The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes - Marcus Sakey

I've been recommending Marcus Sakey books for a while now to library patrons who are looking for a new thriller/suspense author. Many have never heard of Sakey, but they always come back after that first read, looking for another of his titles. The Two Death of Daniel Hayes is going to propel Sakey right up to the top of the thriller/suspense genre.

A man wakes up half dead and naked on a deserted beach. He has no idea who he is, where he is, or how he got there. But... there's a BMW with the keys in it parked up the road. The clothes on the seat fit him, as do the shoes. There's a wad of cash in the glove box and the registration is made out to Daniel Hayes of Malibu California. Oh, there's also a gun...

'Daniel' sets off in the car, stopping at a motel to try and figure things out. An actress on a prime time soap triggers a memory. He can't know her, can he? Who is he? When the motel door is kicked in by the cops, he hightails it out the bathroom window. What has he done? Why are they after him? Who the hell is he!?

And I'm not going to give you any more plot, because it's just too good to spoil. Sakey drew me in with the unknown and kept me frantically turning pages as Hayes discovers more and more about who he is and what he has done. Or not done. Are his memories real or "just stories we tell ourselves to explain how we got where we are." Because nothing is as it seems. The plot twists and turns and doubles back on itself numerous times. I was happily kept totally off kilter. I loved that I wasn't able to figure the 'who and why' out until the very end. What a breakneck read - highly recommended!

See for yourself - read an excerpt of The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes. You can find Marcus Sakey on Facebook and on Twitter.

(And you might find a certain blogger's name as one of the characters as well - anyone else catch it?

Marcus Sakey: "I'm a novelist, which means I make a living telling lies. Hopefully they keep you up at night or make you miss your train stop." Oh yeah, they do!