The Forgotten

I always love to figure out how an author lands on a book title. Don’t you?  Sometimes the title is very straight and tells you exactly what you are getting. Other times I sit there scratching my head wondering where the author or for that matter the publisher came up with it.  Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is one of those for me. and I have talked with English Teachers, fellow readers even people who swear they actually get it and I still don't.  If you feel confident enough, then please enlighten me.

Titles can be mysterious like that. Sometimes the meaning hides in a single line or a subtle theme you only catch on a second read. Other times the connection is so faint you need a literary decoder ring to see it. But with this book, the reason for the title hits you right from the beginning. There’s no guessing, no symbolism to unravel, no secret handshake required. It’s refreshingly obvious, and honestly, a little satisfying. 

John Puller is back.  We first met him in Zero Day (see my blog for a recap). and if you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend that you do.  In this new installment, the trouble begins when Puller’s father—a highly decorated General now suffering from dementia—receives a letter from Puller’s Aunt Betsy. She isn’t specific, but whatever she writes is enough to agitate the General so much that he demands to see his son immediately. The letter’s message is sufficient enough to get Puller to visit her in of all places Paradise, Florida. 

The letter’s vague but unsettling message sends Puller straight to Betsy’s home in, of all places, Paradise, Florida. But by the time he arrives, Betsy is dead—and she’s not the only one. So much for living in Paradise. And don’t worry, none of this spoils the story. These revelations unfold within the first few pages, and the real mystery only deepens from there. 

The Police and the Medical Examiner are rule it an accident, but Puller is not buying, not for a second. He launches his own investigation and what he uncovers is shocking—both in what he finds and in who he has to “take care of” to get to the truth behind these murders.  

If you liked Zero Day you will like definitely like The Forgotten. If you read this first, definitely do yourself a favor and go back and read Zero Day.