Amos Decker's life has changed twice. The first time was right out of college. He was drafted into the NFL but on his first play in a professional game, he was hit so hard that it broke several bones and put him into a coma. When he emerged, his life was forever different. His career was over but the biggest change was his brain. He now became one of the few people that never forgot anything that happened. All past events were stored in his memory like a DVR and he could play them back whenever he chose.

Decker had to choose a new life and he chose to become a policeman. He had no trouble passing the exams and was promoted to detective quickly where he and his partner had the highest solve rate in the department. Then the second change came.

Decker came home one day to find his whole family slaughtered. His brother-in-law, his wife and his nine year old daughter. The case dragged and no one found a lead not even Decker. He underwent a crisis, left the department and even became homeless for a while. Now he lives in a residence hotel eking out a living as a private investigator.

Then he gets the news after eighteen months. Someone has walked into the police department and confessed to the murders of his family. It is soon clear that the man is a false confessor as he was in jail in another town when the crimes were committed. While he is in jail before that is discovered, another tragedy occurs. The local high school is attacked and six students as well as a coach and the assistant principal have been killed.

Decker's old boss asks him to help out and it soon becomes clear that the crimes are related to Decker somehow. The killings continue as Decker, his old partner and a journalist try to find the killer or killers. Can they stop the crimes before more people are dead?

This is the first novel in the Memory Man series and crime readers will be fascinated by Decker's story. This is a real condition and Baldacci has turned it into a case where it is useful in crime detection. Readers will sympathize with Decker and cheer for him to solve the case and find some resolution in his life. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

David Baldacci's Memory Man is the first book in one of my favorite new detective series. Amos Decker is Memory Man and has suffered more injuries and hardships than most people can even imagine. He had been a glorious football athlete, destined to play professional football. Early in his career he suffered a brutal tackle and died on the field. When he was revived, his brain had changed -- his personality was different and his memory was so altered that he could not forget anything. So, Amos loses his easygoing, happy-go-lucky, charismatic personality and is almost like someone with Asperger's - unable to take social cues. He does fall in love, get married, have a family. He builds a career as a police officer and with his memory and sharp mind has an unprecedented record of success.

Until his family is slaughtered - and he begins to see emotions and death in colors. Amos is unable to forget the images of his family and he undergoes the awful experience of being accused of their murders. When he is later shown to be innocent, he has lost his way. He loses his home, his healthy, gains so much weight that he is as big as a house (350? 400 lbs?).

But his former partner draws him in when someone comes to confess to his family's murders. Amos Decker seeks to become part of the investigation and he tries to pull himself together. It's a difficult climb but his natural abilities and sense of decency and the faith of some officers in the FBI make it possible for Amos Decker to build a life of sorts. And Memory Man proves to be one of the most delightful starts to a series that I've come across!

Memory Man by David Baldacci is nothing short of a complete crime-thriller package - entertaining plot, engaging storyline, brilliant writing, the perfect hook and a unique inner conflict that makes for a strong base of this awesome new series.

This is my first book by David Baldacci and I am so glad that I read it. It is an amazing book and I'm very happy to have read it. Lately, I'd been fed up with detective stories because more or less all of them are the same (no matter if the protagonist is a female or a male.) So I had almost abandoned this genre of mystery thrillers when I was asked to review this book. Fortunately, I accepted it because I had heard a lot of praise for David Baldacci's storytelling and didn't want to miss out a chance on reading his current sensation back in 2015. However, due to my scepticism, it took me a better part of  2.5 years to even consider reading it ditching the other books I had. And now that I've read it, I'm glad that I finally took the step and read it!

This book was so much better than I was expecting it to be. It had life-like characters that were highly relatable, especially the lead, and a plot that had so many twists and turns that I was literally biting my nails because of all the tension and suspense. The mystery was out of the world and I really, really enjoyed the ending.

If you are a mystery buff and love high-tension thrillers, then READ THIS BOOK! It's really, really good!