Memory Man by David Baldacci
Amos Decker’s life underwent two drastic changes.
On the football field, the first time. He was a large, tall athlete and the only Burlington native to ever play in the NFL. But before it could start, his career was over. He was permanently removed from the field on his first play due to a violent helmet-to-helmet collision, which also had the improbable side effect of making him forget everything.
Two decades later, the second encounter took place at home. Decker, who was by this time a police detective, returned from a stakeout one evening to discover his wife, small daughter, and brother-in-law had all been killed.
Memory Man by David Baldacci
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Decker finds his life imploding around him as his family is destroyed, the killer of his family is as enigmatic as the reason for the crime, and he is unable to forget even the slightest detail of that terrible night. He quits the police department, loses his house, and ends up living on the streets while working irregularly as a private detective when he can.
Yet, a man turns himself into the police and confesses to the killings more than a year later. At the same time, Decker is recalled to assist with this inquiry when a tragic incident nearly drags Burlington to its knees. Decker seizes the opportunity to find out what actually transpired to his family that evening. He must make use of his extraordinary gifts and bear the difficulties that come with them in order to discover the shocking truth. The memories he would much prefer to forget must be endured by him. He might even be forced to provide the ultimate sacrifice.
Memory Guy Amos is a bizarre beast of a man, completely dissimilar from the private eye characters that you find in the majority of books in this category. Amos is 6 feet 5 inches tall, weighs a massive 25 stone, and has essentially let himself go lately. He resides in a little flat inside a dilapidated hotel. He was a former police investigator who left the force after discovering his wife and daughter had been brutally killed when he got home one evening. The motive behind their deaths is unknown, and the assailant has never been apprehended.
When he was younger, Amos played professional football, but a horrible brain injury he suffered on the field ended his career. He was discovered to have hyperthymesia, which means he has a nearly flawless memory and never forgets anything, throughout his rehabilitation. He has experienced both positive and negative impacts from this talent. The only drawback to this condition is that he finds it difficult to relate to others and exhibits little empathy toward them, frequently coming off as rude.
This was the first Amos Decker book, and it immediately drew you into the world and history of the protagonist. With the use of this, he created a scenario involving a school shooting and connected it to Decker’s family’s passing, making it easy for you to become engrossed in the story and anxious to learn the answers.
It was encouraging to see that there is a beautifully developed plotline that would tie Amos and a few of the other important characters into the next book. The storyline was well-paced, and the supporting characters were intriguing and well-written.
