3 out of 4 stars
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Murder in Memory by Mike Thorne follows the residents of the small town of Harper in southern United States in December of 1983. This story is about the murder of several people in and around a college campus, as well as the efforts made by the police department to apprehend the murderer. The reader follows the unnamed killer, the chief of police, a college therapist, and a college professor, along with the people who are killed during this short time period. The reader is left to decide for themselves who they think the killer is, up until the time that it is revealed for the sake of the storytelling. The reader is taken through the disturbing thought process of the killer as he murders his victims, leading the reader towards the solution of the case. An intriguing twist takes the novel into unforeseen territory.
What I liked most about this book was the twist. Without giving anything away, it definitely makes this book stand apart from the rest. Aside from that, I liked the narration style. Thorne follows different characters in the story, giving just enough information for most readers to be able to piece together who the killer is before it is revealed. It gives a distinct pleasure to figure out a mystery before it is uncovered by the chief of police or revealed by the author. Thorne keeps the reader guessing how it all works together, though, even after knowing who had committed the crimes. The author did an excellent job of stringing the reader along, perfect for a mystery novel.
What I liked least about this book was the confusing transition a few times from character to character. I enjoyed getting certain pieces of information from different characters, but occasionally throughout the book, it was difficult to know who I was following at the time. It would sometimes take a page or more to figure out which character was being followed at the time. Trying to figure out who was speaking would take me out of the story. Once I figured out who it was, I found myself needing to go back and reread what they had said, since it now gave it more meaning.
I give Murder in Memory 3 out of 4 stars. I would not give it four stars, because of the aforementioned dislikes. I would not give it two stars because it was still an excellent read. It was clearly well-written, well thought out, and professionally edited. I enjoyed reading this book, and I found myself unable to put it down. I devoured this story in one sitting, and it is over two hundred pages long. This was helped along by the fact that there were no editing errors that I could find; it was clearly excellently edited.
I would recommend this book for someone who wants a relatively easy, fun read. I would also recommend this book for someone who is into mystery novels, especially ones with psychological factors. I would not recommend this book for someone who is easily disturbed by gory crime, or anyone who does not want to hear sexual assault described in detail. This book is excellent, but it does follow the mind of a disturbed killer, and that could easily offend or turn off many people.
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Murder in Memory
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