Suspense

Title: Memory Man

Author: David Baldacci

Hardcover: 405 Pages

Publisher: Grand Central Publisher (2015)

Language: English

Genre: Suspense

Summary:

 Amos Dekker's life drastically changed twice in his short 42 years on this earth. The first time happened at the age of twenty-two when he took a massive hit on a football field that knocked him unconscious.  When he awoke from the comma, Amos discovered he developed unusual cognitive and perception abilities as a result from his brain injuries.  To help him adapt to his new eidetic memory and synethesia, (the ability to see emotions in color), Amos was sent to a special facility outside of Chicago where he encountered other individuals with unique disabilities.  Once released, Amos moved back to Burlington, Pennsylvania and joined the police force and settled down with his wife and child.  Amos earned the respect and admiration of his fellow officers by solving difficult cases through his ability to see details in his investigations that others would miss.

Everything was going great until the day death entered his house and took his brother-in-law, wife and child with him.  The murders destroyed everything that Amos held dear in life.  Unable to cope, Amos' life went spiraling out of control to the point where he found himself without a job and living in a dingy hotel.  He supplemented his income by working as a private investigator, until the day when a mass shooting occurred at the local high school. Dekker found himself embroiled in the investigation when it was discovered that the gun used in the killing spree was the very same one that was used to kill his family.  Following the clues the killer left to taunt him, Dekker was on a mission to find the person behind these attacks and find justice for the victims.

Genre: Suspense

The story begins with the ordinary life of Amos Dekker. The story hooks the reader in by describing the debilitating injury that occurred in his early adulthood which gave Dekker unique cognitive abilities that would eventually propel his career into law enforcement.  The reader is hooked again in the story when Dekker comes home from an ordinary day on the job to find his family murdered.  Dekker becomes frustrated that his eidetic memory fails to deduce who could be the killer and why he was the target. 

The tension continues to build and the story moves quicker as more people are placed in danger and the immediacy to find the killer accelerates.  The hero gains knowledge to the possible killer as he interviews different characters and travels to different locations to unravel the clues. The story unfolds quickly, leaving the reader engrossed in the story from beginning to end.  The main character is able to surround himself with key allies that help with the investigation.  The story eventually unfolds as the villain's motivations are explained, thus leading to the inevitable confrontation with the protagonist at the conclusion of the book. As with most suspense novels, the hero triumphs over evil and lives to solve other cases.

Series:  Amos Dekker

1. Memory Man (2015)

2. The Last Mile (2016)

3. The Fix (2017)

Relevant Fiction:

 A Window into Time by Peter Hamilton

Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs

Mind Reel by Unter Grimschrund

Relevant Non-Fiction:

 A Different Kind of Mind: Growing up with an Unusual Memory by Babe Burke

Are You Living Under the Jackfruit Tree by Shannon Panzo

Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia by Richard E. Cytowic