Mortal Memory

(Paperback)

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Description

What did my father do He killed my mother, my sister, and my brother, then waited to kill me...'

Steve Farris is an architect who lives with his wife and son in the suburbs. His world changes drastically when he is contacted by Rebecca Soltero, who wants to interview him for a book she's writing about men who murdered their families. For in 1959 Steve's father shot his wife and their teenage daughter and son, then vanished.

Nine-year-old Stevie, desperately missing his gifted older sister, managed to block out all thoughts about the deaths. Now Rebecca lures him into talking, and he is forced to acknowledge the questions that have haunted his subconscious mind: did his father mean to kill him, too What secret did his father and his sister share The novel shifts back and forth in time, from the present to the years before Steve's birth to the immediate aftermath of the deaths, but always comes back to the horrible deed - the excruciating how and the unanswerable why.

Reviews

'Cook builds a family portrait in which violence seems both impossible and inevitable. It defies expectations ... surprising and devastating' Chicago Tribune. * Chicago Tribune *

Author Bio

Thomas H. Cook was born in Alabama in 1947. He has been nominated for the Edgar Award seven times in five different categories, winning the Best Novel category for The Chatham School Affair. He was also shortlisted for the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for Red Leaves. He lives in New York and on Cape Cod.