ABOUT THE BOOK:
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:
All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy WalkerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
All is not Forgotten by Wendy Walker is a 2016 St. Martin’s Press publication.
Oh man, did this book mess with my head.
Compared to some psychological thrillers that keep your heart rate up with an ‘easy on the joints’, low impact workout, this book was like a high impact workout for the mind. So much so, my poor brain needed time to recover before I could write this review.
After Jenny Kramer is brutally raped, she is given a drug to make her forget what happened. But, instead of helping her cope, it only stymies her ability to heal emotionally and move forward with her life, which leads her into a very dark place.
In the meantime, Jenny’s parents, Tom and Charlotte, deal with the fallout, which turns the cracks in their marriage into asteroid sized craters.
Shocking secrets spill out, and the investigation turns up evidence that suggests the attacker might not be a stranger, but someone living right there in their small community.
This novel kept me on edge from the first page forward. There is so much to think about, so many layers, and corners filled with dark shadows, paranoia, revenge, and anger. But, often it’s the morality and ethical questions that really added the spice to the pot, on several different fronts.
One of the most compelling topics this book addresses is the use of a drug that could erase your memory of a traumatic event. On the surface, this may seem like an act of compassion, but it raises a plethora of questions, which could certainly inspire some interesting debate.
But, there are other dilemmas that arise, and frankly, I was just as torn over those issues as with anything else going on.
Not only that, we see every individual in treatment go through intense therapy, both as individuals and as a group. Watching them all come to terms with their pasts, taking slow, measured steps toward healing, and seeing real promising results, despite the incredibly bizarre circumstances, was often a harrowing, but fascinating process.
With so much going on, these individual threads could have easily spiraled out of control, but the author kept them right on track and then slowly merged them until I was sitting there watching what was sure to become a spectacular eruption, frozen in my seat unable to tear my eyes from the impending collision.
I really, really liked this book!! It’s absorbing, thought provoking, troubling, tense, and riveting! I could not have guessed the way things would turn out, was never sure who to trust, and had to ask myself on more than one occasion: “What would I do in this situation?’
Be warned, however, that there are graphic descriptions of rape, with some very disturbing passages to read through, but because of the memory erasing side effects, it was necessary to delve deeper into the physical trauma, and was relevant to the story.
Also, it is worth mentioning that while the drug featured in this story has not been marketed in real life, there are drugs similar to it, that are currently being tested, along with therapy, that could indeed alter, impact, or erase memories.
Overall, this is super smart, perfectly paced, psychological thriller, unique and original, and I really appreciated the challenge it presented, how it held my attention and the way everything wrapped up. There are still a few secrets held close to the vest, but the reader knows all, and I had to give the author a big nod of approval for giving me that insider knowledge which was a nice touch and a perfect way to conclude the story.
I think the book deserves the five -star treatment!!
GET YOUR COPY HERE:
https://www.amazon.com/All-Not-Forgotten-Wendy-Walker/dp/1250097916/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-is-not-forgotten-wendy-walker/1122537672
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Wendy Walker is an attorney and former investment banker. Her first thriller, All Is Not Forgotten, has become an international bestseller with movie rights sold to Reese Witherspoon and Warner Brothers. The paperback will be out on July 18, 2017. Her second thriller, Emma In The Night, will be released on August 8, 2017. Wendy lives in Connecticut where she is busy raising her three sons and writing her next novel.
