What We Remember

De: Michael Thomas Ford

Narrado por: Blake Somerset

Every family has a hidden story - even the perfect ones. In this suspenseful and deeply moving novel, Michael Thomas Ford propels us beyond smiling holiday photographs and beloved anecdotes to explore the complex ties within one family - and between two very different brothers whom catastrophe will either unite or divide forever....

On the morning James McCloud, a Seattle district attorney, gets a call from his sister, he senses his own long-buried family history is about to be dragged into the light. James's father, Daniel, a police officer, disappeared eight years ago. Now his body has been found. James always believed his father committed suicide. But the evidence leaves no doubt: Daniel was murdered.

James immediately returns to Cold Falls, New York, to be with the rest of his family. Among them is his brother, Billy, twenty-one, gay, and even more troubled than James remembers. James was always the golden child, Billy the disappointment. Time has not healed their differences, but events may drastically change their roles. For when James's high school ring is discovered with Daniel's body, he becomes the prime suspect. And as the truth emerges, piece by piece, Billy finds himself amid a swirl of secrets and lies powerful enough to decide his brother's fate, threaten yet another life, and destroy the bonds that still remain....

©2010 Michael Thomas Ford (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Keeps you guessing till the very end.

The story line is great. Keeps you guessing who did it. As the story goes on, each character seems to have a reason for the finger to be pointed on them with good reason.

False Advertising! This is not a gay story!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

It was an okay easy read, kind of on the level of a Lifetime movie. However, the cover shows two cute guys in their undies, suggesting this is another one of Ford's brilliant gay novels. NOT SO!! There is only one gay character, a woebegone, lost druggie. Really? So disappointing! After "Last Summer," and "The Road Home," two wonderful books featuring complex, personable and admirable gay characters, this book, centering on two straight families, comes off like a bait-and-switch scam. I did finish it, and it was entertaining enough, but not at all what I was hoping for!

What did you like best about this story?

It has some good plot twists. But characters are rather arch.

Did Blake Somerset do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

His characters are sketched out compared to the well-drawn characters truly great novels.

Could you see What We Remember being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

It could be a network TV movie, but doesn't have the edge of current hit TV dramas.

Any additional comments?

If you're looking for a love story featuring gays like the pretty boys on the cover, look elsewhere!! Try Ford's excellent gay stories, like "Last Summer," and "The Road Home."

Slightly racist

This author had the audacity to speak on a cultural issue. There was an almost a comical and racial joke made about Black peoples naming their children with silly names.
That is an issue that should be addressed but not in a disparaging way.
This author does not have the right to put down a group of people .
It was rude and incredibly offensive.
He is not mention names like: river, poppy, moon unit, Kiefer etc
I will not read him because of his snide obnoxious attempt of joking at the expense of an entire group of people… Vulgar. He’s quite common actually.

A good story, but not a M2M romance

A well composed tale of family secrets and lies. If you're looking for a M2M romance, this isn't your book. True, Billy, the wash out youngest sibling is gay, and features prominently in the story, but mostly he's living recklessly in a world of drugs, booze and anonymous sex. He finds his redemption in an unlikely and equally dysfunctional small town victim and right at the end, there's a hint of a happily ever after.

Great read !!!!

Would you listen to What We Remember again? Why?

Yes, I have already started listening again

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

This book was a little confusing at first with the writer jumping back and forth from the early 80's and then to the early 90's. Stick with it and you will find the book well worth the listen. Interesting plot with many suspects

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator gets on my nerves but I have to deal with him since he reads most of Fords works. He needs to be replaced, very dull voice.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

"Family Secrets"

Wasn't at ALL what I was expecting!

And I don't mean that in one of those "This is a happy surprise!" kind of ways.

This book was one big incestuous mess! Even if there wasn't any real incest going on, every coupling seemed dirty and wrong.

Very few characters had any redeeming qualities. The plot tried much to hard to lead you to believe others were the guilty party. And the jumping around? Gawd, my head hurt!

And the ages were all so unbelievable! Who makes Sheriff/Chief in their early twenties???

And why was this under Gay Novels? Because the author has other actual Gay Novels? Or because of one gay character who does little more than have a short bathroom tryst and one BJ with another horrible character? I've never read another Gay Novel with so little Gay in it. And I've read A LOT of them.

But the WORST part, the absolute worst, is how in the heck is this in the same "series" as The Road Home? The two books have NOTHING in common! I'm a little worried to read Last Summer now. If it's completely different than the first two, I'm going to have trouble trusting this author. And since I have purchased a crap load of his books based on enjoying The Road Home, I'm going to be cranky if that is the only likable one.

The narration was good though, I will give it that.