Losing his old life and finding a new love.After an accident stole his memory, the only home American businessman Patrick knows is Bangkok. He recovers under the tender ministrations of Jack, an Australian expat who works nights at a pineapple cannery. Together they search for clues to Patrick’s identity, but without success. Soon that forgotten past seems less and less important as Jack and … Jack and Patrick—now known as Buddy—build a new life together.
But the past comes crashing in when Patrick’s brother travels to Thailand looking for him… and demands Patrick return to Los Angeles, away from Jack and the only world familiar to him. The attention also causes trouble for Jack, and to make their way back to each other, Patrick will need to find not only himself, but Jack as well, before everything is lost….
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Patrick is on a business trip to Thailand when a tragic accident leaves him in the streets with no money and no memory. He stumbles upon a small, poor community near a pineapple canning plant where he meets another white man…Jack.
Jack is from Australia living in Thailand illegally. (why on this was never really clear and I would have liked to have known more about Jack’s past.) He lives a simple life. When he hears his neighbor yelling and sees a man fleeing he follows him and watches him before approaching.
I am going to admit I skimmed the reviews on this book and was a bit surprised. It seems that I feel the total opposite of this book. I absolutely loved it. I do think to listen to the audio made a big difference, because Patrick/Buddy sounded lost, forlorn and not stilted or mentally disabled…just what he was, a stranger in a foreign land. I adored Jack’s accent.
I liked both characters and loved the amnesia storyline. I loved that it felt like he had amnesia with all of his past erased not like in some stories where it seems they remember bits and pieces or have flashes. I also liked the end even if it ended much different than I expected, it was satisfying for me and I liked that is shocked me. I felt like it was cool for such a trope type story to not end like all others.
I will admit I didn’t love the way he treated his parents but it did fit with his fear and amnesia, I would have liked to know more about who Patrick was and why he was going to Thailand and his brother could have shed that light and more about Jack’s past and what he was fleeing from, but having said that I loved the story, the writing style, execution and in this case the narration.
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Sarah –
2.5 stars
Unfortunately, this is one of those books where I loved the blurb and the underlying premise but really didn’t get on with the actual book. I loved the Thai setting but the characters and relationships felt flat and undeveloped to me.
I’m not sure if Patrick is supposed to have special needs or a mental disability in addition to his amnesia, but he presents like a small child. His decisions don’t make sense and his conversations are limited. As readers don’t get to know much of what is going on in his head or with his emotions, I found myself unable to engage with him.
Jack is an equally opaque character. There are hints of trouble in his previous life in Australia but nothing about him or his circumstances is ever explained to readers. Like Patrick, he feels very simple and I’m not sure if this is a deliberate author choice.
I found the storyline bewildering. It took me some time to understand what was going on with Patrick after his accident. I didn’t ever fully understand why he couldn’t engage with his family and the ending feels rather rushed. This is a low heat story and I’m still not sure I’d call it a romance.
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Stranger in a Foreign Land by Michael Murphy to read and review.