Synopsis/blurb....
Cryer once had another name, but he can't remember it.
The man he used to be was stabbed in the head by an assailant. After months of catatonia Cryer awakens in a mental facility to find that his former life is almost completely forgotten. He knows his wife and daughter have been murdered - he saw them die moments before his own assault - but his shattered mind is incapable of retaining their names. Or even his own.
Now Cryer is free again and trying to track down an elusive killer through his own unknown past. But how do you investigate the murders of your loved ones when you can't remember them? When you have no idea who your friends or enemies were? Where you lived and worked? And what secrets you might have once had and failed to keep?
And how is he supposed to deal with the little man who keeps crawling in and out of his skull?
Cryer is a nobody now, but that won't stop him from finding a vicious murderer and making him pay.
Praise for The Nobody
THE NOBODY is a dangerous exploration into the mind and soul of man. Piccirilli’s beautiful prose allows us to take a peek into the abyss of our consciousness and shine a light into those places that warmth has long ago forgot. You cannot read this book and not be changed. --Larry Roberts - Bloodletting Press
A compelling, thrilling novella which sees a man recovering physically from a knife to the skull, bereft of family and all his memories, seeking to re-discover who he was and what was taken from him, before plotting to find the assailant and exact some revenge.
We follow Cryer's journey from the attack and murders and grievous injury, to recuperation and physical recovery, the object of police suspicion and hostility, to cunning investigator.
It's an incrediby sad tale of loss, with the over-riding quest for revenge the sole raison d'etre for living. There's no doubting Cryer's motivation here and it's an easy decision to jump on board and root for him.
Along the way we learn his former habits, his career and lifestyle, his weaknesses and failings, and his bond with his daughter which helps unlock the key to his quest.
Gripping, emotional, dark and violent. Very, very good.
4.5 from 5
The Nobody was previously an unknown (to me at least) Piccirilli offering. I'm glad I discovered it courtesy of Crossroad Press and Audible. The Dead Past and Sorrow's Crown have been enjoyed recently.
Read - (listened to) October, 2020
Published - 2009
Page count - 92 (2 hrs 14 mins)
Source - Audible purchase
Format - Audible
This does sound like a very sad story, Col. But it sounds so very absorbing, too. That sort of recovery, memory loss, and so on, are hard to write about without getting melodramatic, so I'm glad you don't feel this was overdone. And it is an interesting setup for the story.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't quite sure what I was expecting Margot, but it certainly exceeded my hopes for the book.
DeleteI haven't read it but it sounds like a fabulous and moving work, I love Piccirilli and this has all the hallmarks of his style.
ReplyDeleteI think you might like it, Cullen. I'm enjoying delving into some of his earlier works.
DeleteCol, from what I have read about Tom Piccirilli's writing, I believe he is an author who deserves to be read.
ReplyDeletePrashant, definitely.
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