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Memory

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Memory

By: Donald E. Westlake
Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
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About this listen

Hospitalized after a liaison with another man's wife ends in violence, Paul Cole has just one goal: to rebuild his shattered life. But with his memory damaged, the police hounding him, and no way to even get home, Paul's facing steep odds - and a bleak fate if he fails.

This final, never-before-published novel by three-time Edgar Award winner Donald E. Westlake is a noir masterpiece, a dark and painful portrait of a man's struggle against merciless forces that threaten to strip him of his very identity.

©2010 Donald E. Westlake (P)2010 BBC Audio Crime Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense

Critic reviews

"[T]his is no typical Westlake novel; in fact, in many ways it’s one of his most interesting books, simply because it’s so very different. For his fans, absolutely a must-read." ( Booklist)
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What did you like most about Memory?

The way the narrator put over the quiet confusion inside the main character's head as he struggled with the consequences of his amnesia and how it made him feel so isolated and lost.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character Paul. I really felt for him and his predicament.

What about Stephen R. Thorne’s performance did you like?

It was a first person narrative so it worked really well as an audiobook. His performance was slightly understated, which was perfect for this story and the character.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Who are you if you don't remember yourself?

Any additional comments?

A couple of reviews of this book say it's a bit depressing or dull - which almost put me off. But I didn't find it so at all. I was interested and involved in the character of Paul from the very beginning. Parts of it are simple and mundane, I suppose - just Paul going to work and the employment exchange, struggling to find lodgings, trying to deal with everyday things that are a real battle for him because he can hardly remember anything from one hour to the next. He meets people who are apparently his friends but who are total strangers to him now, some of whom he doesn't even like very much. I felt desperate for poor Paul to sort out his life.

Quietly involving story.

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when you read Westlake you expect whimsy and humour, when you read his penance Stark you expect the stoic hero to trimph. this is none of those things. A grim miserable, if well written and voice, story of misery and gloom. A book more suited to a Maeve Binchy reader of misery and doom. Having listened to the where boom I am now curled up rocking under a shower periodically calling out the horror and weeping.

Unlike any Westlake/ Stark and very dark

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