Customer Reviews

Mortal Memory Pb

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Because you will NOT want to put it down! I can't think of anything to say about this amazing, edge of your seat, desperately want to read ahead for clues novel by Thomas Cook without giving anything away.

This story is typical a Cook novel in the fact that is takes place in the present and the past - the adult and the child must look back in the past to truly live life in the present. Mortal Memory focuses on Stephen Farris, a happily married man and successful architect with a gruesome past that he has successfully buried for many years until author Rebecca Soltero contacts him about his father.

As a child Stephen's father murdered his siblings and his mother - then cleaned his mother's body, ate a ham sandwich and left. He waited two hours alone in his house with the bodies of his family - all except for Stephen. What was he waiting for?

Stephen must dredge up his past for author Rebecca to make peace for himself. This a stunningly well crafted thriller as well as an amazingly unique story. One that continues to make you think long after you have finished the book. A plot that the reader will mostly likely remember for some time to come. One of the best thrillers I have read in ages.

In Mortal Memory, Thomas Cook focuses on Steven Farris, a 40-something suburbanite who lives with the knowledge that his father murdered his mother and two siblings. Now an adult with his own family, Steven seems to live the perfect life until Rebecca enters. She has set out to write a novel about men who murder their families, and she wants to find out what Steven remembers about his own family. This causes Steven--who narrates this first-person tale--to dig far deeper into the psyche of his dead family; it turns out that he remembers much more than he thought. In the act of remembering, will Steven learn that the sins of the father revisit the son?

But what pushed his seemingly mild-mannered, gentle father into such a barbaric act?

Cook writes with a dreamlike quality; at times, I felt like I was wading through a dream, knowing in some ways how it would turn out but unable to wake up. His words are haunting, and this is a disturbing look into the secret world of a "normal" family. I thought I had the story all figured out, but I was truly surprised by a couple of twists along the way. I was unable to pull away from this novel and even dragged it along on vacation with me in order to finish it. This is worthy of valuable reading time. Don't expect a cleanly wrapped up ending; Cook's story here is a bit too complex for that. However, the writing is excellent, the story is compelling, and the characters get under the skin. Read this one!

An amazing psychological story. Cook always keeps me guessing but I really didn't get this until the end. Great writing, great insight into good and evil and how difficult it can be to see the real evil that's right in front of you. Things are not always what they seem to be, don't assume anything. I think that's the real message of this great story.

that ended in tragedy, this is not as engaging or intriguing as some of Cook's other works which I've loved (Blood Innocents, Places in the Dark, Into the Web). Other reviewers have commented that it drags and I agree that it does, a bit, mainly because almost all of it is internal reflection from the main character, Steve Farris, whose family was murdered when he was nine by his father, who then disappeared. Farris' recollections of his family and their life together are reminiscent of sessions with a psychiatrist and when the character Rebecca is first mentioned I'm sure that's who she will turn out to be.

The main trouble with this book, I think, is that it contains so little warmth; the chill of the past is present in Farris' current life and overlays everything in it, so that he appears to feel no joy in his wife, his child, his work, or his friends. Even his connection to the mysterious Rebecca has no life. It's as though Cook wrote a novel that turned out to be a dirge.

There are some twists, apparent to anyone paying attention (right there in print on page 148 of the edition I read). But the greater mystery is how and why this family came to this end. Cook's strength as an author is that he knows there are things beyond understanding, even when explained. Such is, in a way, the subject matter of this book.

Cook always writes well but Mortal Memory is not his best work. His characters are too distant; it's difficult to care about them. And what should be a powerful story is somehow diminished by a narrator who seems emotionless and detached. Too, it strains credulity that he remembers in great detail days and moments from his childhood which should have been quite ordinary, and, therefore, forgotten by a nine year old. Yes, he is supposed to be a senstive boy, attuned to the dysfunction of his family, but memory in this case is too apparently a necessary author's device.

Not sorry I read it but it won't stay with me, as some of Cook's other works have done.

This is quite a book, with one of the most original premises anyone is ever likely to adopt.Without betraying any of the details of the story, the real action consists of the narrator slipping helplessly into a midlife crisis of his own as the result of his initially voluntary, then complusive, exploration of his father's crime. The character study is intense and unforgettable; it is not possible to leave the book unfinished. I give the book a 9 because some of the plot twists seem slightly artifical. (I can't say more without betraying the plot). The gradual darkening of the central character's life is expertly done, and moves the book close to mainstram stuff. The quality of prose is infinitely superior to most mystery fiction. (While there is little if any direct humor in the text, I was amused to note that the author has set the action at an address on MacDonald Drive. The allusion to the well-known Green Beret family murderer in a book with this theme can hardly be coincidental.)

I gave 'Instruments of Night' 5 stars and I am disappointed with 'Mortal Memory'. The premise is interesting but the story is slow and draggy, lengthened by Mr. Cook's great ability to paint details and atmosphere. The ending was conversely tensed and not draggy but seemed a little abrupt. The conclusion also lacked the impact that floored me like that of 'Instruments of Night'. Overall, an average read.

The novel is about Stephen, a man whose father killed his entire family when he was only a boy. Stephen was spared only because he was not in the house at the moment.

This is a compelling, written story which draws the reader into Stephen's psyche on his quest to find out why his father committed the murders. Along the way, family secrets are uncovered, repressed memories come back to haunt, and exciting plot twists keep us turning the pages, as Stephen finally learns the truth.

Definitely one of the best books I have read this year, and Im looking forward to reading more by the author.

MORTAL MEMORY

We meet Steve Farris, married, with a son of his own, and a dark past. When he was only nine his father brutally gunned down his mom, brother, and sister. Steve was spared only because he wasn't home at the time.

Steve goes to live with an uncle and his life maintains some normal aspects. He finishes school, goes to college, marries, has a son he adores and a job he enjoys. While his gruesome past is always with him, he has surpressed those horrible memories from his mind.

Enter into the picture Rebecca Soltero who is writing a book about men who murder their families. Her and Steve start to meet for interviews. He keeps these rendezvous a secret from his wife, lying to her every time he has a meeting with Rebecca. This starts to take a toll on their marriage.

The interviews with Rebecca drag up all of the old surpressed memories of that fateful night of the murders. Steve starts to feel as if he is going insane, hating his father more and more and trying to figure out exactly what happened. We race along with the story, amid many twists and turns and surprises. I never figured out what exactly happened the night of the murders until I read about it in the last few pages of the book. Was Steve's father the real killer? Why did he murder his family? Does Steve have the 'killer gene' in him? Was someone else involved in these murders? Read this great thriller and find out!

This is a good book. Thomas H. Cook can really tell a story, keep the reader interested and full of suspense. It's a great who-done-it and why-did-they-do-it read. Enjoy!

Thank you.

Pam

Thomas H Cook weaves together the threads of memory to make a fabric, real and tangible, of events, place, people, and evidence.
A Master.

I can't believe that this is the same author who wrote "Evidence of Blood" & "Breakheart Hill". I was very disappointed by this book. The main character was not likable & whereas in his other books, where the suspense just kept mounting until the very end, this book dragged so badly that I looked at the end to see if I wanted to read the whole thing. Read some of his other books instead!