Memory Man

I was not sure I will like this novel - the whole idea of the changed brain of Amos sounded as a gimmick. And then it somehow crept on me and I ended up liking it a lot more than I expected.

Amos Decker lost everything twice - he lost his career and his personality when he got flattened on the gridiron (but he got hyperthymesia and synesthesia as a result (so he cannot forget anything and he sees numbers and colors everywhere). And then, just when his life seems perfect again, with a wife, a daughter and a career in the police, fate strikes again and his whole family is slaughtered. And this second loss makes him throw his life away, lose his job and house and join the ranks of the homeless. By the time we meet him again, 16 months show more after the murders, he had cleaned up a bit, became a private detective and managed to start living again... somewhat anyway.

And then a shooter comes to the local high school and kills a lot of people on the same day when someone admits to the killing of Amos's family. He ends up in the middle of the investigation - partially because he is asked to help and partially because the killer leaves messages for him - drawing lines between unrelated events and making sure everyone realizes that Amos is the key to the whole thing.

And the chase is on - through more bodies and bad choices, through history and bad memories.

When it was published, it was not advertised as the start of a new series but since then Baldacci decided to make it a series. And I will be curious to see what happens in a case that is not tied to Amos Decker's past. show less

Memory Man by David Baldacci really clicked with me. I have read a few of his books in this series before, but this one tied everything. Also part of it is set in Indiana and he got the setting including the roads correct.

The most important reason is that although I am not familiar with synesthesia (a neurological condition, I am very familiar with hyperthymesia. My brother has severe autism. He remember word for word, conversations that occurred over 40 years ago. I know that it may seem like a gift but it can be a curse. The main character, Amos Decker, has this too. It is a great attribute for a detective but is very unpleasant when you want to forget horrible things that happened, words said to you or about you. There is much more show more to hyperthymesia than remembering conversations but you can explore that on your own.

This story recalls the major events on Amos Decker's life and tell when he had those those not so good "gifts". You can read read or listen to this book without having read the others in the series. I was very excited to listen to this book. Now I am thinking I want to go back and listen to the other books in this series. The story is complicated and fascinating and you are always deeply engaged when reading it. Outside of the main character, I was very impressed by the complexity of one of the killers.

This story is very credible for me personally because of my brother. I do not consider it gimmicky but instead greatly appreciate that he brought out the eternal pain that hyperthymesia can bring.

I highly recommend this book for all Amos Decker Series fans. show less

A Taut Mystery Solved by a Detective with an Unusual Gift/Curse

In a few reviews, I’ve criticized books for portraying memory as if it was video; you find the right episode and memory plays in vivid, accurate detail. For most of us, that’s not the case, not even close. But for Amos Decker, the protagonist of Memory Man, it is. As a result of a vicious hit on a football field, Decker develops a condition known as hyperthymesia – the ability to remember every detail of every minute of every day. So, when the book begins with the brutal murder of Decker’s brother-in-law, wife, and young daughter, the reader soon realizes how this gift is also a curse. The image of his slain family will never, ever leave his mind.

With the ability to show more replay events and compare them for inconsistencies and patterns, Decker had become a successful police detective. But with the murder of his family, he lost the will to do anything but subsist; that is, until a demented, serial killer came looking for him. Drawn into the investigation of a hideous crime ripped from today’s headlines, Decker begins replaying the incident in exacting detail, over and over. That part of the story might have become tedious had Baldacci not kept the twists and the murders coming. Additionally, Decker also lost much of his connection to humanity – his capability for empathy and sympathy – so almost everything he does and says is cryptic. Together, the twists, the action, and Decker’s obscure behavior keep the suspense high and the story flowing.

For the bulk of the book, I enjoyed the interplay of a taut mystery and the enhanced memory abilities of Amos Decker. But the mystery is solved several chapters before the book ends, the remainder plodding toward a somewhat predictable finale. While there is a final twist, it is deduced by Decker with the flimsiest of clues and serves to reveal the villain’s motive, which is a bit implausible. The journey was excellent; the destination, however, left something to be desired.

Overall, Memory Man is a great introduction to the series and to Amos Decker, a detective with an unusual gift/curse. For me, the mystery and how he solved it outweighed the final resolution, which is somewhat disappointing. show less

I can’t say that this is a new series by David Baldacci because the book lists it as a standalone, but the author would be a fool NOT to make this a series. It would be fresh and exciting with a ton of fascinating, quirky, hyper-smart characters. And with a mind like Mr. Baldacci’s and using this book as an example, the plotting and mysteries would be mind-boggling.

