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Memory Man  By  cover art

Memory Man

By: David Baldacci
Narrated by: Ron McLarty
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Publisher's summary

With more than 110 million copies of his novels in print, David Baldacci is one of the most widely read storytellers in the world. Now he introduces a startling, original new character: a man with perfect memory who must solve his own family's murder.

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 more than 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.

Memory Man will stay with you long after the final tick.

©2015 David Baldacci (P)2015 Hachette Audio

What listeners say about Memory Man

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Decent book, bad narration

Would you try another book from David Baldacci and/or Ron McLarty?

I like Baldacci, but I'll stick with print. McLarty sounds half-drunk throughout, and there are poorly-spliced edits where he sounds completely different. And lest one think he did the whole narration himself, rest assured that Orlagh Cassidy is along for the ride, as usual for a Baldacci novel. I hate the disjointed nature of the dual narration. It sucks. I will stay away from the author until the narration changes.

Would you recommend Memory Man to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, I would tell them to read the paper version. Narration is bad. Plot is somewhat interesting, but it's poorly constructed.

How could the performance have been better?

Use one narrator, and let McLarty ride off into the sunset. He sounds terrible. Cassidy is no real help. We're listening to a book, and I'm pretty sure we're all smart enough to know which lines are coming from a person of the opposite gender. It is very disjointed and jarring, since you can tell they weren't in the same recording studio.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No. It's an OK story, but too many details just seem to happen when they're conveniently needed to fill in the plot. If the main character never forgets anything, then how is it that it takes him 75% of the book to remember who the villain is?

Any additional comments?

Stick with paper. Used. Or at a library. Baldacci took an interesting plot concept and then just mailed it in so that he (or his ghost writer) could start yet another series.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Another great Baldacci novel

What did you love best about Memory Man?

The story

What other book might you compare Memory Man to and why?

All Baldacci books

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Ron McLarty?

Anyone but Ron McLarty. His stop go method of talking was really irritating.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

not up to Baldacci standard, awful narration

This book is disappointing after such high quality characters and stories as those featuring The Camel Club, King and Maxwell, Robie and Reel, and John Puller. I was expecting Baldacci to deliver another wonderful hero and exciting situations. He didn't. He must have had lunch with Jeffery Deaver. Deaver's trope is to dig up some obscure or arcane oddity, create a bad guy with it, and have Lincoln Rhyme puzzle it out.

I guess Baldacci recently discovered the neurological disorders of hyperthymesia (the inability to forget anything) and synesthesia (thinking in colors) and decided they would combine to make a cool main character rather than a villain. It IS a cool idea, but the story is not up to Baldacci's normal superb writing. The main problem is the inclusion of a former police partner for Amos Decker. Mary Lancaster is a straight-man partner, there merely so that Decker can have a foil against which to tell the story. It is supposed to read like partners figuring things out by talking the crime through, but ends up being Decker narrating to US what is going on while Lancaster asks moronic leading questions. She figures out nothing. She knows nothing. Well, that's not true--she knew that the shop teacher had quit his job some time earlier. That is all she knows or does in the whole story. She doesn't shoot and save the day like Reel does. She doesn't bust up a bar like Maxwell. She doesn't DO anything.

There is exactly one action scene. The other three or four are merely crime scenes where the action has already occurred. Other than that, the biggest action is Decker reviewing his incredible mental DVR to notice important details.

The police chief asks Decker to help them out even though Decker has been off the force for a number of years. Then the FBI comes in on the crimes and very politely asks Decker to help out. In what book have you ever heard of the FBI sweetly taking the back seat to the local cops, much less an ex-cop and a reporter! (The reporter has no more fleshing out than Lancaster; they could be alter-egos.)

Then there is the narration. These are the same pair who narrate the Robie and Reel books as well as one of the King and Maxwell and one or two of the John Puller. I don't like them for any of the books. Ron McLarty does better at changing voices and accents than Orlagh Cassidy does, but is still not enjoyable. In some places he sounds either drunk or as if he suffered a stroke-- his "d" sounds are mushy such as in "did" or "mind", and his "other than" was especially slurred. Cassidy tried to do an old lady voice but lasted only a sentence and a half. The women all sound the same unless they are poor slobs or waitresses, in which case they gain a Southern-ish accent.

The sound quality is sub-par for these days. You can clearly and obviously identify breaks between recording sessions, with significant hollowness or varying mike distance affecting the voice sound.

All in all, the book was a big disappointment. The premise is clever, and Amos Decker could become a great leading man, but Baldacci will need to do more than put his name on it to make it great.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Decker the Halls

Imaginative and well done. Who done it not as surprising as the why. Mystery chapter after chapter to finally reveal an outcome that was unpredictable but just as memorable as Decker's story

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

Very exciting book. I couldn't stop listening to the book. It was thrilling! !!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Different type character- baldacci storytelling!

Mr. Baldacci has given us different characters, but the same storytelling style which always is fantastic. I've looked forward to Memory Man for a while.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great read.

Great book as always. Just hope there is a series that comes out of this character.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best narrators

I enjoy all of Baldacci books but I love these narrators They tell the books stories wonderfully

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Exceptional

Very different, spellbinding. I hated to have it end and will look for more books continuing this intriguing story and carry of characters!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story - Narration not Great

What did you love best about Memory Man?

The story line was great - tragedy and then fortunately good will..

What did you like best about this story?

How it ended.. I can see a second book from this one - I am going to definitely look for it..

Would you be willing to try another one of Ron McLarty’s performances?

Actually - no I didn't really enjoy the narration. Too much like it was being read via a script.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No I struggled with the narration.

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