Memory Man

Memory Man (Amos Decker #1)
By: David Baldacci

In short: well-done suspenseful read! I didn’t read this book because I expected to be shocked by its ingenious and never-before-seen-characters-and-story as apparently some people did.

Sure, the main character had the memory and deduction of Sherlock Holmes and the backstory of more than one fictional detective but who cares? Sherlock Holmes is a good character and universally intriguing. Why not borrow what people will enjoy reading- normal characters just aren’t that interesting.

And I also don’t care if it was all ‘realistic.’ I’m pretty sure we read fiction books because we want to be entertained and intrigued, not because we want everything to be verifiable. I found this book well-done and really liked it.

I don’t like reading thrillers when we already know who the killer is, so I appreciated being led along by Decker’s finding of clues and slowly putting the pieces together. It made for a good page-turner and added to the complexity of the plot.

I liked Amos Decker better than Baldacci’s Camel Club books’ main character and the writing of this book better as well. It was also refreshing that the main character, working with the police, actually passed on all his findings right after finding them instead of being stupidly ‘heroic’ and pursuing his own personal vendetta (at least the majority of the time) as if the police are worthless.

Also the little things: bonus points for Baldacci for NOT describing a woman’s scent as strawberry shampoo or lavender- NO ONE smells like this!

Would recommend.