Title: All’s Forgotten Now
Author: Michael S. Ripley
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1-7283-2816-4
Pages: 163
Genre: Fiction/Mystery/Fantasy
Reviewed by: CC Thomas
Pacific Book Review
Michael S. Ripley’s All’s Forgotten Now is tough to pin down to a single genre classification, which is the very quality that makes it such a delightful read. For those who love a classical mystery, you’ll be captured in the very first chapter.
Detective Stephen Ramos, estranged from his wife because of his fierce commitment to his job, is called away from home once again to a murder scene. Nothing about the scene is typical, especially the statement from a child in the area that warns him about the murder victim, the “dead woman”. When the coroner starts screaming, Ramos knows that he’s in for a ride. In the next chapter, readers meet Yuri, a bodyguard whose boss, the “Keeper of Shadows”, seems more like a corpse than a human. Yuri is likeable in a tough-guy way, but don’t get too attached. When Yuri disobeys his boss’s orders, he is punished in a very brutal and bloody way.
This second chapter is a good warning to the reader: don’t expect the norm here. Just when you get comfortable, the author throws another twist your way.
Think the story follows Detective Ramos as he investigates these two murders? Not so fast. The murder victim is the one you should focus on. And, while dead people don’t often make for interesting protagonists, this one steals the scene. Well, most of the scenes in the book, actually. The Keeper of Shadows? Yeah, you’ll see him again, too, as well as some other characters that are funny, some that are deadly, and some that are hard to describe…because they aren’t quite human.
The story is a classic mystery…until it isn’t. In a genre-bending shift, the mystery very cleverly turns into a fantasy with multiple characters whose interwoven story will keep readers on their toes until the very last page. The twists and turns throughout the plot are made even more thrilling due to the multiple points of view through which the story is told. This book isn’t one where you’ll finger the killer in the first few chapters. Instead, you’ll hang on for the wild ride until the very last chapter…and will likely still be surprised.
In All’s Forgotten Now, author Michael S. Ripley weaves a storyline with a lot of intrigue in a fantastical mystery that brings the best of both genres to light. In addition, the story also includes lots of action and just enough violence and mayhem to keep you on the edge of your seat. Best of all, the author’s dry wit comes through and keeps the dialogue flowing. It’s almost enough fun to have readers forgetting that the fate of the world hangs in the balance. And, like a true thriller, the fate of the world might just have to wait for a second installment in the series. Here’s hoping that’s true!
