The
Long Road to Mercy – David Baldacci (Grand Central)
Since his debut thriller, Absolute Power, some 23 years
ago in 1996, I have been a fan of bestselling author David Baldacci. Through
his amazing catalog of work and his multitude of successful characters and series
he has done an amazing job of weaving enthralling tales and creating compelling
story leads.
So it was no surprise that Baldacci would once again
launch a new character to lead the way with his latest book, The Long Road to Mercy, in the form of
FBI Special Agent Atlee Pine. Right from the first page I thought we were off
to the races on another amazing thrill ride. Pine makes late night visit to the
Colorado based Florence ADX, super-max prison to have a chat with serial killer
and mountain sized Hannibal Lecter-like, Daniel James Tor, who she believes is
responsible for the disappearance of her twin sister Mercy.
With shades of Clarice Starling confronting Lecter at
the Plexiglass divider I was strapped in a ready for what I thought was certain
to come! And then the story took a hard turn and veered off into a tale
involving the murder and mutilation of a Grand Canyon mule and the mysterious
circumstances that surround it. What? The word LONG in the title is very apt,
because this one goes on a long and winding road to introduce Pine and her
background while mixing in a twisted tale involving international intrigue, a
so-called suitcase nuke, mysterious North Korean thugs and a shadowy bunch of
consultants and think tank operatives. What?
I hung in for the story to see exactly where it would
go and end up and in the end thought it would be a good story for a beginning
novelist, but I wasn’t sold that this was up to Baldacci’s standards. Here’s
hoping the title The Long Road to Mercy,
lives to its billing in the second book and Baldacci sends Pine on an ongoing
search for answers involving her sister.
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