@DinsdaleThe way I remember it he was leaving town and going to a cabin he'd rented trying to find inspiration for his next novel. Nobody knew of his plans and he reserved his cabin under a false name. He hit someone with his car who happened to be be in the process of kidnapping the governors wife, their were two bad guys and he is shot a glancing blow to the head which gives him amnesia amnesia. As he nears his destination he loses control of his vehicle and it plunges into a river. He is found by woman cares for him. Meanwhile he is being searched for as a lost hero and the governors wife demands he be found so she could thank him.