J.D. Robb discussion

The winner of our July Poll is Memory Man by David Baldacci. This will become a spoiler zone on July 15.

Amos Decker's life changed forever--twice.
The first time was on the gridiron. A big, towering athlete, he was the only person from his hometown of Burlington ever to go pro. But his career ended before it had a chance to begin. On his very first play, a violent helmet-to-helmet collision knocked him off the field for good, and left him with an improbable side effect--he can never forget anything.

The second time was at home nearly two decades later. Now a police detective, Decker returned from a stakeout one evening and entered a nightmare--his wife, young daughter, and brother-in-law had been murdered.

His family destroyed, their killer's identity as mysterious as the motive behind the crime, and unable to forget a single detail from that horrible night, Decker finds his world collapsing around him. He leaves the police force, loses his home, and winds up on the street, taking piecemeal jobs as a private investigator when he can.

But over a year later, a man turns himself in to the police and confesses to the murders. At the same time a horrific event nearly brings Burlington to its knees, and Decker is called back in to help with this investigation. Decker also seizes his chance to learn what really happened to his family that night. To uncover the stunning truth, he must use his remarkable gifts and confront the burdens that go along with them. He must endure the memories he would much rather forget. And he may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Yay! I have the audiobook.

This one really sounds good!

perfect will get it now

Was hoping for this one! Have never read any books by this author but have heard is very good.

I've really liked the 2 Baldacci's that I've read. That being said, there's something about this premise that leaves me cold. But, I'm going to give it a shot.

Unfortunately, the Overdrive site has none available right now, so I'll have to go old school and get it from the library! (I think I remember how to hold a book and flip the pages the old-fashioned way.)

I'm going to try and join the discussion but I'm waiting for my reserve to come in. As soon as it does I'm in :)

I hope to start this sometime over the weekend.

I'm hoping for it but it doesn't look that way. :(

I really want to read this one...hope to fit it in.

Ouch! Maybe they'll buy more copies.

I haven't read any Baldacci yet so I will give it a try

There are 5 people ahead of me at the library so hopefully I'll get it soon.

I still have a few more people ahead of me too. I was hoping I'd get it by now but of course not :(

I started listening to this on Friday and am completely hooked.

read this loved it. so much to say

Tomorrow the discussion moves to a spoiler zone. I'm going to try to finish in time as I already want to talk about some things.

Oh no...gosh, where did the month go??? I haven't finished this one yet - barely started. I'll try to finish by the weekend.

I finished this and really enjoyed the story. The audio performance was odd at times because of the production style (multiple narrators who spoke whenever their character had dialogue). It's a gnarly mystery that I couldn't figure out until the end. 4.5 stars.

I liked Decker who is sort of tragic but doesn't seem to feel sorry for himself. Very glad this is going to be a series.

aside from the story I like the fact that they did not make Decker into a sex symbol like a lot of other books. he is fat and unkempt and does not care. I quess if I lost my family the way he did would not care how I looked either. it will be interesting to see in the next books if he starts to change his physical appearance because he knows he gets out of breath way to much and cant even sit in a car.

***This is now a spoiler zone***

Susan wrote: "aside from the story I like the fact that they did not make Decker into a sex symbol like a lot of other books. he is fat and unkempt and does not care. I quess if I lost my family the way he did..."

I wondered the same, Susan. Nothing sexy about Decker except his brain.

