PRAISE FOR THE GREAT FORGETTING
“If you like your fiction tidy and predictable, look elsewhere.”—The Washington Post
“The Great Forgetting is blasphemous, riveting, insane, and glorious.”—Andy Howell (Copernicus), Ain’t It Cool News
“Renner is skilled at constructing intricate puzzles in his books....Here the author makes the most outlandish conspiracies plausible not only to his protagonist but to readers as well....The plot might be over the top, but it’s a fun ride.”—Library Journal
“Renner weaves conceivable means and motive through a variety of conspiracy theories and a reimagined reality to create a unique blend of genres. Anything but predictable.”—Courtney Ophoff, Booklist
“A fascinating concept . . . worth the read.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Packed with thrills.”—Publishers Weekly
"A tale you won’t forget."—New York Post
PRAISE FOR THE MAN FROM PRIMROSE LANE
“Ambitious and innovative...If you like your fiction tidy and predictable, look elsewhere.”—Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post
“Fascinating and unpredictable, with shades of Stephen King and H. P. Lovecraft as well as Douglas Adams, [The Man from Primrose Lane] never loses touch with the human story of loss, guilt and fate that is at its core.”—Laura Wilson, The Guardian
“The Man from Primrose Lane barrels along, fueled by Renner’s addictive storytelling....It’s quite the interesting ride.” —Robin Vidimos, The Denver Post
“[The Man from Primrose Lane] features superbly drawn characters and escalates into a genre-bending narrative (noir, sci-fi, and more) of thrills and twists. A great choice for readers who enjoyed Tana French’s In the Woods or any work by Philip K. Dick.”—Library Journal
“Brilliantly intricate...[with a] fantastic finish [and] compelling, interesting characters...I couldn’t put [The Man from Primrose Lane] down.”—Jessica Strider, SF Signal
2015-08-16
When a man returns home to care for his dying father, he's sucked into a vast conspiracy involving his estranged childhood best friend and a paranoid (or is he?) teenager at a mental hospital. History teacher Jack Felter wanted to leave his whole past behind in Franklin Mills, Ohio—his first love, Samantha; his one-time closest confidant, Tony; his tangled family relationships—but when his father, nicknamed "The Captain," spirals further into dementia, Jack leaves his new life in Cleveland to help his sister, Jean, with caregiving duties. The Captain, a former pilot and Vietnam vet, is lost in a fog of wartime memories, and Jack must contend with his father's diminishing capacity without the help of Tony, who disappeared three years before. A long-ago betrayal split the best friends and Sam apart, but Jack's feelings for Sam burn hot, and he agrees to help her find Tony; his search leads him to Tony's job at Haven Hospital and Tony's last patient, 16-year-old Cole Monroe. It's here that Renner (The Man from Primrose Lane, 2012, etc.) shifts to a more audacious storyline, one that not all readers will embrace. Cole draws Jack into a mysterious world of alternate histories centered on the Great Forgetting, where, for example, the Allies lost World War II, and time is reset every so often because larger malevolent forces control our collective minds. It's heady stuff—Jack, Cole, and the Captain eventually set off for the mythical island of Mu, where the inhabitants still "remember" world events and where Tony might be hiding—and it doesn't always succeed. A fascinating concept that's not entirely well-executed but is worth the read.
