Memory Man by David Baldacci is the first novel in the Amos Decker series. It was first published in 2015 and this is the first novel I have read by Baldacci. I really like the main character, Amos Decker. I think his backstory is fascinating and the author handles it consistently and entertainingly. I was pretty much onboard with this story through half of the book. But then the criminal element got too bizarre and wonky, which I don’t like. I am already suspending disbelief to accept the fantastic abilities and story of the main character. But when the author starts expecting me to believe all sorts of outlandish and really demented things, it feels like maybe he is taking my suspension of disbelief for granted. Most novels have some concept or segment that demands a lot of patience or willing to believe, but was too far.
A couple of muders and a school shooting were enough. This is one reason I dislike many crime novels…. the crimes all turn into massive extremes (which seems silly to say). I guess what I mean is, when the body count keeps going up, and there’s already been the massacre of a family and a school shooting, well, now I feel like the author is just piling on outrageously. The body count was just jumping up nearly in every chapter for awhile and I got annoyed with this. It always feels, when I read contemporary crime novels, that the authors feel the more murders the better and when they do not know how to shore up a plot point or make an interesting clue – they just set up a murder scene. It feels a bit cheap.
Nothing about the not-good-guys was redeemable or even, really, believable. Beyond that, certain details were even more annoying – the character Sebastian Leopold, for one. So much stereotyping and eye-rolling details about this character. Literally, when Decker explains (while duct taped and under threat) the history of Leopold and he lets us all in on Leopold’s ethnicity and previous whereabouts, it was difficult not to chuck the book – but I was almost finished with the thing, anyway. But of course. Of course he spent time in that country. Shoddy, cheap writing.
Now, Amos Decker’s “thing” is that he has a great memory. Hyperthymesia. This is probably a pretty decent condition particularly for detectives and cops (Cp. the TV show Monk (2002-2009)) A lot of the novel the reader, very much like Decker’s partners and fellow law enforcement officials, is just sitting there staring at Decker, waiting for him to remember/spot something. Now, I read crime novels, but I do not want to actually join the FBI. However, I do not want to hear elevator music while the star of the show is having a long reverie about clues. Somehow, though Baldacci was really consistent in his treatment of the character, he needs to also keep the reader involved during Decker’s many moments of mental effort.
The last chapter of the novel, after all the resolution, was interesting because I did not see that coming – I guess many readers probably did. I want to know what happens next to Amos Decker, because like I said, he is an interesting character. So I will probably read the next in the series. I am just disappointed in the outrageousness of this storyline in particular.
2 stars
AQ's Reviews 