Redemption by David BaldacciMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Jacket Blurb: Detective Amos Decker discovers that a mistake he made as a rookie detective may have led to deadly consequences in the latest Memory Man thriller in David Baldacci's #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Amos Decker and his FBI partner Alex Jamison are visiting his hometown of Burlington, Ohio, when he's approached by an unfamiliar man. But he instantly recognizes the man's name: Meryl Hawkins. He's the first person Decker ever arrested for murder back when he was a young detective. Though a dozen years in prison have left Hawkins unrecognizably aged and terminally ill, one thing hasn't changed: He maintains he never committed the murders. Could it be possible that Decker made a mistake all those years ago? As he starts digging into the old case, Decker finds a startling connection to a new crime that he may be able to prevent, if only he can put the pieces together quickly enough...
Read as an audio book.
Premise of the book is Amos and Jamison are back in Ohio, ostensibly on vacation so Decker can visit his family's graves. While there he is approached by a man - a man Decker put in prison - claiming his innocence. When Decker and Jamison agree to meet with him later, they find him murdered which sets of a whole series of events that draws Decker in like a moth to a porch light. Jamison is recalled to Washington, while Decker is determined to seek the truth about what actually happened on his first murder case as a homicide investigator, at the risk of losing everything he's regained.
This was an enjoyable enough "read". I didn't get overly irritated with Decker's repetitious statement's of "I only want the truth". Jamison was out of the picture for most of the book, but we got to see Melvin step into her place. Decker interacted more with his former homicide detective, Mary, than even Melvin or Jamison.
This isn't a perfect book by any means: the singular attempt on Decker's life didn't make any sense in the overall premise of the plot; the shear number of times he was knocked in the head made me roll my eyes rather than feel compassion for the plight of our protagonist (it was a lot); and some of the antagonists were rather transparent.
As for the mystery, I found it a tich over the top, but, hey, that's a Baldacci book. It's how Amos and the group figure "it" out that I find most interesting and engaging. I also can't decide if this was left on a bit of a cliffhanger, and we'll see aspects reappear in future books, or if this was a more singular scenario.
Recommended if you've read the first four. Start with Memory Man (#1) if this is a new to you series.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment