This is a review for Not Forgotten by Donna Zadunajsky. I received a free copy of this book to review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and were in no way influenced by receiving this book free.
Not Forgotten starts out with Deanna Iris moving back to her childhood home (she literally bought the house she grew up in) with her teenage son. Her sister lives nearby and on her first night in the new house she gets a call from Officer Bates who informs her that there was a terrible accident involving her sister and son, they are both critically injured but alive. From the moment she meets their doctor, Dr. Sheldon, she knows that there is something familiar about her. Could she be the daughter she believed she lost 26 years ago? Before she can even begin to question what she's feeling, one of her few friends from her hometown is found murdered and she's told to go back where she belongs before she ends up dead like her friend. Should she keep digging and find out if her gut is right, that she has found her long lost daughter? Or should some secrets just stay buried?
From a plot standpoint, the book wasn't all that bad. The premise was solid. A young teenager gives birth to a daughter and after holding her for just a little while is told that the child has died. Jump ahead 26 years and the mother comes face to face with a woman who could very well be the child she was told had died. How would you react? What would you do? What are these secrets that someone is trying so hard to keep buried? What lengths will they go to keep Deanna from finding out the truth about her past? The added element of mystery and danger can make for a decent thrill ride.
Unfortunately, Not Forgotten doesn't live up to it's promise. The characters are very poorly drawn, very one-dimensional and you never really get to know any of them. There are no in depth descriptions of anyone. You don't really get an idea of what anyone looks like other than a few vague references to dark or blond hair. There is a start to a back story for each of the characters, but then nothing. I think more time could have been spent in building up the characters and giving them a real history, making them into people you can identify with. Make the reader feel empathy and sympathy for them. Help us want to cheer them on and want them to succeed. Make us hate the villain and want very bad things to happen to him.
Much of the book takes place in and around the hospital. The shocking lack of preparation and even basic medical knowledge was very off-putting. Two characters are horribly injured during a car accident and almost all you hear from everyone is that there is no more swelling, they will wake up soon. Very little explanation goes into what has happened to these two people and the types of tests and treatments that are being done to save their lives. There is also a moment where a character is injured and spends at least 2 days in recovery after having been brought back by EMT's shocking their heart. But amazingly after only a couple days treatment, this person has no IV's, no monitors of any kind attached to them and are able to somehow sneak out of the hospital for an extended period of time and no one notices?
Officer Bates is another example of poor preparation. He is a member of the police force, yet he seems to have very little knowledge of basic police procedure? There are times where you almost imagine yourself in some kind of small, one stoplight town that has one bumbling, but adorable, police officer on duty for the occasional shoplifter or unruly kid. He's goofy and creepy at the same time. I honestly didn't know what purpose he served until very late in the book and by then it was just a let down.
The dialog was stilted and moments that should have been serious or meaningful were ruined by a character making a statement that had absolutely no place in the situation that was at hand. There were a few very good moments between the characters, especially Deanna and Brice. Sadly those moments were few and far between.
I think this book had the potential to be very good. It needed to be longer to give the reader a chance to really get to know the characters, who they were, where they came from and what was motivating them. Unfortunately the book was far too short to give them a chance. Everything had a very rushed feel and I think if the pace was dialed down a bit, it would have been a more enjoyable read. The climax was not a satisfying one and I think it could have actually been great. There was a bit of surprise there when you finally learned the truth, but it got a bit weird and creepy instead of scary. And like many thrillers/mysteries, everything was tied in a neat little bow by the end and everyone lived happily ever after...but even that was rushed and unsatisfying.
I would give Not Forgotten two stars. It was kind of meh.
Not Forgotten on Amazon
Not Forgotten on Barnes and Noble
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