Book Review: Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci

                                                 Long Road to Mercy
                                                by
                                          David Baldacci

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Aus
Publication Date: 30th October 2018 
RRP: $29.99
Pages: 404
Format Read: Trade Paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher

Her name is Atlee Pine, the latest creation from bestselling author David Baldacci. She has unstoppable tenacity, always a fighter who is unwilling to cede any ground. She has endured real nightmares and she has the emotional and physical scars to show for it. And she got that long before she became an adult.

She is a FBI Special Agent assigned to the wilds of the western US. She has to cover, often solo, vast tracts of area: Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona. Small towns, impossibly long distances in-between, isolation like most on the East Coast have never experienced, and an environment where anything can and does happen.

Working with the locals who respect, and also sometimes fear her, and have never really been allowed to know her, Atlee Pine turns her vast investigative skills and unmatched drive to find out the truth. Along the way she will revisit painful memories of her own, come to grips with what she is and what she might one day aspire to be. But in the end, she will have to confront not only a new monster, but also the old one of her nightmares.

Long Road to Mercy is the first in a new series by accomplished author David Baldacci. This book is the introduction of FBI Special Agent Atlee Pine. Atlee’s character is well developed in this first instalment and we learn what makes her tick, her motivations and her past.

Atlee is strong mentally as well as physically although she does have her weak spots, one being her twin sister, Mercy, who was kidnapped and presumed murdered when they were 6 years old. This early loss caused a major upheaval in her life and so began a cycle of relationship non-commitment.

I liked that Atlee was tall and solidly built. Almost making Olympic status in weight lifting her character comes across as real and believable when she has to kick major butt. She can match it with the best of them.

Atlee is called in to investigate the murder of a mule in the Grand Canyon and the disappearance of its rider. As she starts to ask questions she notices that people high up the chain are taking an interest in this case. After delving a little too far Atlee is taken off the case. Atlee and her secretary, Carol Blum (who by the way I loved, a no nonsense woman in her sixties, she is intelligent and feisty) decide to go rogue.

What starts as an animal murder and a missing person case soon escalates to a plot of political espionage involving North Korea, Russia and the US Government. Given the present political climate in America the plot is both relevant and intriguing.

You may have to suspend belief at times but overall the plot was compelling and the characters well fleshed out and believable.

The backdrop of the beautiful and mystifying Grand Canyon was an added bonus for this armchair traveller.

There is a tiny, sweet romance budding at the end of the story and I hope Baldacci continues with this in the next book.

FBI Special Agent Atlee Pine you have a new admirer here. 

Content: Very minimal coarse language

                 No sex scenes

                 

My Rating  4/5      🌟🌟🌟🌟 

photo courtesy of Pan Macmillan

 David Baldacci is one of the world's bestselling and favourite thriller writers. With over 130 million copies in print, his books are published in over 80 territories and 45 languages, and have been adapted for both feature-film and television.

He has established links to government sources, giving his books added authenticity. David is also the co-founder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation®, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across the US.

David and his family live in Virginia.