Member Reviews
The publisher provided me with the opportunity to read this in exchange for providing feedback. (via NetGalley)
Intriguing premise but the story felt kind of flat to me. I didn't really care for Julia as a character or for aspects of the Richard story line. (To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that I didn't like how it played out in the end.)
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.
Yeah, so this book wasn't good. I did finish but only because I wanted to see if my theory proved right. It did. The writing was not good. The story unfolded very...ADD like. It was just all over the place and there were parts included that just made no sense!!! I feel as if the author felt like the story wasn't long enough so he added just random bits of nonsense to fill in. Like does it really matter what restaurant they eat at?
The characters needed to be fleshed out more, the story structure needed to be outlined better because so much of what happened with the characters didn't make sense. I had a very good idea who the bad guy was at the beginning of the story (and I was right), but I also suspected Julia since she acted to weird.
The ending is rather dumb and the whole mystery was just so bizzare. I also don't understand why Julian took Julia back after he knew the whole story. At first we are led to believe he isn't going to take her back based on his internal thoughts, but then he says he loves her, etc. I think this could have been such an amazing thriller if it had been executed better.
I loved this book! Diabolical villian with so many layers of characters and interactions. This suspense filled mystery kept me awake reading long past when I should have been sleeping.
Following a terrible car accident, Julian awakens in a hospital, and learns his car collided with another that was driven by a neurosurgeon who works at that same hospital. The doctor was injured, but his passenger, a nurse at the hospital, died. Julian has no memory of the accident at all, but there was a witness who claims the doctor ran a red light. The doctor’s sister pays Julian a visit, and makes it clear that there’s no way her brother was responsible, but she demands that Julian accept her offer of a sizable amount of money, and instructs him to get a lawyer to review the documents she’ll be sending to him to sign. Then, a mysterious man shows up in his hospital room, and threatens Julian’s life and that of his girlfriend, followed by a lawyer that he didn’t hire, and some other pushy mystery man who demands answers for his many questions regarding the accident, even though he doesn’t appear to be a cop or an insurance rep. All the while, Julian just accepts his visitors, only questioning who they are or who sent them in his head, but never actually asking them.
Even though he sustained some serious injuries, and is a bit disoriented at the hospital, all Julian seems to focus on is his girlfriend. He doesn’t seem all that scared or curious of all these strangers that have entered his life, instead he is preoccupied with thoughts of his girlfriend: how much he loves her, how beautiful she is, how much he wants to marry her and make her as happy as he is, etc. His internal thoughts depict him as an insipid man, acting like a lovesick teenager, moony-eyed over his girlfriend, which isn’t at all appealing in a main character. All the while, when the parade of people enter his life and order him to do something—get in the car, sign a document, etc.—he meekly obeys, which became increasingly annoying, and made this book a bit of a chore to get through. Perhaps this was meant to create mystique regarding their identity or their motives, and add intrigue to the plot, but it actually made the protagonist and the plot less interesting, and therefore, I was less invested in how things were resolved. I really wanted to throw in the towel by the time I was about 25% through the book, but since this was a galley I had been given in exchange for a review, I really made an effort to get through it. Sadly, I was almost halfway-through and found that I still didn’t care about the characters or the outcome, so I finally gave up. There are so many good books to read, there’s no reason to force myself to complete one that’s not compelling.
A man's life changes in one day when he decides to make a bet with fate that if he makes through the next intersection without stopping he will not lose the love of his life. He seems to have won the bet but we learn he was in an auto accident at that intersection and a woman in the other vehicle doesn't survive. The other driver is world renowned surgeon and he's being charged with her death after a witness steps forward and says he was at fault. The man has no recollection of the accident but is warned off by a stranger to forget what happens. When the man's love of his love is diagnosed with a brain tumor the man must decide whether to take the fall for the accident and the Doctor will save her or let fate decide. I read this in one night it was a good quick read that kept me guessing until the end.
The premise sounded intriguing and the novel did not disappoint. Once Julian wakes from a horrific accident, his nightmare just begins. There were some thrills and some suspense here and the tension carried throughout the novel as well as a few surprises along the way. I would say that some of the characters were solid and three dimensional and some were not so strongly developed, but the story was. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.
Don't remember by Rich Silvers.
How much will Julian sacrifice to find the truth?
As he approaches the corner of Wendt and Brewster, Julian Barnes makes a bet with fate: if he can drive through the intersection without stopping, it will be a sign that he won’t lose Julia, the woman he loves.
