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Murder in Memory
He can’t get rid of the excruciating headaches—or the horrible fantasies that accompany them. Tortured by violent obsessions, he hopes that acting them out will silence them. But it doesn’t.
He knows they will be looking for him. In their small college town, everyone has heard about the killing. What he needs is an insurance policy. Hating himself, he pins his crimes on a hapless the impressionable Dr. Jon Evans. Using hypnosis, he plants false memories of committing the murders in Evans’s head.
A second murder goes awry when his victim nearly escapes. Feeling worse than ever, he leaves for the Christmas break to see his wife and daughter. Finding no relief with them, he returns to Harper to complete his indoctrination of Jon.
In Harper, the police chief has followed the leads to Dr. Evans. But things don’t quite add up, and he begins to suspect someone else. The killer, meanwhile, sets his final plan in action. This time he has more than one victim in his sights—and even if the truth comes out, it may be too late.
He knows they will be looking for him. In their small college town, everyone has heard about the killing. What he needs is an insurance policy. Hating himself, he pins his crimes on a hapless the impressionable Dr. Jon Evans. Using hypnosis, he plants false memories of committing the murders in Evans’s head.
A second murder goes awry when his victim nearly escapes. Feeling worse than ever, he leaves for the Christmas break to see his wife and daughter. Finding no relief with them, he returns to Harper to complete his indoctrination of Jon.
In Harper, the police chief has followed the leads to Dr. Evans. But things don’t quite add up, and he begins to suspect someone else. The killer, meanwhile, sets his final plan in action. This time he has more than one victim in his sights—and even if the truth comes out, it may be too late.
220 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 14, 2017
26 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 11, 2021
Set in a small town centered less on industry and more on the college located there, Mike Thorne opens Murder in Memory by explicitly stating that the novel takes place in 1983 and reminding the reader that this is before forensics, cellphones, and other modern technology. Located in the deep South, the town of Harper is brought to life and shaped by the characters from many of their own points of view. The local police force scrambles to find the killer after multiple coeds fall to the killer, the first in an even more gruesome manner than the next.
Like most murder mysteries, the author introduces the killer and the first victim perishes in the first few pages. However, this novel is more of a thriller than a traditional murder mystery. The identity of the murderer is fully revealed well before the halfway point of the novel, let alone at the end. After the reveal, the focus changes from a "whodunnit" to a how is this guy going to try to get away with it. Plagued with debilitating headaches, whether a cure will come in time also plays a part. One of my favorite lines is used to describe these migraines: "an octopus spreading its tentacles through his brain."
Scene descriptions were wonderful, but lengthy. For a small town, an extraordinary amount of people have died within its citizens' lifetimes. More people died in the novel to accidental deaths than to the killer. That is not even counting how many times a character would go to a new place and reminisce about the multiple people that had perished there.
As stated above, the novel is written with alternating points of view for various characters, sometimes changing with the chapter, sometimes changing multiple times within the same chapter. I did not personally care for this structuring because the trend of which character receives this special type of focus gives away much of the remaining suspense that was not already taken by the killer's reveal. In addition, some of the different points of view highlighted the fact there was little to no growth for characters within the novel.
The scenes felt more fleshed out than the characters playing in them. Each one almost fit in a box: unsure detective, wily doctor, timid professor, playboy cop, fat girl, and unfaithful wife. Other than the ones that perish, not much changes. In particular, the way that women are portrayed in the novel frustrated me more than a few times. The only one not obsessed with sex or being in a relationship with a man is the girl too big to apparently be thinking about anything other than food.
There are a handful of errors located in the novel, mostly incorrect commas and a few misspellings. Yet, one glaring error is that one character, Dave Beasley, inexplicably becomes Dave Parker in the latter third of the novel. These issues, in addition to my issues with character emotion (or lack thereof) led me to ultimately give this novel 2 out of 5 stars. I appreciate the intriguing premise that Mike Thorne has offered here, but I think too much was given away too early. I do not recommend this book to children due to the explicit descriptions of murder and rape. If you like unconventional thrillers, or are interested in theoretical psychology, you should enjoy Murder in Memory.
Like most murder mysteries, the author introduces the killer and the first victim perishes in the first few pages. However, this novel is more of a thriller than a traditional murder mystery. The identity of the murderer is fully revealed well before the halfway point of the novel, let alone at the end. After the reveal, the focus changes from a "whodunnit" to a how is this guy going to try to get away with it. Plagued with debilitating headaches, whether a cure will come in time also plays a part. One of my favorite lines is used to describe these migraines: "an octopus spreading its tentacles through his brain."