Here's the Cast List

(view spoiler)[
Amos Decker: former professional football player, former cop, he forgets nothing. The murder of his wife and family have left him shattered and unable to continue his work as a police officer. At age 42 and overweight, he's trying to eek out a subsistence as a P.I.
Special Agent Ross Bogart: FBI
Sebastian Leopold: Homeless man who turns himself in for the murder of Decker's family. This and a mass murder at a local high school pulls Decker back as he's given temporary credentials as a cop to help solve this case.
Mary Suzanne Lancaster: Decker's partner. The first detective on the Burlington P.D. at the time of the story, she's age 42, chain-smoker, not attractive but memorable.
Sheila Lynch: Prosecuting attorney in the Leopold case. At age 40, a little worse for wear in clothing.
Judge Christopher Abernathy: Presiding judge in Leopold case. Old, bespeckled with white hair sprouting all over his head.
Johnny Sacks: Decker's brother-in-law, crime victim
Cassandra Decker: Amos Decker's late wife, murder victim.
Molly Decker: Amos Decker's late daughter, murder victim.
Mr. Marks: One of Amos's customers in his P.I. business.
Jenny Marks: Mr. Marks' daughter who has a difficult time choosing proper men to love.
Dewayne LeCroix: Football player who knocked Amos Decker out of the game.
Pete Rourke: Old contact of Amos Decker at Burlington, Police Department.
Sally Bremmer: New employee at Burlington P.D. Public Affairs office.
Capt. MacKenzie Miller: Burlington Police Department detective and Decker's former boss.
Dawn Lancaster: Mary Lancaster's daughter who has Downs syndrome.
Earl Lancaster: Mary Lancaster's husband, a construction worker.
Debbie Watson: High School senior and murder victim at the school.
Ed Kramer: Gym teacher at the high school who was gunned down by the shooter.
Melissa Dalton: Seventeen-year-old high school student who heard something before the shooting started.
Billy: Worker at a neighborhood 7-11 who Amos questions.
George Watson: Father of the slain High School girl, Debbie Watson.
Beth Watson: Hard-drinking mother of Debbie Watson.
Jimmy Schikel: High School friend of Debbie Watson, also a victim of the shooting at the high school.
Ted Knolls: Beth Watson's late father whose photo was on their mantle.
Alexandra (Alex) Jameson: Reporter with the News Leader.
Special Agent Nora Lafferty: Assisting Special Agent Ross Bogart in investigating the shooting at Burlington High School.
Simon Watson: George Watson's grandfather who lived with the family for a while and worked at the military base next to the high school. It was the time where people were building bomb shelters to protect them from Russian bombs.
Special Agent Darrow: FBI agent.
June: Buffet attendant at the Residence Inn.
Andy Jackson: Teacher at Burlington High School who was shot and later died of his wound.
Daisy: Owner of Dora's Flowers.
Dr. Harold Rabinowitz: Person who was at the Cognitive Research Institute when Decker was a patient.
Dr. Chris Sizemore: Psychologist at Cognitive Research Institute who came in contact with Amos Decker.
Barry Dresden: Assistant Principal at Burlington High School and murder victim of a mass killer.
Donovan: Burlington Police Officer Decker speaks to when Donovan is doing private duty at a pharmacy.
Dr. Marshall: Man Decker knew at the Cognitive Research Institute.
Belinda Wyatt: Troubled young woman in Decker's group at the Cognitive Research Institute.
Lance Wyatt: Belinda Wyatt's father.
Ashby Wyatt: Belinda Wyatt's mother.
Giles Evers: Policeman in Mercy Utah who had significance in Belinda Wyatt's early life.
Clyde Evers: Former mayor of Mercy,Utah and a broken man.
(hide spoiler)]

What did you think was going on when Sebastian Leopold confessed to killing Decker's family? Did you believe him?

I knew (don't know how) but just figured it was all too neat that here is this confession all neatly tied up. for the longest time just like Decker did not know why he confessed and what the relationship was to the other murders and to Decker himself. this book kept me in the dark for a long time

Same here, Susan. There was a point where I hadn't a clue who it could be. I loved following the investigation because every clue mattered.

I thought that when his family was murdered and she - he slit the brother in laws throat do you think he she really thought it was decker or knew it was the brother in law?

He/she had no intention of killing Decker. The point was to make Decker hurt and the best way to do that was to take away his lifeline...his family.

Honestly, it didn't make sense why he/she would turn on Decker like this. It was pretty thin until Decker exposed Leopold for what he was. He took a fragile mind and twisted it.

We should have suspected Leopold much more than we did when he first showed up.

I'm 3rd on the list and I'm missing all the fun :(

Carmen! Don't read any of the comments after message #21!

I haven't because I didn't want to spoil the book :)

Whew! I was worried. Susan and I are discussing very openly.

Jonetta wrote: "Whew! I was worried. Susan and I are discussing very openly."

No don't worry I don't like spoiling the book for myself. Your good :)

The book was excellent! I don't expect anything less from David Baldacci. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

I finished this novel on my lunch break yesterday and what a ride. I like Amos as he is not the usual hero type you would expect. I liked the way Badlacci wrote all the characters and the plot had me sitting back and watch it all unfold.

I am glad it will be a series too especially the way it ended.

I just sat and read the whole book in one day. Was feeling a bit under the weather so decided to give myself up to a day of rest:) And what a great book to spend a day with.
I wasn't at all sure at the beginning when his whole family gets wiped out. But then that happened to Charlie Parker too in John Connolly' series. The mystery in this one was good and I was not able to guess the ending. I still wasn't quite sure that there was enough reason for Decker to be singled out for these horrendous attacks but it made a good story:)

I'm with you on that, Phrynne. It just made Leopold seem that much more diabolical that he could convince Belinda to focus her rage on Decker. I guess it was ironic justice that Decker killed him the way he did. Suffocation has to be slow and painful and to have killed him with the girth he gained resulting from the loss of his family was simply...just.