The Last Thing I Remember

The Last Thing I Remember by crime novelist Andrew Klavan is the author's first thriller written for a teenaged audience. The main character, Charlie West, is a respectful, thoughtful teenager with good grades and aspirations to become a pilot in the air force. Conflict arises when Charlie awakens in a torture chamber, bruised and bloody, with no memory of how or why he is there. As the novel progresses, Charlie learns about a government conspiracy, the death of his best friend, and his own conviction for murder, none of which he can remember.

The Last Thing I Remember (2009), the first book in the Homelanders series, was followed by The Long Way Home (2009), The Final Hour (2011), and The Truth of the Matter (2014). Andrew Klavan is the author of dozens of stand-alone crime and mystery novels and two series, Homelanders and the Mindwar Trilogy. Two of his books, True Crime and Don't Say a Word have been adapted into major motion pictures. He has received a number of honors and awards, including five nominations for the Edgar Award, two of which he won. He also writes under the pen name Keith Peterson.

The Last Thing I Remember begins with a brief introduction to Charlie West's rather pleasant and mundane life. He has a happy family, a career plan, good grades, and the phone number of Beth, a girl he adores. The novel then flashes forward. Charlie is in a torture chamber, unsure how he got there or where he is. The last day that he can remember, he gave a presentation to his karate class – which doesn’t explain his current circumstances. He is bruised and aching, and not entirely sure of his own identity.



Hearing one of the torturers call for his death, Charlie uses his karate skills to escape from his unnamed captors, disappearing through a series of underground tunnels. When he resurfaces, he catches a ride with a woman in a minivan named Cathy Simmons. Cathy is afraid of Charlie when she first meets him, because of his appearance and frantic behavior, but he reassures her that he only wants to use her phone to call his mother. Cathy takes him back to her house, where she offers the help of her husband, a prominent attorney. Charlie tries to call his mother, but he discovers that the phone number has been disconnected. Cathy recommends Charlie call the police, and he agrees. After talking with law enforcement, he learns that nearly a year has passed since his last memory in karate class. He takes a shower. Confused and unsure what to do, Charlie leaves the shower only to come face to face with police officers, who take him into custody.

At the station, Charlie learns that he is considered an escaped felon and that he was convicted of murdering his best friend, Alex Hauser. Charlie, even more confused, can do nothing when the officers tell him that he will be held in their custody to continue his sentence. Charlie spends the night in jail but manages to escape again. He learns about a plot to kill the Director of Homeland Security, Richard Yarrow. Ever loyal to his country, despite the misunderstanding or potential conspiracy that has lead to his arrest and status as an outlaw, Charlie decides to try to save Yarrow before it's too late.

Charlie saves Yarrow, but when the authorities find him, they assume that he was trying to murder the director, not help him. Unable to convince them otherwise, Charlie is forced to go on the run again, desperate in his search to determine what happened in the year between the present day and his last memory.



Andrew Klavan turns the government conspiracy novel on its head with this book for teenagers. Though Charlie finds himself in strange circumstances that he cannot understand and is often put at odds with the government and law enforcement, his history with the pacifist philosophy behind martial arts and his dream to become an air force pilot stop him from assuming the government is the evil force behind his bad fortune. Charlie often recalls moments from his karate lessons that guide him toward the right actions, even in situations when he has to fight for his life or his freedom. Charlie's philosophy of saving a life rather than taking it, if possible, gives every fight scene in this intense thriller more depth, because Charlie's behavior in each moment determines his morality, giving an indication of his past actions. This novel considers what good and evil look like and what shapes they might take. This struggle is also present within Charlie, who is trying to come to terms with the actions others claim he has committed, and his own moral compass, which makes it impossible for him to believe that their claims are true.