Memory Man Introduces a New Series from David Baldacci

The classic superhero narrative is pliable, and easily shaped, by an effective writer, into a more literary form. Few thriller writers are as effective as David Baldacci. In his new novel Memory Man, Baldacci has created one of the most memorable new characters in recent memory in former professional athlete and police detective Amos Decker, star of this first novel in a new series. Though on the surface, he might sound like just another police detective, he’s essentially a realistic superhero.
The origin story
Every good superhero has an origin story, and Decker is no exception. A talented-but-unexceptional football player, he managed by sheer guts to make the NFL—only to be knocked out of the game, and his whole life, on his first play, when he’s hit so hard he suffers a brain injury that leaves him with a perfect memory (he refers to as his mental DVR). Unable to play ball, he becomes a police detective, but comes home one night to find his family murdered—something his re-wired brain will never let him forget.
The superpowers
A perfect memory is a gift—and a curse. Destroyed by the loss of his family, Decker spirals into homelessness and suicidal thoughts until events are set in motion that lead him back to the fray, where he can use his unique mental powers to solve a series of new crimes—and possibly save himself in the process. Decker can remember every detail of anything he’s experienced, but still needs to know what he’s searching for, and the clues that will help him sift through his own memories.
The supervillain
Every superhero has to have a supervillain, ideally be a mirror of the hero, either a distorted image or a negative. As Amos Decker realizes his family’s murder is linked to a shooting massacre at the local high school nearly two years later, he slowly identifies the culprits behind a meticulous, horrifying revenge plan that seems focused solely on him. His enemy is someone who matches Decker in intelligence, abilities, and resolve. The chess game they play is thrilling and deadly, and finishes with an endgame that surprises Decker—and will shock you, too.
The allies
Every Superhero has his team of allies, folks that lack their own superpowers but contribute in ways both material and emotional. Decker begins Baldacci’s nail-biting story totally alone in the world, but over the course of the story his incredible mental abilities and dogged determination attract a small cadre of smart, capable people who come to care for him, have his back, and help him in his struggle to mete out justice and save some lives. They include an inexperienced, but determined young reporter; Decker’s old police partner; and an aggressive, overconfident FBI agent who starts off as an antagonist but slowly comes to respect our hero.
The moment of doubt
Baldacci is smart enough to know the secret of a superhero: he or she must always reach a valley in the story, a moment of supreme doubt where all seems lost. Decker’s is particularly dark, but it fits his story and his personality. As a reader, you’ll be white-knuckled during the quiet passage of Decker’s internal struggle, and one of the book’s great triumphs is that even though, at that point, there are many pages to go, you still won’t be 100 percent certain if Decker will come out of it.
Memory Man is a smart, fast-paced thriller with a modern sense of the world and the horrors it contains. It’s also an excellent character study, introducing us to Amos Decker, a man we shouldn’t like—a man who dislikes people and small talk, who misses social cues and can’t forget a single awful detail of the terrible things he’s seen—yet someone you’ll feel real affection for by the end of his story.