Book review: Blackout thrills with the chase

David Rosenfelt's latest thriller packs a punch as police officer Doug Brock seeks to snare elusive criminal mastermind Nicholas Bennett.

Blackout by David Rosenfelt is published by Minotaur Books. Minotaur / AP Photo

David Rosenfelt

(Minotaur Books)

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A cop loses his mind chasing a killer in Blackout, David Rosenfelt's latest thriller.

Doug Brock has been pursuing criminal mastermind Nicholas Bennett for years, but hasn’t been able to get the evidence he needs to put him away. Then Bennett kills someone close to Brock and the police officer’s life and career fall apart.

Despite being suspended he continues to dig for the elusive proof. He calls a former partner, Nate Alvarez, claiming to have found something big the FBI needs to handle. Gunshots are heard.

When the call is traced, Brock is found in a hotel, shot in the head and barely alive. When he wakes up, he has no memory of the past 10 years.

The sensible thing for Brock to do while his memory returns would be to keep a low profile, but he wants to discover the truth. Despite his luck surviving the shooting, he could end up dead by resuming his search.

In Blackout, Rosenfelt avoids the standard amnesia clichés and memory flashes, instead focusing instead on character. It asks, how does one adjust in a technological world while also starting over?

The mystery is almost an afterthought for the reader as Brock and his colleagues are so richly portrayed. When the future does collide with Brock and his lack of memory, readers will enjoy what happens next.