Scene descriptions were wonderful, but lengthy. For a small town, an extraordinary amount of people have died within its citizens' lifetimes. More people died in the novel to accidental deaths than to the killer. That is not even counting how many times a character would go to a new place and reminisce about the multiple people that had perished there.
As stated above, the novel is written with alternating points of view for various characters, sometimes changing with the chapter, sometimes changing multiple times within the same chapter. I did not personally care for this structuring because the trend of which character receives this special type of focus gives away much of the remaining suspense that was not already taken by the killer's reveal. In addition, some of the different points of view highlighted the fact there was little to no growth for characters within the novel.
The scenes felt more fleshed out than the characters playing in them. Each one almost fit in a box: unsure detective, wily doctor, timid professor, playboy cop, fat girl, and unfaithful wife. Other than the ones that perish, not much changes. In particular, the way that women are portrayed in the novel frustrated me more than a few times. The only one not obsessed with sex or being in a relationship with a man is the girl too big to apparently be thinking about anything other than food.
There are a handful of errors located in the novel, mostly incorrect commas and a few misspellings. Yet, one glaring error is that one character, Dave Beasley, inexplicably becomes Dave Parker in the latter third of the novel. These issues, in addition to my issues with character emotion (or lack thereof) led me to ultimately give this novel 2 out of 5 stars. I appreciate the intriguing premise that Mike Thorne has offered here, but I think too much was given away too early. I do not recommend this book to children due to the explicit descriptions of murder and rape. If you like unconventional thrillers, or are interested in theoretical psychology, you should enjoy Murder in Memory.
March 21, 2018
Murder in Memory is a standalone novel and deals with murder and a possible hypnotic link to them.
Two young girls are murdered horribly on campus and Grady Noland is doing his best to solve the case. As with many small town murders, secret details are leaked and shared. Snippets of info lead Grady to suspect Jon Evans, a college professor whose wife may or may not be having an affair. Jon seeks psychological counselling and hypnosis from Henry Andrews on a regular basis, and Henry seems eager to share some info about Jon to the police. So begins a tale of real and implanted memories and the effects it has on the justice system.
I must say that I enjoyed this book a lot. Apart from some silly editing and punctuation mistakes, it was an interesting idea. Even though the murderer is revealed relatively early on, it does keep you guessing until then. The idea that something like this could happen is quite scary and makes you think about how little we know of the brain’s workings. The happenings to the members of the county and how they tie in together are typical of smaller communities and many conversations between spouses made me smile. The ending was clever as even though you suspect it would happen, you sort of hoped it wouldn’t. A very enjoyable, well-written detective novel.
Two young girls are murdered horribly on campus and Grady Noland is doing his best to solve the case. As with many small town murders, secret details are leaked and shared. Snippets of info lead Grady to suspect Jon Evans, a college professor whose wife may or may not be having an affair. Jon seeks psychological counselling and hypnosis from Henry Andrews on a regular basis, and Henry seems eager to share some info about Jon to the police. So begins a tale of real and implanted memories and the effects it has on the justice system.
I must say that I enjoyed this book a lot. Apart from some silly editing and punctuation mistakes, it was an interesting idea. Even though the murderer is revealed relatively early on, it does keep you guessing until then. The idea that something like this could happen is quite scary and makes you think about how little we know of the brain’s workings. The happenings to the members of the county and how they tie in together are typical of smaller communities and many conversations between spouses made me smile. The ending was clever as even though you suspect it would happen, you sort of hoped it wouldn’t. A very enjoyable, well-written detective novel.
September 8, 2018
Hmmm. Interesting.
While I am not a fan of the crude language, I will admit that the hypnosis part is very fascinating. I shake my head at the very thought of a well-educated man abusing his knowledge to plant memories of his own brutal crimes into a patient who had problems of his own. What a shocking abuse of trust.
I think what surprised me most was at the end. The patient ends up being arrested, convicted, and incarcerated for the crimes of someone else...and he is happy with his new life!! It's a stark contrast from what I would expect. Most people would be appealing or fighting for justice. Not Jon. He's happy. No more teaching. He actually enjoys his new status as "The Professor" among his fellow inmates. While this novel is fair and the ending is surpringly good, I don't think it is something I would go out of my way to read again.
While I am not a fan of the crude language, I will admit that the hypnosis part is very fascinating. I shake my head at the very thought of a well-educated man abusing his knowledge to plant memories of his own brutal crimes into a patient who had problems of his own. What a shocking abuse of trust.
