Long Road to Mercy: 1 (Atlee Pine Thriller)

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The depth of the Grand Canyon’s geography: While it was meant as an immersive narrative, it got a bit too mundane and made me zone out a bit when there was little but details of the Canyon for pages on end.

David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. David Baldacci is a name synonymous with excellence-a consummate storyteller who turns the conventional into unconventional. Obviously he’s written other female characters but Atlee is the standalone lead and he comments that she’s one of the most unique characters he’s created. Admitting that it’s his first time attempting a female lead, Baldacci does a good job of creating a character that is easy to associate with, and complex enough to be realistic. Reasons why this fell short I wasn’t invested in The character of Atlee I didn’t connect to her at all … don’t ask me why?

The beginning of a new character series that shows a lot of promise and sets the stage for a story arc that you would want to follow, if you enjoy crime fiction. The Grand Canyon was a stunning location for the book to be set and Baldacci's descriptions were wonderfully vivid. In my judgement, Atlee Pine is a true "action hero" moulded from the strengths and weaknesses of a multitude of such characters as John Puller, Kim Stone, John Rain, Jack Reacher, Will Robie, John Milton and the like.

There are two black characters, but one is just a guy we meet in the gym and who we don’t even know his name, and another guy who is only a taxi driver.To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. I remember thinking that the story was more than a little far-fetched, but after taking a step back and looking at it against the current political backdrop, I realised just how plausible it actually was! I hate cliche characters, and I’m tired of reading the same character with a different name/background/job.

I hope David Baldacci's hard at work on Agent Pine's next adventure, because I can't wait to dive into it. Atlee’s twin sister, Mercy, was abducted from their bedroom over thirty years ago, and Atlee has spent every day since wondering what happened to her. I like this new character Atlee Pine so the part about her background and troubles in the first few chapters were really good.Gregg Hurwitz, New York Times bestselling author of Orphan X Long Road to Mercy is David Baldacci at his best, introducing an engrossing new heroine, FBI Agent Atlee Pine. And her counterpart is Sam Kettler, an ex-military guy suffering from PTSD from his time serving (don’t forget the love interest). Time is running short and international entities appear to be gathering momentum, forcing Pine to make a sacrifice for her country. Dodging FBI officials and some of the scummier folks seeking to stop their progress, Pine and Blum uncover that there may be a plot that puts America in great danger. Atlee is a top profiler with the agency, and she keeps to herself working on lone missions in her vast assigned territory.

There's enough in here to intrigue me and I do want to know more about the missing sister but I'm hoping for a better plot for book 2 than this one. She is convinced that convicted serial killer, 57 year old Daniel James Tor, was responsible for taking Mercy, and although Tor's patterns of behaviour make this a possibility, there is no proof. And this I guess is where the novel deviated from what I thought I’d be reading, as we dip into the murky world of spies and espionage (kinda), of conspiracies and secret government agencies.

As she gets closer to the answers though she finds more and more government agencies will do all they can to stop her. But I'm one of those who go with the flow and accept a story for what it is - a story - and this is a good one. Ever since her twin sister was abducted by a notorious serial killer at age five, Atlee has spent her life hunting down those who hurt others.