Mr. Klavan, you've got some explaining to do.
This book was slightly unsatisfying. Sure, it's only the first book in a series, but at the end of the book, we're left with more questions then answers. Right from the beginning, we are faced with a question; what is the books main character, Charlie West, doing strapped to a chair in a room he's never been in before? Why does it look like he has been brutally beaten and burned? Why can't he remember going to this room, or who the people there are? Neither Charlie or the reader ever find all the answers. All he can remember is that yesterday night he went to bed as usual, and then woke up in the room. And unfortunately for him, someone has just ordered his death.
But as it turns out, it wasn't just his transportation to this weird room that he's forgotten. In fact, it seems that he has forgotten an entire year! And more importantly, that he was accused of murdering his best friend in that past year, and then escaped the police. He also, it seems, somehow got a girlfriend in that last year (which seems very odd, considering he supposedly killed his friend the day before his memory cut out. That would mean that he was probably arrested in the next few days, giving him little time to call his crush up, become her boyfriend, and still have time to talk about there life plans and mutually declare there love for one another).
Now, this isn't your usual memory loss story, where everyone else is the same way, or someone wiped his memory for some diabolical reason. No, in this novel, our main character has lost his memory and not a single soul, not even the people trying to kill him at the beginning, seem to believe him or have a clue why it's gone. Huh.
Aside from that convenient memory loss, there are a few plot holes in this book. There was the aforementioned getting of the girl. As well (Spoiler Alert; do not read this next paragraph if you plan on reading the book!), he is supposedly a part of a terrorist group trying to destroy America, (he doesn't remember this) but that same terrorist group is... Trying to kill him? It turns out that the people who had strapped him to the chair in the beginning of the book were part of that same terrorist group he was in. What the heck? As well, that group built this huge fortress for there operations, where they were keeping Charlie. Isolated as it may be, wouldn't the authorities eventually find this thing and wonder why there was a large, uncharted fortress in the middle of the woods?
And there were a couple other things that bothered me, on a deeper level then the ones mentioned above. The main one? The terrorist organization featured in the book, the homelanders, are "Americans, recruited by the Islamists. Because (they're) not foreigners (and so) don't draw suspicion." and that, I think, is the root of my discomfort about this book. I mean... in the book they're always talking about the Islamic extremists who are all trying to destroy the US, and all that jazz. But I mean... every religion has it's extremists, some people who take it a little two far or interpret the religion wrong. If you ask me, religion shouldn't even be mentioned when talking about people. There are terrorists all over the world, but I don't think that any of them are the way they are entirely because of there religion.
Also, the quote above says that Americans are recruited into the homelanders because they are not foreign and so don't draw suspicion. I really hope that that doesn't mean that people look at people who arn't from there country and are instantly suspicious of them. That would be a sad world.
But to backtrack a little bit, I doubt that the author actually means it that way. I mean, it's not like he said "people who arn't Christian are evil!" or anything like that at all. Still, that and a few other quotes from the book bothered me.
The book was, however, still a good book. It was fast paced and well written. And I like the authors writing style; he also wrote If We Survive, which attracted me to this book. I also love this type of book, where the characters are trying to escape from the authorities. And perhaps the most telling argument for the "I liked this book" cause is the fact that I finished it within 48 hours. I do not read books I don't like that fast!
So give it a try, if this kind of book is your cup of tea. An added bonus is that it is a part of a series, so if your out of books to read, this will keep you for a long while. Maybe they'll actually explain some things!
Thanks for reading!
-Mark
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