Gary Braver's "Flashback"

I picked up Flashback in the New Fiction section of the Burlington County Library and saw a ringing endorsement by Michael Connelly on the front cover. "Wow", I thought. "Why haven't I read any Gary Braver before?" Turning the book over, I saw more "advance acclaim" by Ridley Pearson, Robert B Parker, Joseph Finder, William Martin (who?), and Lewis Perdue (??)! Impressive.

The inside back cover added to my interest. Braver is the pen name of Gary Goshgarian professor at Northeastern! I'm an NU grad and my daughter-in-law is Armenian!! I was hooked.

The official synopsis says "On a trip back to Cape Cod on the 30TH anniversary of his mother’s drowning, Jack Koryan, a prep school teacher turned restaurant owner, is stung by a school of rare jellyfish whose toxins send him into a coma for several months. When he awakens, he finds that the jellyfish toxin has left him with extraordinary memory. But he is also haunted by dreams and flash-memories--some of pleasant childhood vignettes, others of dark violence that leave him quaking in horror."

A small private drug company has developed a cure for Alzheimer's Disease based on secretions from (guess what?) the very same jellyfish that stung Jack! But the question of side effects arises and we get a fairly interesting story of the greedy CEO and "his" doctors against the pretty, smart, idealistic heroine and her mentor as they try to find out whether there are side effects or not.

Actually, it's a pretty good read. Lots of scientific details, and just enough greedy businesspeople and doctors, and a twist or two that delays the unsurprising ending:
Goodness wins and Jack solves the mystery of his dreams.

Braver writes well but the characters are a little less "involving" than I would like. Give me Parker, Pearson and Harlen Coben.

B+