All Is Not Forgotten
Fiction
St. Martin's Press
July 12, 2016
Audiobook
320/ 11 hours 29 minutes
Publisher via BookSparks and BEA
In the small, affluent town of Fairview, Connecticut, everything seems picture perfect. Until one night when young Jenny Kramer is attacked at a local party. In the hours immediately after, she is given a controversial drug to medically erase her memory of the violent assault. But, in the weeks and months that follow, as she heals from her physical wounds, and with no factual recall of the attack, Jenny struggles with her raging emotional memory. Her father, Tom, becomes obsessed with his inability to find her attacker and seek justice while her mother, Charlotte, prefers to pretend this horrific event did not touch her perfect country club world. As they seek help for their daughter, the fault lines within their marriage and their close-knit community emerge from the shadows where they have been hidden for years, and the relentless quest to find the monster who invaded their town - or perhaps lives among them - drive this psychological thriller to a shocking and unexpected conclusion.
My review:
3.5 stars
An intense thriller that had me guessing until the very end! The story is told from the perspective of the psychologist hired to work with the teenage rape victim. He is an interesting character in and of himself, as he becomes a little too close to the case for personal reasons, and makes you wonder at times if he is manipulating things for his own good. I'm not going to lie, this one got a little too gritty and dark for me on several occasions, but in the end I'm glad I persevered. Not only was this a story about a rape, but it contained so much more about the aftereffects, not only on the victim, but on the family and to a lesser degree on the small town. A major whodunnit, I found myself waffling back and forth on the guilt or innocence of the same character several times. The parents of the rape victim were very well characterized. I thought the author did a superb job with their feelings, actions, and conflicts. Other than the graphic nature, the only other minor fault I had was that the narrator told things out of order on occasion, which made for some confusion on my part. I should point out that I listened to this on audio, which made it impossible to go back and look for what I was confused about. This may not be such an issue with the print version.
A really well done thriller, that while gruesome and graphic, ultimately makes for a solid portrait of the aftermath of a heinous crime.
This book is one of the July picks for the BookSparks summer reading challenge. Click the link to find out more, or follow along on social media at #SRC2016 and #BestSummerEver.
I loved how unique the narrative was, but I can definitely see where it would be hard on audio. There was so much digression in the narrative. I was really surprised at the perp in the end. Really great review, Donna!
I just read this one....couldn't put it down but also had some major issues with the plot...especially towards the end. I'm putting up a spoiler discussion post next week.
Yes, it kind of ended rather abruptly, and with people coming out of nowhere to make it tidy and convenient. Still a page turner though.