About the Book
From critically acclaimed author Jon Bassoff, The Memory Ward is a haunting Russian doll of a novel about one man's attempt to discover what's real and what isn't ...
They say it's always beautiful in Bethlam, Nevada. No place you'd rather live. The people are friendly, if a little nosy, and there's no crime to speak of. Life is pretty perfect.
But postal worker Hank Davies has started to suspect something is off in this idyllic little town. And he's certain of that when he realizes the letters he's been delivering are just blank pages.
Hank isn't the only one who's noticed the oddities in Bethlam. One such person knocks on his window in the middle of the night, urging him to investigate his bedroom wall. When Hank pulls back the wallpaper, he discovers dozens of sheets of paper, full of a story that is either complete madness or unbelievable truth. As he begins looking beyond the veneer of his smiling neighbors and their white picket fences, Hank is drawn further and further into a disturbing new reality ...
Told in Bassoff's lyrical and evocative style, The Memory Ward is a disquieting page-turner that examines the nature of identity, trauma, and what it means to be human.
About the Author :
Jon Bassoff is the author of ten novels, several of which have been translated into French and German. His mountain-gothic novel, Corrosion, was nominated for the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere, France's biggest crime fiction award, and his debut novel, The Disassembled Man, was recently adapted for the big screen. For his day job, Bassoff teaches high school English in Longmont, Colorado. He is a connoisseur of tequila, hot sauces, psychobilly music, and fleabag motels.
Review :
"The Memory Ward starts out with a bit of tension and only gets faster, weirder, and more overwrought from there...Bassoff, an accomplished crime author with a knack for the strange, manages to make the narrative unique and engaging."
-- "Gabino Iglesias, Locus"
"A highly entertaining and thought-provoking exploration of what makes a human being an individual person. It's also a timely cautionary tale of what societies can allow to happen to their most vulnerable segments for a purported greater good."
-- "Criminal Element"
"A suspense-filled bone chiller...Promises to resonate with fans of Black Mirror."
-- "Modern Luxury Peak magazine"
"Bassoff delivers a tale of trauma and altered identity, and one questioning the concept of humanity itself."
-- "The Cullman Times"
"Bassoff whips up sufficient unease with his Twilight Zone setup...Blake Crouch fans will enjoy this mind-bender."
-- "Publishers Weekly"
"Haunting...Bassoff skillfully portrays flawed characters as sympathetic truth-seekers caught in a world presenting a dangerously cheerful facade...The underlying sinister feeling will entice fans of Blake Crouch's Wayward Pines series...The Memory Ward is a strong addition to the psychological thriller genre."
-- "Booklist"
"If you like a twisty, totally engrossing psychological thriller that is going to take you all kinds of places you don't expect, then add The Memory Ward to your TBR pile, and move it to the top...Well-executed elements of mystery and horror add dark and smoky notes to the tale, making it almost impossible to put down."
-- "Rocky Mountain Reader"
"Jon Bassoff is one of the masters at mixing genres."
-- "The Hard Word"
"The Memory Ward by Jon Bassoff is a very highly recommended psychological suspense novel with a science fiction connection. This page-turner had me fully engaged and speculating right from the start."
-- "She Treads Softly"
"Drawing you in one hook at a time before fully ensnaring you into a paranoid frenzy that subtly explores what our memories mean to us and how we are more shaped by them than we imagine, The Memory Ward is a book you'll be compelled to finish in one sitting."
-- "The Best Thriller Books"
"Bassoff weaves a tale that mixes Ira Levin with the best horror films, where you want to yell at the screen to warn a character of what is about to happen...Readers will not be able to put this book down."
-- "firstCLUE Reviews"
"The Memory Ward is a nesting doll of horror and suspense. Bassoff artfully crafts a novel that questions morality, free will, and what makes us human. Compelling from the first page to the last."
-- "Erin E. Adams, Bram Stoker Award finalist and Edgar Award-winning author of Jackal"
"The Memory Ward starts with a fast one-two combo of unease and quiet suburban terror and only gets better from there. If The Stepford Wives and The Truman Show had a creepy, punk rock baby, it would be The Memory Ward. Read it. Visit Bethlam. And don't worry if your memories feel a little funny."
-- "Gabino Iglesias, award-winning author of House of Bone and Rain"
"This book scared the shit out of me so much I had to close my blinds one night while reading. It's also funny as hell. And that's where Jon Bassoff gets you, in that bizarrely tense space between unsettled and funny and heartwarming. I don't know what or who is real anymore. I'm still shook!"
-- "Steven Dunn, author of Potted Meat"
"Jon Bassoff's The Memory Ward mixes the page-turning momentum of a beach read bent on thrills with eerie and mysterious Twilight Zone vibes. This exploration of the subjectivity of memory and self spirals down into the darkness beneath the idyllic town of Bethlam and demands we contemplate the disturbing truth of who we are (or aren't). Fun and weirdly funny until its final-act trap springs, The Memory Ward merges the psychological thriller with the literary horror novel to unsettling results."
-- "Jeremy Robert Johnson, author of The Loop"
"The Memory Ward is a mystery box of a novel that you will delight in unraveling--a true mind-bender that expertly subverts your expectations and will leave you wondering how Bassoff pulled it off. I dare you to put this down once you start it."
-- "Rob Hart, bestselling author of Assassins Anonymous"
"Bassoff's Memory Ward is one of those rare jewels: a page-turner that's conceptually spectacular. If The Truman Show and The Crying of Lot 49 had an incredibly weird, wonderful baby, The Memory Ward would be it. Couldn't put it down."
-- "Erika T. Wurth, author of White Horse, a New York Times editors' pick"
"The Memory Ward is a twisty sci-fi mystery sure to delight fans of Black Mirror and any reader who was thrilled to discover Philip K. Dick paperbacks at their local library branch."
-- "Molly Tanzer, author of Vermilion and Creatures of Will and Temper"
"Bassoff's uncanny Bethlam, Nevada, hits the map to stand toe-to-toe with eerie heavyweights Stepford, Connecticut, and Twin Peaks, Washington."
-- "Warren Hammond, author of KOP and Denver Moon"
"Fans of Iain Reid will love this chilling psychological tale. Written with a timeless quality, The Memory Ward is mysterious, clever, and unnerving--a book to be read quickly that demands further thought after the final page is turned."
-- "Zoje Stage, USA Today bestselling author of Baby Teeth"
"Half waking dream, half living nightmare, The Memory Ward is a palpitating descent into a verisimilitude of madness that could only be written by one of the very best in the game, Jon Bassoff."
-- "Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire mystery series"
"Jon Bassoff is a master of that territory where pulp becomes poetry, and crime fiction mates with horror."
-- "Ramsey Campbell, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Ancient Images"
