3.5 stars. Pretty engrossing read about two amnesiacs finding love after losing everything. ( )

Very well written novel about a man who lost his memory. It was first person POV and the atmosphere is partly quite bleak.
As the memory loss is more or less permanent, the book is more about finding out who he is now and for the rest of his life, although Connor does look into some events from his "old" life.
He finds a friend and lover in a guy from his support group who has also lost his memory.
I very much liked how they found love together and build a good life from the scraps they have.

What I didn't like: the very unplausible plot.

But I will definetly check out the author's next books. ( )

Easily one of my favorite books of 2012. I love finding a new author with a strong voice and a voice I want to read again and again.

The previous reviewer and synopsis already does a great job at providing the story outline. This is a fantastic mystery and a wonderful love story, told in Connor's first person narrative beginning as he awakes in the hospital with retrograde amnesia.

The sense of place is masterfully told. No character here is conveniently wealthy: no helicopters, no town cars, no black Amex cards, or rich relatives. Connor and his fellow amnesiacs meet at Amnesiacs Anonymous in a run-down city building. Grotty flats, desperate job searches, and foraging for food create a stark atmosphere. I could smell the oily crips.

Two of my favorite descriptions in the book:

"It was a gray day, one of those mornings when the sky is the colour of old pants and pavements, the walls and the very air is damp and old smelling, like the inside of a washing machine."

And,

"I...felt a shift, like when alcohol first detonates in the stomach, striking out via veins to the extremities, numbing, burning, making the heart beat more noticeably."

There is a fine mystery with lots of switchbacks. An incomparable love story. And a fantastic twist. The characters and the story haunted me even while I was at work, and I couldn't wait to squirrel away somewhere with the kindle and get back into it.

This book needs to be in print and passed around often. I anxiously await more from Goodwin. ( )

When Connor wakes up in a hospital bed, he realises that the accident that broke his leg has also wiped his memory. His wife is a stranger, his dead parents just a photograph, and his home an unfamiliar, shabby place that smells of dog.

At a local support group for amnesiacs, Connor meets Nate, a fellow sufferer of retrograde amnesia. Nate has no memory, and no idea how he came to lose it, but he remains easy going, and Connor quickly considers the foulmouthed, chain-smoking Nate a friend.

But, when Nate makes a pass at him, Connor starts to question everything he’s learnt about himself. Is he really a happily married 32 year old, or are secrets being kept from him?

Who is the mysterious ‘Coop’ whose cryptic emails are still in his inbox? And why, on the day of his accident, was he driving with another man in his car? A man whose life, and death, are still a touchy subject at home.

When what you don’t know really can hurt you, who can you trust? A stranger? Or a stranger you’ve lived with for 9 years?
Very interesting Premise that is well executed. Finely drawn character's drive the plot and gain your sympathy for Connor.
And a crafty mystery to boot. ( )