Lost Memories

Sycamore P.D. #1

by T.E. Killian

First in the Sycamore P.D. Series Grant Thompson and his sister Alison were orphans at the ages of nine and seven until their Aunt Sybil took them in. Kelly Newcomb's father, Harry, walked away from his family when she was eight and her brother Wayne was ten. Now, twenty years later Sarah Thompson is very much alive and suffering from amnesia for all that time. Her husband, Harry, is killed in Afghanistan and she comes back to Sycamore, AZ to be with his family not knowing that she had any family of her own there. All five of these people are thrown together by the mystery surrounding Harry's death. How do they each deal with their lost memories and with each other? T. E. Killian has been a high school English teacher, pastor, chaplain, and crisis counselor. Over the past twenty years, he has counseled hundreds of people for many different relationship problems and addictions. He has made a study of relationships and uses this in building his characters, especially their emotions. He and his wife, Ann, live in Cottonwood, Arizona, where he writes, counsels, and serves as a chaplain for the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Cottonwood Police Department.

Genres: Mystery Thriller, Fiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published February 6, 2013

About the author

T. E. Killian has been an Army Medic, high school English teacher, pastor, hospital chaplain, crisis counselor, police chaplain, and pastoral counselor.

All of these occupations have helped him to understand how men and women build and keep relationships. He also knows how they repair or destroy those relationships. He has also observed how people interact in all kinds of situations.

They also give him firsthand knowledge of how people live and act within each of those types of situations.
Therefore, his characters take on the characteristics and personalities of people who work in all of the occupations he knows so well.

Having been in many crisis situations over the past thirty plus years, he can write about them realistically.

He and his wife, Ann, live in Black Canyon City, Arizona, where he writes fulltime.

Reviews

[Katja Labonté]

Free on Amazon (12.6.22)!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. The writing wasn't as polished as I like, but I got into it and really liked it.

There are two families in this story. The Newcomb's son married the Thompson's mom 20 years ago. Harry Newcomb was in the Air Force and he was taking his new wife with him to Germany. Mom promised her young children that she would return - but she didn't. Her ashes returned not long after she left and the children continued to live with their aunt Sybil, Sarah Jane's sister.

Twenty years later Grant Thompson is a cop, and he is going to be investigating the shooting of Harry Newcomb in Afghanistan. His brain dead body is brought back to his home town, along with his wife of twenty years, Jane. As it turns out, Jane was in a very severe car wreck and has lost all of her memories prior to that accident. Could this be Grant's mother.

Kelly is Harry Newcomb's daughter. She wants to see her father before he dies, unfortunately when they get to the hospital they learn he is already brain dead and they just have to decide if they are going to pull the plug. They pull the plug and decide to embrace his wife as their own.

Grant and Kelly are almost instantly attracted to one another, but Kelly has a damaged ankle that keeps her in a brace or on crutches, and she has never had a date, and is scared to death to start something. Grant hasn't dated for several years, but really likes Kelly.

There is a lot going on in this story, and at the heart of it is a conspiracy by what appears to be four generals, and Gen. Newcomb had some information that they desperately want. How far with they go to get it?

This is a clean read.

[Ellen White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Their grandfather’s telling them their father, his son was wounded in Afghanistan and now in critical condition. They were going to Washington and wanting his two grandchildren to come. After twenty years,of not seeing a father, Kelly decided it was right thing to do, but Wayne didn’t.
At the hospital to find he had a wife for twenty years even. Kelly wanted to invite her to come visit, this would be away of finding out what happened in those missing years.
..Detectives Grant and Becker have been given the case to look into the death of this general, Sonia Sergent.Detective,also since it involves a lot of federal agencies.
Air Force starting to investigate and found a conspiracy and believe he was murder. So far the investigation was narrowed to the four generals, were they behind the one general getting killed.
Son of a high profile person in town, and with the widow returning here also. The funeral would be a big one with those generals coming.
A tense plot, questions of why, did he find something that would threaten the Generals careers. For Kelly so wanting a father, and answers,and because of an accident even Jane her step mother won’t recall.
Another tension, emotion story that will definitely keep you to the end.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grant was a cop & had a sister they lived with their aunt because of the death of their father. Kelly & Waynes dad married a woman name Jane (Sarah) he was killed in Afghanistan. The story gets confusing to me whose the real parents or step brothers and sisters and the real mom.. I found some parts of the story to be repeated a few times. Part of the story being how Harry really died while in the service. Also how Sarah was actually Grants real mom. Tho none have seen any of them for over 20 years. My thought best I could come out of the one situation was Grant & Kelly were step brother & sister, but ended up married????? Like I said confusing to keep track of.

[Erin Laramore · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable story with likeable characters. However, the characters didn't quite have the depth that I enjoy in other novels. While I enjoyed the story line itself, there were a few minor plot-holes (people being surprised when they're told something they already know, meetings about top secret operations happening in public....) and some grammatical issues that got in the way for me, which is why this is a 3-star review. I enjoyed the story well enough to finish it, but will not likely read further in the series.