Memory Man, by David Baldacci

In this novel, Mr. Baldacci introduces a new hero -- or perhaps reluctant hero -- in Amos Decker. The backstory: Decker is a former football player who suffered a severe brain injury in a game. That injury causes him to have a unique memory; he never forgets. Anything. Decker became a policeman, and a detective. But the brutal slayings of his family pushed him into a down spin since he can never forget what he saw at the crime scene. He left the police department, became homeless and let his physical health and hygiene deteriorate.

In this novel Decker cleans up just a very little bit, but enough to participate in solving a number of murders.

At first I was skeptical about this novel, in that it felt as though too much was revealed on the book jacket. And that it would be difficult to make this interesting. I was mistaken. The novel is very interesting. And the fact that there was no magical recovery to Decker's miserable situation was a positive.

Highly recommended. And I look forward to the next book in what appears to be a series featuring this main character.


Memory Man (Amos Decker series)