What could be better on a cold winter’s night (or a rainy one, as the case may be) than a good suspense novel? One of my favorite genres, it’s not one that I’ve had a chance to read much of in the past year or so, which makes each opportunity more tantalizing. The author is one I’ve heard very positive comments about, and I knew that I had to find out for myself whether or not I would agree. Suspense is often a difficult category because there are so many tropes and hackneyed plots that once you’ve read enough of them, you can recognize where a story is heading within the first chapter or two. Not always, though!
A dynamic psychological thriller, Alana Terry’s “Forget Me Now” begins in medias res and continues with unrelenting action. Centering around recent high-school graduate Mia, this story explores the aftermath of a traumatic brain injury that has resulted in an inability to make new memories. Unfortunately, Mia also has amnesia regarding the cause of her trauma, which puts her life in danger. While this is not a new theme, Terry infuses it with originality by using a unique first-person narration in which the narrative reads like a diary. Mia directly addresses the audience, but in a style reminiscent of a diary format (albeit lacking dated entries) rather than a person-to-person conversation. As such, more personal details and thoughts populate the story, immersing readers in an increasingly disquieting chain of events.
“Forget Me Now” provides an adrenaline-fueled reading experience that is appropriately discomfiting without crossing over into the territory of a horror novel. Terry adroitly constructs a focused backstory for Mia that continues to the final chapter, and most chapters end on a gripping note. Flashbacks occur throughout the narrative and are not delineated from the rest of the narrative, which I would normally take issue with, but in this case it works well. The same can be said of scene repetitions, which are necessary to the plot. Heavily laced with foreshadowing, this novel will raise the hairs on your neck from page one. While I correctly identified the perpetrator in chapter one, the details and execution of the plot kept me engaged, as did attempting to figure out whether Mia is a reliable narrator: “Maybe I’m not me at all. How can you be yourself when you’ve forgotten half of the things that made you you?” Morever, the faith element gently underpins the story, strengthening toward the denouement and leaving readers with sage advice regardless of life’s vicissitudes: “I need to remember when life gets hard to look past my own circumstances. To see past my own fears and pain. To remember that no matter how bleak life gets, God is good, and God is with me.”
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Celebrate Lit and was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are my own.