Book Review: Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci

  

Long Road to Mercy is the first in David Baldacci’s new series featuring a female protagonist- FBI Special Agent Atlee Pine. It is 30 years since Atlee’s twin sister Mercy was taken from their shared bedroom.  Daniel James Thor, a notorious killer, has been tried and convicted of several murders but not Mercy’s.  Atlee is certain he knows what happened to her twin sister. Toe is still a residentboat a high security prison in Colorado.  

Atlee has been posted to the wilds of Western United States.  She suffers from survivors guilt and has never stopped searching for her sister.  Now she has been called in to solve the case of a mutiliated dead mule with strange carvings in its flank and hopefully find its rider, Benjamin Priest, who is missing.  Whilst  investigating this gruesome case, with the help of park rangers,  she realised this is only one in a spate of such crimes. Working with her assistant Carole Blum, Atlee soon realises that she can trust no one, not even her colleagues in the FBI.

This novel illustrates why Baldacci is an award winning and best selling author.  This storyline at first seems very fanciful and far fetched but when considering the shift in geopolitics and the increasing Russian /bro right influences on both the US election and UK Brexit disaster, for example, it becomes depressingly more realistic although still enjoyable to read.  Baldacci reveals the vulnerable side to Atlee - she is determined to find out what happened to her twin and has dedicated to her tattoos. She is a very strong woman who just missed out on a position in the Olympic team and she is dedicated to her career and solving crimes rather than climbing the career ladder. An enjoyable read and I look forward to reading the rest in the series.


I received this book via Netgalley and Pan Macmillan in exchange for a honest review. #netgalley #longroadtomercy