Review: Memory Man by David Baldacci (Goodreads Author)

Memory Man by David Baldacci
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Whew…this was pretty intense!!

Memory Man is the 1st book in David Baldacci’s new thriller series and introduces one of the most offbeat characters, Amos Decker, whose injuries suffered in a football game ended not only his career but also resulted in him developing hyperthymesia and synesthesia disorders, which gives him the ability to see time as pictures, able to count in colors and to forget nothing in his head.

Coping with these abilities as best he can, his life is shattered when his wife and young child are brutally murded for no apparent reason. Unable to deal with his grief and desolation, he resigns from the police force, living in the streets and barely making a living as a private PI, not caring about his appearance…grossly-overweight, disheveled, lonely and heartbroken, living day by day.

When a man confesses to the murder of his family, Amos Decker is determined to get involved. Within a few days following the confession, a mass shooting and massacre at the local high school that he had been one of the students, he’s asked to help in the investigation by his former partner, Detective Mary Lancaster, who is in charge of both investigations. An unexpected breakthrough links both of the killings of his family and the school.

The information of Amos side-effects from his injuries, which I had never heard about, made some interesting reading. How he processed his thoughts and findings in his head was riveting stuff. Although there was a lot of repetition about it which I skimmed over a few times. Pretty scary when we watch how Amos deals with everyday things in his life…he almost lives in a world of his own! One minute he and Mary are discussing something and he stops and walks away without saying a word to her.

The story moves pretty fast, from one place to another, finding people connected to Amos’s life…because we soon find out that both the crimes have something to do with him. I also found some parts of the plots and some of the characters, especially who the villains turn out to be, a bit far-fetched and tad unbelievable.

I enjoyed this book but I felt it was a bit too long. And I am certainly going to read the next in the series.

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