Amnesia mystery will keep readers guessing

Blame Jeff Abbott Grand Central Publishing

The girl who can’t remember will be forced to seek answers she doesn’t want to find in Blame, Jeff Abbott’s latest thriller.

Two years earlier, a car crash killed her friend David and left Jane Norton with no memory of that fateful evening. At first her friends and members of the community were sympathetic, but when a note was discovered in her handwriting that appeared to be a suicide note, she was shunned and vilified. On the anniversary of the incident, she receives a cryptic message that says, “I know what really happened. I know what you don’t remember.”

At first Jane is hopeful, but soon she discovers that whoever knows what occurred that evening doesn’t have her best interests at heart. Graffiti is scrawled on David’s tombstone and one of the rescuers that evening barely escapes from her home after an arsonist tries to kill her.

Jane cannot recall the events of that night, and the more she learns, the more confused she becomes. Can those she considered her friends be trusted? What prompted her to jump in a car with a friend, but not her boyfriend?

The deceptions and secrets run rampant as a young woman seeks answers. David died that night, but Jane’s life ended as well.

Abbott does a stellar job of juggling various conspiracies and story points to keep the reader on edge and baffled up to the last page. With a large cast of characters and many moving parts, it would be easy for Blame to be confusing and hard to follow, but this story is in the hands of a true thriller master. And the payoff is glorious.

The Associated Press