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Review: 'False Memory' by Dan Krokos (and where you can meet him)
In case there was any doubt, let me admit upfront that I am not in the target audience for Dan Krokos' "False Memory."
But I don't believe that Young Adult fiction should be limited to the young. After all, shouldn't reading be at least partly about expanding your worldview?
Which is not to say I didn't enjoy False Memory, I did. In case anyone thought I was between the ages of 12 and 18, I wanted to set the record straight. Ha!
"False Memory" has a lot going for it right from its opening. Appealing teen characters. Thriller plot. Set in Cleveland.
What more could a Northeast Ohio reader ask for?
Meet Miranda North, she's in the food court at a mall. That's about all she knows when the story opens. Things quickly spiral out of control when she tries to unravel the mystery of her identity. She panics. People around her die.She doesn't really want to trust the teen boy who comes to her aid, but what choice does she have?
Soon she - and we - learn that both teens are part of a group specially trained to use their mental powers to destroy an entire city.
And that's only the beginning.
Krokos moves the action along at a fast pace, while raising questions about the nature of memory, identity and family.
As Miranda notes when she begins to remember snippets of her past:
Memory is about much more than knowing you were someplace. It's about recalling the smells and sounds and how you felt when you were there. Take that away and are you you?
Maybe I'll learn more in the next chronicle of Miranda's journey.
Maybe you could learn more from Krokos himself.
He'll be at the Bouchercon Mystery Convention in Cleveland Oct. 4- 7.
And he'll be at Barnes & Noble, 28801 Chagrin Blvd., Woodmere at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 6.
See you in the stacks!
- Tricia Ambrose l @TriciaAmbrose l tambrose@news-herald.com
But I don't believe that Young Adult fiction should be limited to the young. After all, shouldn't reading be at least partly about expanding your worldview?
Which is not to say I didn't enjoy False Memory, I did. In case anyone thought I was between the ages of 12 and 18, I wanted to set the record straight. Ha!"False Memory" has a lot going for it right from its opening. Appealing teen characters. Thriller plot. Set in Cleveland.
What more could a Northeast Ohio reader ask for?
Meet Miranda North, she's in the food court at a mall. That's about all she knows when the story opens. Things quickly spiral out of control when she tries to unravel the mystery of her identity. She panics. People around her die.She doesn't really want to trust the teen boy who comes to her aid, but what choice does she have?
Soon she - and we - learn that both teens are part of a group specially trained to use their mental powers to destroy an entire city.
And that's only the beginning.
Krokos moves the action along at a fast pace, while raising questions about the nature of memory, identity and family.
As Miranda notes when she begins to remember snippets of her past:
"When I wake, I feel empty and full at the same time; the memories fade but remain inside me. The little glimpse of my past leaves me wanting more.
So I grab at one again, the last memory in the diner. I'm there in the booth, but I can't remember how I felt."
Memory is about much more than knowing you were someplace. It's about recalling the smells and sounds and how you felt when you were there. Take that away and are you you?
Maybe I'll learn more in the next chronicle of Miranda's journey.
Maybe you could learn more from Krokos himself.
He'll be at the Bouchercon Mystery Convention in Cleveland Oct. 4- 7.
And he'll be at Barnes & Noble, 28801 Chagrin Blvd., Woodmere at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 6.
See you in the stacks!
- Tricia Ambrose l @TriciaAmbrose l tambrose@news-herald.com
Labels: book review, Dan Krokos, fiction, young adult
posted by Tricia Ambrose at
8:30 AM
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