We read Memory Man by David Baldacci for our Mystery Book Club selection for May.
It is the first in the Memory Man series featuring Amos Decker.
It is the first in the Memory Man series featuring Amos Decker.
"The first time was on the gridiron. A big, towering athlete, he was the only person from his hometown of Burlington ever to go pro. But his career ended before it had a chance to begin. On his very first play, a violent helmet-to-helmet collision knocked him off the field for good, and left him with an improbable side effect--he can never forget anything.
The second time was at home nearly two decades later. Now a police detective, Decker returned from a stakeout one evening and entered a nightmare--his wife, young daughter, and brother-in-law had been murdered.
His family destroyed, their killer's identity as mysterious as the motive behind the crime, and unable to forget a single detail from that horrible night, Decker finds his world collapsing around him. He leaves the police force, loses his home, and winds up on the street, taking piecemeal jobs as a private investigator when he can.
But over a year later, a man turns himself in to the police and confesses to the murders. At the same time a horrific event nearly brings Burlington to its knees, and Decker is called back in to help with this investigation. Decker also seizes his chance to learn what really happened to his family that night. To uncover the stunning truth, he must use his remarkable gifts and confront the burdens that go along with them. He must endure the memories he would much rather forget. And he may have to make the ultimate sacrifice."
This was my first Baldacci novel. Yes I had heard of him but never had the chance to pick up one of his books. There was a couple of others in the MBC group that had never read any of his books either, so I didn't feel as bad.
What we thought: Everyone liked the book. There were a couple of people that had been in a reading slump, nothing they started appealed to them and they put the books down. Memory Man though, turned them around. They read the whole book, and proceeded to get the next books in the series. Two people that had read the entire series previously, has ordered all the books again from the library. One person felt Amos had Sherlockian qualities in his power of deduction. One said Amos wasn't at all like Sherlock, using mostly his incredible memory. We talked about the memory Amos had - hyperthymesia; "a condition that leads people to be able to remember an abnormally large number of their life experiences in vivid detail." I had seen a couple of shows on the brain and was aware of this and also how some people see colors with things such as music. Marilu Henner, the actress, has this. A few members didn't realize this was a real thing, and were happy to hear it wasn't made up. Many of us joked before the meeting how we don't have hyperthymesia. (In fact I had to keep going back and forth to get the correct spelling. lol) All said it was a quick read, fast paced.
In case you didn't know much about David Baldacci, like me, here is a link to his website and the other 43 books he has written.
The fifth book in the Memory man series just came out - Redemption.
https://www.davidbaldacci.com/
I'm glad that this was good book pick, Gayle. My husband had read it and suggested it for us. I think he's read all of the books up to now and he probably has the new one on audio. He listens to them, I think.
ReplyDeleteThe group read a book by T. Jefferson Parker called THE FALLEN a few years ago. The main character had synesthesia and I think that was the first time many of us had heard of that condition. Not sure if you were with us at that time. Anyway, this memory condition is interesting too, right? Thanks again for subbing!