As trite as this is going to sound, this book had me riveted from the very first chapter and glued to my chair for the rest of the book. I haven’t read anything by this author in a very long time and I am very sorry that I haven’t kept up with him if this book is anything to go by.

The story-line was a unique one for me, as is said in the book description - Amos Decker show more could never forget anything. Not since dying twice the very first time he stepped onto a professional football field and into an extremely violent collision with another player. He ended up with hyperthymesia and syynesthesia (and I did have to look these up just to satisfy myself that they are real conditions of the brain!). Now he is a cop or more precisely a Detective for the town of Burlington and one night he enters his home and things will never be the same for him again…even more so than when he died twice.

16 months later -When something terrible happens at the town’s high school, Amos is called in by the police department to aid in this new case and from here Amos can try to put some of his life back together.

I have to admit for a little while I was worried about whom exactly the murder was. I was hoping that the author didn’t pull a Stephen King (The Dark Half). But I was wrong thank goodness, and when I found out the who and the why of it all, I was flabbergasted. The last couple of chapters are real eye openers, and will show you just how this book just screams to become a series. Actually, since the last chapter does set this up to be a series, so I hope the author does get the chance to do so.

This book actually gives you something to ponder; more than just the mystery…you may walk away wondering what YOUR life would be like if you could never forget the minutest detail of your life and all that passes by you.

You may finish this book, but as odd as this may sound, this book isn't finished with you. show less

Where to begin?

First, let me congratulate the author on giving readers a refreshing plot and an interesting and unusual central character.

Amos Decker is a man who had his life changed when a hard hit in his first pro football game resulted in a trauma that left him with the questionable gift of being able to remember everything. Although this would serve him well in police work, that same hit also affected his ability to connect to other people.

He met Cassie while recuperating from his injury, and somehow the two of them found a life together. They married, had a daughter, and Decker, with his remarkable memory, became an outstanding police officer and then detective. Things seemed to be coming together for him, but then his life was show more changed again.

He came home to find his wife and daughter brutally murdered, and his life crumbled around him.

Now, an ex-football player, ex-police officer, ex-detective, no longer a husband nor father, he lived in the streets, beaten low by the hard hits of fate.

When he finally decided to reenter the world, it was as a private investigator, handling enough small jobs to eat and keep a roof over his head.

Life might have gone on like that indefinitely except for the day when a man named Sebastian Leopold walked into a police station and confessed to the murders of his family.

Unable to stay away, Decker lied his way into the police station to talk to Leopold. The police station that day was unusually empty. Most of the officers had been dispatched to the high school where multiple kids and teachers had been shot by an unknown shooter.

With no obvious clues to the shooter's identity, Decker is asked to serve as a consultant on the case. As clues begin to emerge, it becomes obvious that the murder of his family is related to the murders of the victims at the high school.

How can these crimes be related? Who is trying to destroy Decker? What did he do in his past that angered a person enough to do this?

The process of solving these crimes and answering these questions is presented by a master. Just like peeling an onion, we're allowed a glimpse of each small clue as it is discovered, and layer by layer, the truth and answers are revealed.

Memory Man was unique, well-paced, and well written. I strongly recommend this book. show less

Amos Decker has had the best and the worst that life could offer. He was a pro football player, but during his first and only play as a pro, he suffered a hit that was so intense he died twice on the field. That hit left him with remarkable brain damage: he is now unable to forget anything. He coped with that super power, until the day he came home to find his daughter, his wife, and his brother-in-law all murdered. Now that image is as raw in his mind as the day he first saw them years ago. His life plummeted until he found himself jobless, homeless, and hopeless. Slowly, he pulled himself together just enough to maintain a semblance of a life. Then he gets word that the muderer of his family has confessed, and now his life again has show more purpose. Author David Baldacci has penned a suspenseful page turner raw with emotion and human failings. The characters are flawed in unusual ways; some are born that way, others made that way, and their struggles are evident in their behavior. But some turn to depravity, and suspense builds as the need for justice, or perhaps revenge, confronts the growing evil. Well written, this novel will have you racing through the pages. show less

Its a pretty intense book. Fast and twisted tale with twisted characters. I personally did not like the book being called "Memory man" as I did not find anything exceptionally impressive about Amos' memory. But the story is very gripping when it comes to investigations and that got me hooked. I liked the negative characters in the story as well because the author has chosen a rarely discussed topic.