The Great Forgetting

A Novel

By: James Renner

Narrated by: David Marantz

A new genre-bending novel from the author of The Man from Primrose Lane

In The Man from Primrose Lane, James Renner fused time travel with serial-killer thrillers, resulting in what the Associated Press called "a superbly crazy and imaginative story". Now, in The Great Forgetting, he blends science fiction and conspiracy thrillers with a touch of pure fantasy, and the result is just as crazy and imaginative.

Jack Felter, a history teacher, returns home to bucolic Franklin Mills, Ohio, to care for his father, a retired pilot who suffers from dementia and is quickly losing his memory. Jack would love to forget about Franklin Mills and about Sam, the girl he fell in love with, who ran off with his best friend, Tony. Except Tony has gone missing. Soon Jack is pulled into the search for Tony, but the only one who seems to know anything is Tony's last patient, a paranoid boy named Cole.

Jack must team up with Cole to follow Tony's trail - and maybe save the world. Their journey will lead them to Manhattan and secret facilities buried under the Catskills and eventually to a forgotten island in the Pacific - the final destination of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. When Jack learns the details about the program known as the Great Forgetting, he's faced with the timeless question: Is it better to forget our greatest mistake or to remember, so it's never repeated?

©2015 James Renner (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Not a genre that I enjoy

II have listened to 3 other James Renner books which I thoroughly enjoyed. This book just couldn’t capture my interest.

What if We had No History to Learn From?

In a near future dystopia, forgetting has been set as the default standard,
But is this what would truly make society more comfortable? Or would a hero rise to try to help us toward finding a way to remember and ultimately hold us responsible? Meteing out memories both good and bad, this book takes a dive into the murky depths of a future where an unseen hand makes all things
incredibly hazy. What would anyone choose?

Renner F's With My Mind

After listening to The Man From Primrose Lane I knew I was in for one hell of another story from James Renner. The Great Forgetting is engaging from the beginning and is full of great characters and plenty of twists and turns.

This book literally changed my life.

Everyone should read this book, absolutely everyone. And boil their water. If you do, you'll start to notice odd things.

great for NE Ohio residents

I loved reading about locations in and around Portage County Oho but I feel like I missed something at the end.

Action cheese

A moribund checklist of every bad movie trope is included with a full explanation of events almost no one would need explained (and even if they did, let them look it up, a good writer knows this) such as who was DB Cooper, what occurred on 9/11, and full explanations of the most worn out factoids you were fascinated by at age 11.

Renner is mediocre and his observations flaccid and mundane.

Started out good; poor ending

Warning: Spoilers

The story started out great until the author decided to turn the most horrific tragedy in US history into a heroic act.

Turning 9/11 into an act to save humanity was appalling. Real men and women lost their lives that day. It was a sad and horrible any of terrorism.