Review: Memory Zero - Keri Arthur

Samanth Ryan has no memory of her past.  All she has is a crayon drawing of a woman with the word 'Mummy' scrawled underneath.  For the ten years Sam's been with the State Police, she's used their resources to search for any clues to her identity.  But it's as if all mention of her family has been deliberately wiped off the system, and no one knows why.

Everything changes the night her missing partner, Jack, attempts to kill her.  Sam finds herself accepting help from Gabriel Stern - a shapechanger with secrets of his own.  And when Jack is murdered, Sam finds herself caught up in something even bigger than she'd expected.  Worse, it seems someone knows the truth about Sam's past, and would rather see her dead than have her uncover it...

Spook Squad Trilogy:
Memory Zero
Generation 18
Penumbra

For more information visit Keri Arthur's website

Review:
Sam is unable to remember anything about her past and joined the State Police to try to find out about her background.  Despite doing detailed searches she has been unable to find out anything - it's as if all details of her & her family have been wiped from the system but the reason why is still a mystery.  At the start of the story Sam's partner Jack is missing along with several other police officers.  When she recieves a phone call from Jack asking her to meet him she is relieved to know that he is OK but then they meet & he attempts to kill her.  Things soon go from bad to worse and she only manages to escape with her life because of the help she receives from Gabriel.

She finds herself suspended from the police and fighting for her life but has no idea who she can trust or where to turn for help.  In the end she has to accept help from Gabriel but she still isn't sure that she can trust him.  Gabriel is a shapechanger and has plenty of his own secrets to keep hidden.  He needs to get Sam to trust him but how can he convince her to do that if he doesn't trust her?  Gabriel is a member of SID (otherwise known as the Spook Squad) and while trying to find out about Sam's past and investigate the reasons Jack is trying to kill her they find themselves in a situation that is larger than either of them could have imagined.  Their enemies may be closer than they think and they will have to put their trust in each other if they are going to survive.

After reading the first couple of books in Keri Arthur's Nikki & Michael vampire series I knew I wanted to check out more books by this author. I loved the sound of Memory Zero and had high hopes for this trilogy but I have to say I was blown away by this book. When I read the first book in a series I tend to expect that they will be a little slow to start while the author is building their world for us but Memory Zero was action from the word go. The story was so fast paced & had so many plot twists it was like being on a rollercoaster. One that I really didn't want to end but just couldn't get off of and I ended up reading the whole book in one sitting!

Despite the fast and twisting plot Keri Arthur manages to create a realistic and detailed futuristic world.  It was easy to connect to both of the main characters and although there was no romance you can feel the chemistry between Sam and Gabriel so I have high hopes for something developing between them throughout the series.  This was a 5 star start to the series and I'm looking forward to reading the remaining 2 books!

Source: Library

Other Reviews:
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