FAST FORWARD

Waking up badly bruised and lacking all memory of who she is, Ariel Gold searches through the home that she thinks is hers and, unwilling to trust anybody, improvises her own life while she tries to learn the truth

Mercer's first novel, about the perils of an amnesiac, lives up to its title. Ariel Gold wakes up one morning utterly disoriented: she has no memory of her previous life. Not only does she feel alienated from her body ("she... stared at her legs in horror") and face ("a big, fat valentine") but, it turns out, someone is trying to kill her. Retracing her past, Ariel discovers that, before losing her memory, she was an investigative journalist tracking the murderer of a rich young model-a woman with whom she now feels an uncanny connection. Following a serpentine path, Ariel also learns that she was adopted and had a twin sister from whom she was separated at birth, and that she was married to an unsavory man who also was murdered. Though in considerable danger, Ariel is oddly rejuvenated by her obsessive hunt and finds a number of men flocking around her-including, perhaps, the killer. The narrative, told through multiple viewpoints, accumulates force and speed as plot lines converge and characters' identities prove surprisingly protean. Readers won't suffer amnesia about this entertaining debut. BOMC alternate; Reader's Digest Condensed Books selection; British, German, movie and TV rights: Lantz-Harris Agency.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Imagine waking one morning in a strange bed, in a body you don't know, your unfamiliar face bruised and battered, with a bloody sweatshirt lying next to you. You'd probably react as Ariel Gold does--with panic and horror. The suspense doesn't let up until the final page as Ariel tries to reconstruct her past, all the while being pursued by a dangerous killer. Ariel soon learns that she's an investigative reporter for a television show, that her boss is named Henry, that she has a dog named Jessie, that she is or was (she's not sure yet) married to a lawyer named Michael, and that someone, for some unknown reason, is out to harm her. In a style reminiscent of Jonathan Kellerman at his best, first-novelist Mercer takes readers on an action-packed thrill ride that's full of unexpected twists and turns. A promising debut from a talented new writer. Emily Melton