BURIED MEMORIES

An Earth-acculturated alien’s fragmentary memories encourage him to learn more about where he came from.

In all his years as an alien on Earth, Ishmael Jones has never come as close to discovering the truth of his origins as in his most recent case, when he was visited by recollections of his early years. Could it be that Ishmael wasn’t alone when his spaceship crashed to Earth? Drawing on his dreams, visions, and superior alien senses, Ishmael has done what he can to piece together his background, but his real hope lies in his long-term association with the Organization, a vaguely purposed group for whom he’s been solving a variety of supernatural mysteries over the years. The Organization has information on Ishmael’s past that leads him and Penny Belcourt, his partner in life and work, to hop a train from London to little Norton Hedley. Once there, Ishmael and Penny seek out virtually unknown author Vincent Smith, whose low-profile lifestyle seems incongruent with their intel that he may have been Ishmael’s traveling companion. But, in a shock that seems unsurprising even to Ishmael and Penny, Vincent suddenly dies the day before their arrival. Instead of connecting with Vincent, Ishmael and Penny are welcomed by Lucy Parker, an employee of Black Heir, perhaps the only organization whose purpose is more amorphous than that of the Organization, and definitely more nefarious. Ishmael and Penny must shake their new friend, who they suspect is more a tail than anything else, and discover the truth about Vincent if they have any chance of learning about Ishmael’s origin.

Book 10 of Green's series boldly fleshes out the hero’s origin story to fine effect.