Thursday, January 17, 2019

Expect, No…Mercy

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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