Watch Me Disappear
A Novel
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
A fractured mind and a race against time…
Tom Mondrian is watching his life ebb away directing traffic as a police constable—until a bullet to the brain changes everything. With a new unusual perspective, including an inability to recognize faces and absolutely no filter between what he thinks and what he says, Tom finds his career is suddenly shifting gear.
Tom’s new condition gives him an advantage over other police officers, allowing him to notice details that they can’t see. Now, with his new insight and unwavering determination, Tom is intent on saving three missing girls, before more start to disappear…
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tom Mondrian, the youngish narrator of this intriguing psychological thriller from Armstrong (The Watcher), is beginning his "latest career experiment" as a London police community support officer, a job he already finds intensely boring, when he's shot in the head while on traffic duty. Three bullet fragments remain in his brain, resulting in difficulties in using words and interpreting what he observes. When he asks his neurologist if he'll ever return to normal, the doctor replies, "Is normal something to be desired?" Following his initial treatment, he returns to work—a public relations gesture on the part of the police department—and is assigned a partner who's essentially there to keep Tom, who has little impulse control, out of trouble. When a teenage girl goes missing, Tom is told to leave the investigation to others, but he's unable to stop himself. Two more teens disappear, and Tom's search for answers leads to disturbing realizations. The tension rises as Tom struggles to overcome his aphasia and slowly gets better at communicating with others. In contrast to the many crime novels whose protagonists have paranormal brain powers, this one stands out for its realism.
