Shana R. (LynniePennie) reviewed on 1/28/2012 + 169 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

Where are all these missing people? Carol Wentz, Iris Neff, Iris's mother, Lydia, and Brenna's sister, Clea? They all are missing from the same town within years of each other. Iris was last seen getting into a possibly blue car, just like the car that Breena's sister Clea had gotten into years before she disappeared.

In this story Breena has been hired to investigate the disappearance of Carol Wentz who was one of the last one's to speak to Iris before she disappeared.

Breena, the main character is a private detective and she has a strange condition: its name is hyperthymestic syndrome. She forgets nothing at all; some would say "a memory like an elephant". Name a date, and she can tell you where she was, what she was doing, and she'll be seeing and hearing everything as it happened then. This is a real condition where the person has autobiographical memory and remembers everything detected by their senses for every moment of their past. Obviously, it makes Brenna having a normal life nearly impossible with the past memories always interfering with her daily life. If she happens to see a face or a number or an address once it's in her mind forever. Such a memory condition has several pluses for someone who is a detective, but the remembered images don't automatically add up to solving the crime.

What I love about this book is the times that Brenna experiences a peculiar memory that reminds her about her own past, usually at the worst possible times. I could really identify with Breena's character through her thoughts and feelings about her own past. Don't we all at times think about things we would've done differently? Only Brenna cannot possibly forget things she'd like to!

This novel also has a few other interesting characters. Including, Brenna's assistant Trent who is a big techno-geek who has so many piercings that some people think he's auditioning to be a fishing lure. Another character is Brenna's daughter, Maya, who constantly manipulates Brenna and her father (Brenna's ex-hubbie).

And then there is Detective Nick Morasco. He's a cop, but he and Brenna are, she thinks, on the same wavelength. Detective Morasco is also working through his own guilt that he has from not listening to Breena when she called in a tip about Iris' disappearance.

This is a good suspense story in which the pages rarely read slowly. I found myself drawn in from the first chapter. All the characters could very well be someone you know or work with, they are very realistic. There is a surprising, yet a logical conclusion awaiting you at the end.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I would definitely read another novel from this author.

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