I think what surprised me most was at the end. The patient ends up being arrested, convicted, and incarcerated for the crimes of someone else...and he is happy with his new life!! It's a stark contrast from what I would expect. Most people would be appealing or fighting for justice. Not Jon. He's happy. No more teaching. He actually enjoys his new status as "The Professor" among his fellow inmates. While this novel is fair and the ending is surpringly good, I don't think it is something I would go out of my way to read again.
February 28, 2019
Review coming soon!
January 19, 2025
This was an interesting plot and sucked me in initially. The story was lacking in some areas but overall it was an okay read.
Read
April 17, 2018Have you ever watched a science fiction movie that had some of the coolest futuristic gadgets, and wishing you had one? In 1979, while sitting in a movie theater watching “Men in Black,” Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent J (Will Smith) used the Neuralyzer, to erase and implant new memories into those affected. It’s a good thing this only happens in science fiction movies, because this capability could be dangerous in the hands of the wrong person. In Mike Thorne’s “Murder in Memory,” fiction becomes reality and what may seem real, really isn’t.
In the small town of Harper, where the main function of the police department consists of writing parking tickets, police chief Nolan Grady, has the difficult task of catching a killer. Two college students have been brutally murdered on campus. As chief Nolan searches for clues, the lives of the deranged Dr. Henry Andrews - who unethically implants false memories into his patient; Jon Evans – the passive English instructor who is married to conniving Doris - who is cheating on him with David Parker - another policeman, are intertwined in this suspenseful thriller. The author skillfully paints a picture of a typical small town where the community is centered around the college, everyone knows everyone, the spread of gossip is swift, and secrets are nonexistent. The murderer can’t stop killing but knows his time is running out, he is bound to be recognized. A calculating plan to throw suspension on someone else, Dr. Andrews (not a spoiler, because the author reveals the killer by the middle of the book) implants false memories of murder into Jon Evans. In addition, a few suttle hints from Doris, insulating that Jon maybe the killer, has Nolan searching down the wrong path.
“Murder in Memory” is a fast-paced book, with well thought out characters, and a few twists and turns, this book will keep you wanting more. Not a typical murder mystery where the killer is revealed at the end, the author creatively gives the reader a surprise ending. For all the mystery sleuths who love a good, who-done-it novel, I highly recommend this book.
I enjoyed this book because the true to life characters that the author created, allowed me to connect with the story. The fast read and dynamics used in creating attributes associated with a small college town helped guide this book along. What I enjoyed the most about this book was the ironic twist at the end of the book. In spite of the killer’s identity being introduced early on, the author crafted a web of suspense that kept my attention.
There were a few grammatical errors found in this book but did not affect the rating of 3 out of 4 that was given. The one thing that I did not like about this book was the author’s reasoning behind referencing each characters name in a every conversation. It was as if the author was afraid the readers would not remember who was having the conversation. For this reason along, I could not give it a higher rating. All in all, a good piece of work.
In the small town of Harper, where the main function of the police department consists of writing parking tickets, police chief Nolan Grady, has the difficult task of catching a killer. Two college students have been brutally murdered on campus. As chief Nolan searches for clues, the lives of the deranged Dr. Henry Andrews - who unethically implants false memories into his patient; Jon Evans – the passive English instructor who is married to conniving Doris - who is cheating on him with David Parker - another policeman, are intertwined in this suspenseful thriller. The author skillfully paints a picture of a typical small town where the community is centered around the college, everyone knows everyone, the spread of gossip is swift, and secrets are nonexistent. The murderer can’t stop killing but knows his time is running out, he is bound to be recognized. A calculating plan to throw suspension on someone else, Dr. Andrews (not a spoiler, because the author reveals the killer by the middle of the book) implants false memories of murder into Jon Evans. In addition, a few suttle hints from Doris, insulating that Jon maybe the killer, has Nolan searching down the wrong path.
“Murder in Memory” is a fast-paced book, with well thought out characters, and a few twists and turns, this book will keep you wanting more. Not a typical murder mystery where the killer is revealed at the end, the author creatively gives the reader a surprise ending. For all the mystery sleuths who love a good, who-done-it novel, I highly recommend this book.
I enjoyed this book because the true to life characters that the author created, allowed me to connect with the story. The fast read and dynamics used in creating attributes associated with a small college town helped guide this book along. What I enjoyed the most about this book was the ironic twist at the end of the book. In spite of the killer’s identity being introduced early on, the author crafted a web of suspense that kept my attention.
There were a few grammatical errors found in this book but did not affect the rating of 3 out of 4 that was given. The one thing that I did not like about this book was the author’s reasoning behind referencing each characters name in a every conversation. It was as if the author was afraid the readers would not remember who was having the conversation. For this reason along, I could not give it a higher rating. All in all, a good piece of work.
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