But instead Julian wakes up in a hospital, his body shattered from a car accident he can’t remember. The prominent neurosurgeon who broadsided him swears his light was green. An eyewitness disagrees. A woman is dead, and the surgeon is accused of manslaughter.
A stranger warns Julian that if his memory returns and he tells anyone what really happened, Julia will die, too.
What don’t they want him to remember? Julian knows he got in the car an hour before the accident, on his way to see Julia. But then…nothing.
Why was he driving away from Julia’s apartment when the car hit him?
What did he see just before the impact?
Julian bears the weight of not knowing. His quest will take him to places he never expected, and to stories he never wanted to hear.
This was a really good read with good characters. Had me gripped from start to finish. Wasn't who I thought it was. 5*. Netgalley and ibpa.
This book wasn't for me. I didn't find it believable or interesting. Quit at third chapter
great mystery and thriller, story keeps you guessing what will happen next
Great book. A tale well told. Highly recommended. (5) star review on Amazon.
I started out liking this book and then it started to seem a little forced, but then it would get better. It was really kind of like my life. Ups and downs but still a great ride. I did enjoy the story, I just wish it was a little more detailed and little bit longer.
This book was fast paced and a thrilling read. I love a mystery that you just can't put down. It was everything a good mystery needed, with a great twist at the end. Loved it!
How much of our everyday lives do we actually have total control over, how much is actually controlled by fate.
Your life can be rolling along nicely and then BANG fate sticks its foot out and sends you bouncing down good old bad luck mountain.
Julian is having a good day,he has finally got tickets to Phantom Of The Opera and is on his way to surprise his girlfriend Julia when suddenly fate decides to intervene.Julian is broadsidded at a intersection by a prominent neurosurgeon and ends up in hospital in a lot of pain and suffering from a serious case of amnesia.The neurosurgeon insists the light was green,a eye witness disagrees,a woman died at the scene of the accident and the surgeon is being charged with manslaughter.
A stranger warns Julian that if he remembers anything his girlfriend will die,the surgeon`s creepy sister offers Julian a lot of money if he will say that his memory has returned.
Julian is trapped in fate`s twisted game,turn a card,throw a dice or flip a coin,whatever he decides he will be on the losing side.
This well written,intreguing little mystery is written in short sharp chapters that are not padded out with long descriptions and is a quick thrilling read.It does contain some court scenes but that only takes up a couple of chapters and is over quite quickly.The story contains a mixed bag of characters,I liked Julian`s interactions with his brother Tom and I liked Slattery eventually,he's a bit creepy and unlikable when he is first introduced into the story.
I'm glad I requested this book,I was hooked from the first page and really enjoyed the story.I will be keeping a eye out for more books by this author in the future.
When Julian wakes up in the hospital, he finds that evidently he was in an awful auto accident. Evidently ... because he doesn't remember anything that happened. He discovers that a very prominent brain surgeon broadsided him .. only the doctor says his light was green. But there's a witness who says otherwise.
A woman passenger in the doctor's car is dead and the doctor is accused of vehicular manslaughter.
But that's only the beginning of his problems. The doctor's sister goes to Julian and offers him a million dollars to change his story. And then there's an anonymous man who sneaks into Julian's hospital room and threatens not only him, but his girlfriend with death if he remembers.
You know that phrase .. damned if you do, damned if you don't.
What exactly is it that he can't remember? And what does he know that has someone worried? The last thing he remembers is driving to his girlfriend's apartment .... yet when he was hit, he was headed in the wrong direction.
And does he really want to remember?
I can't imagine what it would be like to not be able to remember something that obviously is really important. I like that Julian turns to his brother for help. I found them to be engaging. I was not overly thrilled with the girlfriend. When you read the story, you will understand. I felt sympathy for the doctor ... but the doc's sister is manipulative and overbearing.
The story is well-written, suspenseful, and I had no idea of what was coming as I finished reading. I love being surprised.
Many thanks to the author / Conure Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this novel. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
This was a fun read, a good story and some twists. An interesting premise, a deadly outcome of a contested accident, amnesia and hidden agendi. I could easily see this as a 2 part Law & Order episode. with all the loose ends neatly tied up.
It is a fast read, and easy to follow and intriguing to follow the action. While I am not sure how sympathetic Julian is, his brother and some of the police are pretty entertaining. The bad guy was pretty obvious and the big reveal was satisfying.
It is a quick read, the length felt right for this story.