Blame
by Jeff Abbott is a psychological thriller. The good news
for fans is that he writes the plot with the same intensity
as the Sam Capra novels. This stand-alone explores in a gripping
fashion the “what if mystery” that happens after
a car crash.
Abbott noted Sam Capra is on a sabbatical and “is taking
a well deserved time off. Before writing the Sam series I
wrote stand-alones. In Blame I rewrote scenes because the
body count was rising like in a Sam novel. I decided to make
this story’s suspense driven by emotion rather than
solely action. Wanting to write a book set in a similar place
to where I live, I spoke with a personal injury lawyer I know.
I then got the idea to write about someone that crashes, but
never knew what happened. I wanted to explore the emotional
and physical side of memory loss. What happens when someone
has to rely on getting the facts about their life from others
who could also edit what was told? In this story the unreliable
narrators were all the people around the amnesia victim.”
Two years ago Jane Norton and her lifelong friend and next-door
neighbor David Hall were in a car crash. Plunging off a cliff
Jane was blamed by those in the Austin, Texas suburb of Lakehaven
for his death. Due to the crash, she cannot remember anything
since her father’s death three years ago, having been
in a coma and now with complete amnesia. Besides having to
cope with David’s grief-stricken mother, Perri, Jane
must now find out who is Liv Danger and why are they threatening
her on the Internet. She does not know whom to trust since
everyone seems to have their own motivations including her
therapist, friends, even her mother. With her memory coming
back in bits and pieces she becomes convinced the car crash
was not an accident, that she didn’t intend to kill
David, and that everyone around her has been keeping something
from her.
Abbott related to the characters Jane and Perri, considering
them “one of my favorites. Jane starts off beaten down
but makes a decision to find out the truth. Perri begins with
anger, resentment, and feels powerless There is nothing more
awful than losing a child. Jane and Perri deal with a lot
of adversity, but end up finding a way to move forward. I
think throughout the book both had a personality reconstruction
where they had to make new choices as they sought closure
and some state of happiness.”
The story is filled with action and surprises that people
will not see coming. Readers will not want to put this novel
down, until they have the answers to the mystery of what happened
that night.
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