Memory Man
2015
- homicide
- life change events
- police
- murder victims' families
- photographic memory
- investigation
- memory
- fiction
- murder
- school shootings
The story
Amos Decker's life changed forever-- twice. The first time was on the gridiron. A big, towering athlete, he was the only person from his hometown of Burlington ever to go pro. But his career ended before it had a chance to begin. On his very first play, a violent helmet-to-helmet collision knocked him off the field for good, and left him with an improbable side effect -- he can never forget anything. The second time was at home nearly two decades later. Now a police detective, Decker returned from a stakeout one evening and entered a nightmare -- his wife, young daughter, and brother-in-law had been murdered. His family destroyed, their killer's identity as mysterious as the motive behind the crime, and unable to forget a single detail from that horrible night, Decker finds his world collapsing around him. He leaves the police force, loses his home, and winds up on the street, taking piecemeal jobs as a private investigator when he can. But over a year later, a man turns himself in to the police and confesses to the murders. At the same time a horrific event nearly brings Burlington to its knees, and Decker is called back in to help with this investigation. Decker also seizes his chance to learn what really happened to his family that night. To uncover the stunning truth, he must use his remarkable gifts and confront the burdens that go along with them. He must endure the memories he would much rather forget. And he may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.
What it’s like
Grief-stricken, sharply observed, and relentlessly tense: a procedural that lives inside one man's head, where every detail from a terrible night stays fixed in perfect recall. The prose is brisk and plain-spoken, built from short declaratives, flat small-town Ohio settings of diners, back roads, and cold station-house corridors, with the sensory texture of rain on cars, fluorescent hallways, and the heavy quiet of a family home that has gone still. Pacing is propulsive, with chapters that cut quickly between present-day investigation and remembered fragments, so the reading feels like a clock ticking. Tone sits in a dark, gritty register, steady rather than lurid, with an undercurrent of dread. Its central arc follows a damaged man slowly, painfully rebuilding purpose and connection after catastrophic loss. Intensity is moderate to high: multiple murders, including a child, are described with restraint but without softening; there is a school shooting, violence in a football collision, and some profanity; no sexual content, and gore stays limited. Best for readers who enjoy a binge-able thriller with an emotionally weighty protagonist, and less suited to anyone wanting something gentle or cozy.
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