Echoes of Memory by Sara Driscoll is a mystery that explores memory loss. Readers will learn about Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) throughout the story as the author incorporates it into the character’s life.
“I did a lot of research. There is a lot of information about TBI. Each injury is unique depending on the type of brain injury, where it is in the brain, what sensor of the brain is affected, and someone’s age. I found everyone’s journey through TBI is very different.”
The lead character, Quinn Fleming, is recovering from a brutal assault that included a traumatic brain injury, resulting in memory loss. She only retains new memories for an hour or so.
Affecting her daily life, she is trying to survive what she called her “broken brain.” Her mantra has become “Write it all down. Check it. Then check it again.” Writing things down in her little notebook and then constantly reviewing her notes helps her to maneuver everyday living. Repetition several times has started to help too.
People might be confused with the terms short-term memory and long-term memory. The author explained, “Short-term memory is like 7 to 10 seconds. The long-term memory is after that and encompasses 99% of memory. It is called post-traumatic amnesia because she can remember anything that happened before she was attacked. But now, Quinn could hold on to a memory for about an hour. She can think about the memory and store it somewhat, but then she cannot recall it. This is why she uses her artistic skills to see if the memory is stored in her head.”
Quinn’s apartment is covered with Post-it notes to help her find things, and she has a notebook to write down anything she knows she’ll need to remember. She goes to group therapy classes for people with traumatic brain injuries and is slowly making progress supported by group leader Will Dawsey.
She is trying to get her life back to some normalcy when Quinn witnesses a murder. Quinn immediately writes down every terrifying detail of the incident before her amnesia wipes it away. By the time the police arrive, there’s no body, no crime scene, and no clues. The officers mocked her for using notes and without a body, they had little confidence that a murder occurred.
Becoming frustrated, Quinn is determined to bring justice to the person killed. She becomes hopeful after Detective Nura Reyes came to the shop to talk with Quinn about what happened. Quinn had to look at her journal entries, which Reyes knew she would. She had remembered hearing of Quinn’s case and was willing to work with her.
Quinn is artistic, fearful, has some shame, detailed, a planner, frustrated, and confused. Although fearful, her courage overcomes it. She wants to identify the details she saw that night. She is seeking justice because of the injustice she feels about her own attack. Her attacker was never caught and never went to jail for the crime. It is a way of getting her own life back, in helping someone else.
She can draw a picture of the killer, using her exceptional artistic talent, seeing pieces of the murder in dreams and flashbacks. Not wanting to waste Detective Reyes’s time, she followed up some details by herself. Yet instead of finding the killer she realizes that the killer was hunting her. Somebody else has realized Quinn is a threat that needs to be eliminated.
“I wrote Detective Reyes as no-nonsense, trusting Quinn’s instincts, kind, dependable, intuitive, and someone who likes her coffee.”
The supporting characters help to support Quinn. There is Detective Reyes who believes her and is willing to investigate the murder. The other is Will, the director of her TBI support group, who helps her understand how her brain is working to recover. He is a certified brain injury specialist and group leader of the UCSD Health Traumatic Brain Injury Support Group. He became a trusted friend that she knew she could bounce ideas off and someone who encourages her to do more with her art.
Quinn is a likeable and relatable character. Readers root for her to rebuild her life. They sympathize with the fact that she cannot remember. The story is full of mystery, danger, and intrigue with many twists.
Since this is Driscoll’s first stand-alone, readers might want to also read her different series. Summit’s Edge comes out this November, with handler Meg Jennings and her black Lab, Hawk, along with Brian Foster and his German Shepherd Lacey, looking for survivors of a plane crash in the Colorado mountain that includes the person who hijacked the plane. Terminal impact comes out in May 2026 and has Gemma Capello of the NYPD’s elite Hostage Negotiation Team becoming a hostage and negotiating in that capacity. The next stand-alone, Shadow Play will come out in August 2025, that has a killer talking about what they did in a gaming chat.
