Review: Memory Man

Memory Man by David Baldacci
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This review is also found on Goodreads! :)
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I wasn't really planning on reading Memory Man any time soon. Yes, it was on my to-read list but, way down. I started reading this out of boredom during a four-hour flight and it was the only unread book that had a synopsis that's remotely interesting on my Kobo that time.

The book was...okay. It doesn't fall short of the gruesome and graphic details expected of murder scenes, massacres, and thrillers, but this "mystery" was a mess. The explicitness delivered a believable scene creeping me out when I'm alone and brimming with anxiety, but beyond that, I found the book too laid out.

The clues are all so...manufactured and coincidental. Even more so, Decker's ability to form educated guesses that hit right on. Despite him being a savant, his ability to remember things but still not see things is just frustrating.Everything--even the smallest thing as a barman driving an electric car who leaves his keys occasionally, coincidentally fits with Decker's assumptions. Instead of being believable and putting me in awe, it struck me odd how Decker with a brain as fired and fried as his still have large lapses. Despite the constant reminder all throughout the book of his "ability", he, apparently, cannot outsmart two idiots. And yes idiots, they sure are. I've wondered at the end of the story how these two shits got away with so much when they are both so stupid (one a deranged savant, and the other an equally crazy coked-out bastard), gullible, and easily fooled.

I thought he and Lancaster were good partners. This wasn't shown clearly enough in the book. Lancaster asked a lot of questions without bothering to think for herself. If this is part of the dynamics of their "great" partnership--she asking all the questions and does no thinking and he, giving all the answers--then it sucks. Whatever greatness there is in her skill as a detective, none of it showed in this book. Instead, Baldacci decided to inject all the gutsy-ness Lancaster missed out on a reporter--Jamison. And even her character lacked potential beyond the stupid bravery and nosiness. Another irk was Bogart. Bogart is an FBI agent. Really? Bogart, who falls apart so ridiculously easily, is an FBI agent? Just...laughable. He's the FBI agent, but other than his FBI resources, of course he has to be absolutely useless in this story, right? Because this isn't about Bogart; this is about the acquired savant, Decker. So Decker has to be the smartest in this book and everyone else has to look stupid and useless.

The biggest motive behind the killings made the littlest sense possible. It was explained through a--surprise, surprise!-hero-to-villain confrontation when the villain decides to gloat or stupidly answer the hero's questions. Despite the killer's method, Lafferty's death looked random and out-of-place even as the motive was explained.

You'd think after all I've written above, I would've rated this book lower. But I can't because the writing is still good, and Amos Decker is still one interesting character, even if a little off-kilter. Yes, I would still read The Last Mile (the next on Amos Decker's series) but only to give it another chance. If that one turns out the same or worse than this book, then I wouldn't really bother with the next ones on the series.

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