Echoes of Memory by Sara Driscoll

This one took me back to patients I cared for when once a nurse working in neurosurgical intensive care and later in a skilled nursing facility for mentally alert neurologically impaired patients…loved reading about someone with the strength to pursue a better life than some in my care managed to have.

What I liked:
* Quinn Flemming: survivor, dealing with TBI and residual amnesia, witness to a murder, brilliant coping skills, mad art skills, florist, driven, intriguing character that I really liked
* Detective Nura Reyes: dedicated, capable, intelligent, protective, methodical, team player, believed in and was there for Quinn, someone I would like on my side
* Will Dawsey: medical professional, certified brain injury specialist, runs support groups for TBI survivors, supportive, kind, intelligent, sharing, possible love interest for Quinn
* Some of the supporting characters: Detective Felip Cerveló, Jacinta, and Vivian
* The police procedural aspects of the story
* Quinn’s artistic abilities and how they played into providing clues
* That I was drawn in, felt part of the story, and cared about the outcome
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing
* The new information I learned about traumatic brain injuries and thinking about what goes into living with them
* That all the threads were tied up by the end of the story
* Wondering what will happen in the future

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* The evil some are willing to do and the impact it has on others

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )

Echoes of Memory by Sara Driscoll

Quinn survived a horrible attack that left her with traumatic brain injury causing memory loss. She struggles daily as her memory fades quickly. To help her she carries a notebook where she keeps notes on daily events.

Then one day behind the building Quinn works, she witnesses a murder. Taking notes rapidly and calling 911. The police on sight don't take her seriously, she is determined to be heard. But one woman (Detective Reyes) does believe her. Knowing her life is in danger, Quinn must do whatever it takes to stay safe.

The story moves at a steady pace with a likable lead character. Attention to detail, engaging dialog, twists, turns and surprises drew me in deep. A compelling plot with two likable female leads had me engrossed, anticipating more.

Overall I found Echoes of Memory quite enjoyable. I highly recommend to those who enjoy a good crime thriller/suspense. This was my first Sara Driscoll read, but certainly won't be my last. ( )

Echoes of Memory by Sara Driscoll, aka Jen J Danna
Mystery, thriller.
Several months earlier, San Diego florist Quinn Fleming survived a terrible attack which left her with post-traumatic amnesia. Her short term memory is gone. In order to remember anything from day to day, she keeps a notebook of hand written notes of things she needs to remember, which she then reads on the bus to and from work each day.
One night when closing the store, she witnesses a murder in the alley. She immediately writes down everything she saw in detail including impressions and calls the police. By the time they arrive though, there is no body and no evidence of a crime. When Quinn starts having flashbacks, Detective Reyes matches a body found washed up on a beach to Quinn’s notes and sketches. Quinn innocently starts investigating a logo she thinks she’s remembering from that night, which triggers a threat from the killer. He heard someone in the alley that night. Now he knows who else needs to be eliminated.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and an audiobook which was performed by Cynthia Farrell. The narration is fantastic with varying voices for the few main characters and impressive emotional scenes from the victim. Much of the book is high tension and terror which is clearly heard and felt while other parts include her therapy sessions where you hear tension, embarrassment and hope from Quinn.
For me, reading print is more visual and immersive while an audiobook is heard and felt. Both work wonderfully for this thriller.
I listened to the audiobook at a speed of 1.5 which more closely matches speech patterns in my area.

I couldn’t imagine having no memory of yesterday or this morning and having to refer to notes, let alone the shock of reading about witnessing a murder, and being in danger because of it. Talk about a wake up call!
A gripping and intense thriller.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher RB Media. ( )

Absorbing mystery thriller.

Quinn Fleming is trying to reclaim her life after a vicious nighttime attack left her with a traumatic brain injury. The trauma resulted in a type of amnesia that prevents her from forming new memories. Although she's back to work as a florist in a San Diego flower shop, she cannot function without her post it labels on every surface and her diary notebook in which she records every detail of her daily existence. Then she witnesses a murder in the alley behind the floral shop. In order not to forget what she saw in the dark, she records every detail immediately and gets the police involved. Fortunately, Quinn is an artist, and she pours any snippet of memory into sketches from dreams and flashes of insight. Unfortunately, someone else knows that she was there in the alley and saw what happened. That someone does not want Quinn to remember anything.

I enjoyed the story, especially the clinical details about TBI and this particular type of amnesia. The recovery from such an injury can be very arduous and frustrating. I liked how the main character approached her situation and all her efforts to keep making progress toward recovering lost memories and also to increase her ability to make new ones. The other characters in the book were also fleshed out and important to the narrative. The mystery was complicated and the pacing of the revelations as it was solved was well done.

Fortunately, I was able to listen to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book ARC -- both provided by the publisher. The narrator of the audiobook, Cynthia Farrell, did an excellent job of voicing and giving nuance to all the characters. both male and female. It definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book. ( )

“That was the past.”

How would you survive if you woke up each day with no memories of the past several months? That’s what Quinn faces daily after suffering a traumatic brain injury. And if that wasn’t bad enough she witnesses a murder, only to watch all evidence of that drive away when the murderer takes the body with him. The police don’t believe her. She doesn’t even believe it herself. Then she becomes the target. With the help of one determined police detective, a counselor who experienced a TBI himself and her handy dandy notebook of memories what follows is an extraordinarily suspenseful tale that gets more engrossing the further you get into it. ( )