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Memory Man  By  cover art

Memory Man

By: David Baldacci
Narrated by: Ron McLarty,Orlagh Cassidy
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Publisher's summary

With over 110 million copies of his novels in print, David Baldacci is one of the most widely read storytellers in the world. Now he introduces a startling, original new character: a man with perfect memory who must solve his own family's murder.

MEMORY MAN

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.

Memory Man will stay with you long after the turn of the final tick.

©2015 David Baldacci (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"The successful pairing of the narrators, with both voices being equally engaging, ensures that the dual narration works.... Both McLarty and Cassidy demonstrate a natural talent for characterization and pacing, which make this investigative thriller especially engrossing." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about Memory Man

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    17,844
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    9,182
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    2,623
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 3 Stars
    2,379
  • 2 Stars
    597
  • 1 Stars
    318

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Not the usual production quality

The story was good, the narrators were talented, but the production quality was not up to the usual Audible standards. I have well over 500 books in my library, and this is the first time the listening quality was so poor.

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437 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good plot BAD edit and mixiing

If you could sum up Memory Man in three words, what would they be?

Fun Read Bad Listen (yep 4 words)

What did you like best about this story?

The plot, it was engaging and entertaining. I get the savant thing so believable.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I think (I hope) it is the mix and not totally the narrator but the editing is painfully obvious and distracting!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did laugh out loud a time or two...it was fun.

Any additional comments?

Know that you are spending money on an audible book that is VERY difficult to listen to.

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346 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Most annoying narration ever

Any additional comments?

The bongo drums and wind chimes in first chapter did not bode well for this narration. I found it terribly annoying that the narrators (very good in their own right) kept switching...sometimes mid sentence. The female voice thrown into conversation was distracting. I felt like i was listening to a bad radio hour. Hard to pay attention to the story when the narration jumps all over the place.

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312 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible narration

The first hour or so the narrators voice keeps changing. I'm not talking about changing for different characters. It's changing voices mid sentence. The story was good until about last 15% of the book. It's like it was rushed to tie loose ends together.

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222 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • hc
  • 04-30-15

I cannot get past the first 4 minutes...

Any additional comments?

I like Baldacci; I'm sure I would like this book too but I cannot continue listening beyond the first few minutes because of the ridiculous background....noise...it's not music, just noises really. I assume it's to make the opening scene seem more dramatic but it's terrible and it distracts from the story. Please re-release this book without the "music" track.

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212 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

HORRENDOUS NARRATION

It's difficult to appraise this book because of the narration problems. Wish I had just read the hard copy. The narrator evidently is incapable of stopping the reading process and then starting back with the same voice. Very distracting. Also, the opening 20 minutes or so have background "music" which is more like noise that almost made me quit right then. I decided to continue listening when the sound effects stopped, vowing to myself that if they were a recurring theme throughout I would put this one down. Thankfully, they didn't. Who knows how I would have felt about this book had the narrator/audio-editor done a better job.

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189 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The worst narration EVER

I can't comment on the story, because I couldn't stand the narration. Why make Mary sound like she's speaking from a 1940's radio show? Just awful

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147 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book - Weak Audio

What made the experience of listening to Memory Man the most enjoyable?

It was a great storyline

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy ?

The voices of the Narrators were fine but the back forth as the narrator (Ron McLarty) was confusing.

Any additional comments?

It's definitely worth a listen but they should record the audio over.

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141 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good character, bad plot, worse narration

This is my first David Baldacci, and probably would download another of his. The protagonist is an affable savant who we will most likely see many more times. I won't get into the plot, but it goes beyond the need of suspension of disbelief. I will leave it at that. What makes this listen below average is the monotone narration of Ron Mclarty, and the sometimes annoying Orlagh Cassidy( who i normally find very very good). Mclarty is unable to do proper multiple character voices. All this i could tolerate, but the final edit has, what i believe to be Mclarty, interjecting with lines in a completely different voice. As a narrator and not a character. This is just horrendous editing that should never have made it to the final product. Despite the low rating, i would still say its probably worth the credit.....But barely.

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97 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Baldacci has abused my intelligence once too often

The reason why "Memory Man" gets more than one star is that hating it is so much fun. The entire premise of the book reminds me of a Thomas Harris novel, but is so absurd and clumsily constructed that even before I gave up there were many times when I was tempted to return the book. I plowed on. Finally, with only 1 hour and 34 minutes to the finish line I could not take any more. Get the book, read it yourself - a lot of people seem to think its great. As for me, "Memory Man" just might be the last Baldacci I ever read.

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78 people found this helpful