Every once in awhile, far too infrequently for my tastes, there comes along a novel that sets an entire genre on its head.  Oblivion is such a novel. 

Nick Petrov is a tough as nails, ex-cop private eye hired by a stripper to locate her missing daughter. As he starts investigating the case, clues begin pointing to not only a kidnapping, but an unsolved murder as well; and the emerging suspect is starting to look like someone Nick knows well. 

Nick is good at what he does, and before too long has tracked the girl to her drug-dealing boyfriend's mother's house. He "rescues" her (she's not at all willing to go and seems too afraid of Nick) and, as he's taking her to the hospital, suddenly collapses. 

Turns out Nick has a brain tumor, and emergency surgery is done on his brain.  He recovers, but with two pieces of bad news: one, he has weeks, maybe days, to live; and, two, because of the surgery, there is a significant chunk of his memory missing, including anything related to his current case. 

With that twist, it's a whole new ballgame for Nick, and for the reader as well.  At once, the novel takes on a Hitchcockian angle: we know what Nick knows, and the bad guys know what Nick knows, but Nick doesn't know what Nick knows.  And he'd better remember, quick. Because someone out there wants to make sure he forgets - permanently. 

Great job by Abrahams, who incorporates wit and suspense with very well conceived characters to keep the reader engaged and caring throughout the whole book.  This is probably the best novel I've read all year, and a far cry from Abraham's follow-up, End of Story. Highly recommended!