The Last Mile by David Baldacci (Amos Decker #2)

The Last Mile by David Baldacci

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jacket Blurb: Convicted murderer Melvin Mars is counting down the last hours before his execution--for the violent killing of his parents twenty years earlier--when he's granted an unexpected reprieve. Another man has confessed to the crime.


Amos Decker, newly hired on an FBI special task force, takes an interest in Mars's case after discovering the striking similarities to his own life: Both men were talented football players with promising careers cut short by tragedy. Both men's families were brutally murdered. And in both cases, another suspect came forward, years after the killing, to confess to the crime. A suspect who may or may not have been telling the truth.

The confession has the potential to make Melvin Mars--guilty or not--a free man. Who wants Mars out of prison? And why now?

But when a member of Decker's team disappears, it becomes clear that something much larger--and more sinister--than just one convicted criminal's life hangs in the balance. Decker will need all of his extraordinary brainpower to stop an innocent man from being executed.


Read as an audio book.

In this second installment, Amos is on his way to start a new job as a citizen consultant with the FBI near Quantico. He hears about Melvin Mars case in Texas, a young and upcoming college football star who was wrongfully convicted of murdering his parents 20 years ago. Another death row inmate has confessed to the murders and the case is under investigation. Decker talks the team into investigating this case, and was seems straight forward on the surface leads to much darker things underneath.

I found this book engaging. If you've read Baldacci before, you'll know it's never as straightforward as it seems. This was no different...well, a little different in that it wasn't a pending global terrorist threat. The historical twist was a nice addition.

The reader is introduced to some new characters that comprise the "team" (my apologies if I'm butchering spelling, I did say this was an audio book): Melvin Mars took a roll front and center; the psychologist - Mary(?) who joined the team on the pretense of studying Decker; and one FBI agent who was rather forgettable and mostly just played the role of superior condescending FBI agent. Of course, Alex Jamison and Bogart are back from book one.

Now please not I said this book was engaging, I didn't say it was perfect. The plot is a tich over the top (but they all are, which is part of the fun of reading, right?), the plot holes are a lot like Swiss cheese, I found I kept questioning Melvin's behavior post-incarceration, and everyone's role is to support Decker as he solves the mystery. The supporting characters do not "grow" in this book, in fact, one character disappears for about a quarter of the book. So if you are looking for emotional connection with characters, you are not going to find it here.

Roy Mars, our antagonist and Melvin's father. Not sure what to think of his role in everything and looking back, I found his character to be a bit cheesy. A "man in black" who flies under the radar and nobody knows his real name. Is he a friend? Or foe? Nobody really knows.

Melvin, Melvin, Melvin. 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. He's released to the recognizance of the FBI. Then he's fully pardoned after a brief trial. While I liked his character, I had a hard time believing his behavior once released from prison. Something didn't quite jive for me - a lack of anger or hardness or similar.

And finally, Amos Decker. We see some personal growth in his character in this second book - Jamison gets him on a diet and we see him sticking to it. He's starting to exercise and turns a cheek to the comments about his obesity. And we see him starting to re-learn empathy. But at the end of the day, it's all about Decker and what *he* needs to do. Oddly, it doesn't bother me here as it does with other books and characters (Harry Bosch series, Wallander series).

Ultimately, I enjoyed the book and narration. I was happily entertained on my commute and that's really all I'm looking for. Recommended on that basis.



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