David Baldacci – Memory Man

Synopsis

Plagued by hyperthymesia, Amos would never forget the day he found his wife and daughter murdered at home. Despite remembering every detail, no memory helped him get any closer to narrowing down who killed them nor why. After almost 2 years of spiralling and becoming a shell of the man he used to be, another series of murders takes place as news spreads of a high school shooting. As Amos is called back into his life as a detective, he soon realises that his family’s murder and the school shooting are closely related

Likes

I hadn’t heard of hyperthymesia nor synthesia before reading this book. The author cleverly used these rare conditions to create a rather complex character who was able to make connections that others couldn’t and seemed to have a sixth sense for finding clues. Similarly to the other characters, I could never tell which direction the story would go in as Amos was always several steps ahead

Although I didn’t like Decker’s character, he made for a great protagonist. He was smart, proactive, and relentless when he had something to work with. Despite the numerous setbacks he had in catching the murderer, he remained unwavering in his resolve. His lack of a personal life made solving the case his sole aim to the point that his desperation in finding who took his family from him was almost palpable. Decker did absolutely everything he could to end the nightmare, even if it meant putting his own life at risk

Dislikes

Decker was an intelligent man, especially due to his condition, allowing him to better pick up on things that others would not have been able to. However, although I enjoy being caught off guard and pleasantly surprised by a good twist, I wish that the clues were more apparent as I couldn’t always understand the links that were made so it felt like I was chasing Decker along with the other characters. For example, I was a bit confused by how Decker knew that Stevie and Belinda would be monitoring the ‘Justice Denied’ website and would message him. I felt as much out of the loop as Lancaster did at times, but I may just have to read this a second time to get a better understanding

I was quite underwhelmed when I found out the reason that Decker was a target. I understand that Belinda had an awful life with no one to help her, not even from those whose job it was to help those in need, so her resentment towards police officers was justified. And I understand that she was also manipulated by Stevie, but killing Amos’ family and carrying out the school shooting just because he said that he wanted to be a police officer when asked seemed like a bit of a reach to warrant all of this. I just wish there had been a more compelling reason behind Belinda’s hatred towards Amos as I wasn’t convinced, especially as the two weren’t familiar with one another at the institute so although she may not have liked what he said, it also doesn’t make sense that Belinda would take his career ambitions as a slight against her

General Thoughts

Stevie was a fantastic actor! I really thought that he was clueless so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was actually the one calling the shots from the beginning. Although he was a terrible man, he was integral in making the story interesting

Belinda really had it rough in life. She had no one in her corner, not even her parents, and was a victim of abuse and ostracisation. I’m not surprised that she went down the path she did and although she was an adult who made her own decisions, I can’t help but sympathise with her based on what she had been through

The FBI wanting to hire Jamison as a consultant just baffled me. Although she helped some in catching the culprit, I don’t think that her contributions were so great that it warranted this kind of accolade

Jamison and Bogart telling Decker that he would never have to be alone again was such a small thing to say but had a big impact. Decker had been solitary for a long time, so I’m glad there were people who were willing to be and stay by his side as even though it’s not something he’d express, it was something that he needed

Rating

Memory Man had a great protagonist who although I may not have liked, I still wanted to see him succeed. The author did well at capturing his desperation in finding the killer and using his condition to make for interesting storylines. However, I often felt out of the loop as I couldn’t keep up with Decker and the clues which made it difficult to engage as much as I would have liked and affected how much I enjoyed it

Based on this, I would give this book a 2.5/5

Would I recommend?

I unfortunately would not recommend this book as I didn’t find that I was able to enjoy it very much. I like a thriller/whodunnit book, but I felt that there were so many clues to the point that it got a bit convoluted and I found myself just wanting the story to conclude a bit sooner. However, as there was quite a lot going on in this book, I may just need to read it again to better appreciate it and pick up on the things I may have missed

Favourite Quotes

‘You got nothing to lose because you got nothing left’

‘In his mind progress was always measured in inches, especially when you didn’t have yards or even feet of success to show off’

‘His shoes were polished, but he’d missed the backs. They were scuffed, which came much closer to the man’s actual nature. He was scuffed too. And he only wanted to impress on the way in, not on the way out’

‘Decker’s first plan was to just keep walking, but the woman gave every indication that she would simply follow him out of the building, down the street, and into his next life if need be’

‘”And we’ll be back tomorrow. And you won’t be by yourself ever again. I think you’ve been alone long enough”’