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MEMORY MAN
by David Baldacci
Grand Central, April 2015
416 pages
$28.00
ISBN: 1455559822


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

MEMORY MAN, David Baldacci's new mystery novel, features an unlikely hero. In most thrillers by this author—as well as by other writers who specialize in this genre—the protagonist is a highly trained super agent of some sort, usually well built and irresistible to the beautiful women who both aid and sometimes thwart him. In this book, former Burlington police detective Amos Decker, our protagonist, is a big fat slob who eats poorly and does not care what anyone thinks about him. His ex-partner Mary Lancaster is described as an unattractive chain-smoker with a hand tremor. Decker does have one ability that makes him stand out, however. In his youth, he was badly injured in a football accident. The resulting head trauma left him with unusual abilities, including hyperthynesthesis, total recall of his life, and synesthesia, the ability to see events in colors.

As the story begins, Decker has basically given up on life and on himself. His wife and daughter had been murdered two years previously, and he does not know why he should go on living. The perpetrator of this vicious crime was never found, but now there appears to be a breakthrough in the case. When Lancaster seeks him out to give him this information, Decker is immediately drawn into the investigation. A homeless man named Sebastian Leopold had walked into the police precinct and confessed to the crime. Who this man really is and why he takes this action are mysteries. There is no evidence to link him to the crimes, and when Leopold decides to revoke his confession, there is no way to keep him locked up.

Before Leopold disappears, he reveals some clues about the possible motive for the murders. He refers to something that happened at a 7-Eleven. It soon becomes apparent that both Decker and those close to him have become the targets of an unknown person whom he has slighted in the past. This person is obsessed with destroying him, but even with his amazing memory, Decker cannot remember doing anything to anyone that would have resulted in such a hateful grudge. We admire Decker's analytical mind as he works to solve the case, struggling to put together the strange clues that the killer has left for him. Yet we fear for his life, since it is clear that he might risk it for the truth about his family.

This book may be a stand alone by the author, or it may be the introduction of a new series starring the unlikely Detective Decker. Baldacci leaves us with the intriguing possibility of a sequel. As a reader, I would enjoy following this odd character as he delves into further crimes and, perhaps, gets back into shape.

§ Anne Corey is a writer, poet, teacher and botanical artist in New York's Hudson Valley.

Reviewed by Anne Corey, April 2015

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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