boyfriend is finding murdered teens who are running from a guy they call Sack Mann. When he meets up with Christina again the two get talking and realize both of the things they are dealing with are connected.

Sack Mann is killing kids because he’s trying to come up with an anecdote for memory loss. Something Sack Mann, Christina, and her assistant “Victoria” all have in common. Each person has their own goal and some are reporting to others too. When they all end up in the same room the truth, well most of it, comes out.

A suspenseful mystery that had me engaged right up until the very end.
It brought together some unexpected story lines that I didn't think were related but it all ties together nicely at the end.
I really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it.

Title: Toxic Effects
Series: The Memory Thieves #2
Author: Joel Shulkin M.D.
Audiobook Narrator: January LaVoy
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing Audiobook
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: September 20, 2022
My Rating: 4.2 Stars!

Zero Dark’ is back!!
Soon after Neuropsychiatrist Cristina Silva began her new job at the Longwood Memory Center, Cristina receives a phone call that she is in danger as an assassin killing anyone connected to ReMind. .
Another story line is Cristina’s ex-boyfriend, Police Detective Gary Wilson, who is investigating the deaths of local bright teens. These teens are not known to use drugs. However, before their deaths they had been exhibiting bizarre behavior. ~ Detective Wilson believes there is more to this and perhaps ’Sack Man’ is not just a video game character but something much more.
Another young man, Reggie Horne, is clearly in the middle and knows more than he is telling. He is a young black teen and is fearful that anything he says will be used against him.
I liked the Wilson parts of this story more than Christina and her alter ego but I was curious about ‘DB’ - Dama Branca, who like Christina, was robbed of her memory by Zero Dark.
The story had me hooked ~ could not put it down!! I liked it more than I thought I would.. I had concerns that the medical terms were going to be a bit much but since this is a bit Sci Fi the terms worked out great!!
It was a ride that I enjoyed.
~ I am ready for more Christina and Wilson in “The Memory Thieves #3”
Personal Note: I not a fan of profanity and hopeful there will be less in Book #3. Are you laughing?
Okay I know I am the only person alive who believes a sentence doesn’t have to contain an explicative!

I am a big audiobook fan and January LaVoy is one of my favorites. She always does a wonderful job in performing all the characters.

Want to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing Audiobook for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for September 20, 2022