Recall: The Man Who Forgot Who He Was

by Stephen Leather

You’ve woken up in a hospital bed with no memory of who you are or how you came to be hurt.

But the police are at hand to fill you in on what happened. You were in a car accident. And they have found a dead body in the boot.

You want to tell them that you’re an innocent man, that you’re not a murderer, but you don’t know why you were in the car or where you were going. You can’t even remember your own name.

Then a mysterious woman arrives, offering you a way out of your predicament. All you have to do is trust her.



Praise for Stephen

He has the uncanny knack of producing plots that are all too real — Daily Mail

The sheer impetus of his storytelling is damned hard to resist. — Daily Express

A master of the thriller genre. — Irish Times

298 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 18, 2025

About the author

Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. For much of 2011 his self-published eBooks - including The Bestseller, The Basement, Once Bitten and Dreamer's Cat - dominated the UK eBook bestseller lists and sold more than half a million copies. The Basement topped the Kindle charts in the UK and the US, and in total he has sold more than two million eBooks. His bestselling book The Chinaman was filmed as The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan and grossing more than $100 million.

Reviews

[Nick Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The excellent Stephen Leather gives us a thriller with a twist. This is self published and not part of his various series.
Here we have a guy who wakes up in hospital with total amnesia about who he is and how he got there. Turns out it was a car crash, the only potential problem is the body in the boot.
So we are with our amnesiac, learning about him as he does himself as the wider picture unravels. Plenty of the thrills and action we would expect from Stephen Leather with a definite twist or two.
Despite the diversion from his normal series and characters, Mr Leather never fails to deliver, and this is great fun.

[C.P. Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t keen on the first-person narration initially, and it took me a little while to settle into Recall. Once I did, though, I found it worked well for a story in which the central character is struggling to discover who he is and whom he can trust. Sharing his uncertainty made the mystery more absorbing.

Stephen Leather keeps the story moving, with enough suspense to keep me wanting to read on. The mystery gives the book a strong pull, and I enjoyed trying to piece things together alongside the narrator.

Despite my early reservations, this turned into a thoroughly enjoyable read. A gripping thriller that I’d happily recommend.

[BrianMorley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a page turning book this is, it twists and turns and nobody is who they seem ,
I couldn’t put it down but at the same time didn’t want to read so fast as I didn’t want the book to finish
Well done Stephen

[Barondestructo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this one a tad clunky.

[Allan Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant work from start to finish.

[Mrs Dianne Donaghy · Rating 5 out of 5]

few mistakes

Proof reader missed a few mistakes. Nevertheless a believable and thrilling read.
Never tire of reading Stephen Leather novels.
On to the next…….

[kevin reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely enjoyed that read from Stephen Leather, and was hanging on to my seat to see what the outcome would be..

[Liz k · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was awful, slow start, constant repetition and the ending was ridiculously far fetchec

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! Twist after twist after twist

[Nick Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The excellent Stephen Leather gives us a thriller with a twist. This is self published and not part of his various series.
Here we have a guy who wakes up in hospital with total amnesia about who he is and how he got there. Turns out it was a car crash, the only potential problem is the body in the boot.
So we are with our amnesiac, learning about him as he does himself as the wider picture unravels. Plenty of the thrills and action we would expect from Stephen Leather with a definite twist or two.
Despite the diversion from his normal series and characters, Mr Leather never fails to deliver, and this is great fun.