Memory Man by David Baldacci

Before I begin, please note this book contains some mature content in the violence department.  Being a parent and teacher in Connecticut, reading about a mass school shooting is tough.  It's something I think about often.  When I had a classroom, right after Sandy Hook, I wondered if I could hide 30 sophomores in a women's bathroom across the hall.  Could we make it down a flight of stairs and out to G-wing roof?  Could we make it to the other end of the hall, up, and to the main roof?  Now, as an LMS, teaching in the biggest room in the school, where massacres often begin, I have several plans to hide my kids or get them out.  I won't share those ideas here to protect my kids, heaven forbid I ever need to.  For those of you reading this outside education, remember these are things we, as teachers, have to prepare for.  How we would protect your children.  And like the teachers of Sandy Hook, and a teacher in this novel, put ourselves between a shooter and those kids to save them.
Now, onto the novel.  I have read a few of Baldacci's books prior (all from the WHHS LMC), and this was on the NYT bestseller list.  Imagine Sheldon Cooper meets Columbine meets Caitlyn Jenner.  Sounds like some pretty heavy reading, BUT I finished this in a little over 3 hours as my son took his brown belt test.  It was that much of a page turner. 
An NFL player, a walk on defensive player, takes a huge hit in his first pro game.  As has been documented, he suffers a brain injury that changes him.  In this case, he develops a photographic memory.  Fast forward ten years.  He is now a police officer, a great one with his memory and way of seeing things.  Amos comes home to find his wife, daughter, and brother-in-law brutally murdered.  The case goes unsolved.  Amos, unable to cope, spirals down, losing his job, home, respect, etc.  He ends up a seedy PI, living in a motel on the outskirts of the town.  The town itself, now devoid of jobs, is going downhill as well.  The once large employers have closed, the Army has relocated from its nearby base.  Enrollment in the high school has dwindled so much that two whole floors are unused and boarded up.  Times are tough for pretty much everyone.  Then one day a huge man in camo walks in to the high school and kills several students, a coach, and an assistant principal.  He vanishes without a trace.  The only thing anyone has anything to go on is that the bullets from the school shooting match the gun used to kill Amos's wife.
Now, that's where I'm going to the leave the summary, because this is a crime/thriller and I don't want to spoil too much.  But you are probably wondering why I mentioned Caitlyn Jenner, above.  Well, there is a character who is transgender who figures greatly into the plot.  Things today are much different than twenty years ago, when this individual transitioned.  If you are not mature enough to discuss the Jenner story, you should not read this book.  Without getting into the what makes a hero/what is bravery debate, not everyone is comfortable or accepting of LGBTQI, and if that's you, well, you won't be able to understand the character's motivation and you'll miss a lot in reading this.