Long Road to Mercy

I am never dissappointed with any Baldacci books. I think I own the all and finish then way too fast.

Great author!

Another in a series of David Baldacci books that I enjoyed.

I’ve lately been reading thrillers with female protagonists. I’m writing one, and I want to see what other authors have done with their lead character, things I should try to do, and things I should avoid. That led me to this, the series debut of FBI Special Agent Atlee Pine, yet another series by David Baldacci, who seems to push out a new one every few months.

The setup: our heroine has self-exiled to a one-agent office in the Arizona boondocks near the Grand Canyon. When she’s called in to investigate the murder of a mule (four-legged variety) and disappearance of a tourist at the bottom of said canyon, she discovers — wait for it — that all is not what it seems, and that she’s really investigating the upcoming End of the World as We Know it.

If Atlee isn’t exactly a distaff Jack Reacher, she’s at least a close relative. She’s unusually tall for her gender (six feet), stoic, material-possession-averse, mostly lacking a sense of humor, and generally uncompromising in her moral code. In that she can also clean the floor with male miscreants when necessary, she and Reacher could make a formidable pair if they could stand each other’s company.

Some reviewers question whether creatures such as Atlee would exist in the real world. I know they can, having met a couple. All it takes is for a woman to marinate over the long term in a male-dominated environment while trying to succeed in a non-traditional job, with all the routine indignities and contact testosterone poisoning that entails. Training to be an Olympic weightlifter probably contributes. (Oh, didn’t I mention? She missed the cut by one point, but it made her strong enough to hold her own in a fight). I came out of this sort-of liking Agent Pine, though she wouldn’t be a lot of fun to hang with. She and Carson, my action heroine, would probably be able to hoist a few together and talk, though no bonding would result.

Having had thirty-some novels to practice on before he got here, the author knows how to craft a sentence. His prose is clean and reads fast; it took me six days to get through this only because I had other things to do, like work and write my own novel. He doesn’t go overboard with descriptions and the dialog is more-or-less appropriate for characters in the situations they face. The scenes inside the Grand Canyon are atmospheric and detailed and may be based on personal experience rather than Tripadvisor and photo-interpretation.

The plot is a straight-ahead hero-trips-over-a-subterranean-plot-and-races-against-the-forces-of-darkness-to-save-the-world yarn. It involves two secret cabals; yes, this is Ludlum/Berry/Brown territory with a canyon running through it. Agent Pine works her way through it with pluck and doggedness rather than brilliant leaps of intuition or deep knowledge of arcana. There are some acts of near-superheroism toward the end that will likely lead you to scratch your head. Nobody says you have to take any of this seriously, and it’s probably best if you don’t.

So, why the meh rating? The author saddles his heroine with a backstory so extreme that I kept wondering how Atlee managed to pass her FBI psych exam…and then he does relatively little with it. Atlee’s sidekick goes from prim secretary to Annie Oakley in fairly short order, also boggling the mind. But these aren’t the biggest problems. The major problem is that the dastardly conspiracy Atlee grapples with makes no damn sense whatsoever, nor does her resolution of it. It’s not good when the hero/heroine reveals the big bad’s evil plans and your reaction isn’t “God, how brilliant!” but rather “Seriously? You’re not kidding? You’re going with that?”

Long Road to Mercy is a serviceable conspiracy thriller with an interesting if not exactly groundbreaking protagonist. My rating is an average of the heroine and prose (upper three stars) with the plotting and especially the denouement (barely two stars). If the former entices you more than the latter repels you, Atlee has two more adventures lined up for your approval. I hope the author has something more sensible lined up for SA Pine to do in the sequels.

I loved the book, but again, I love all things David Baldacci writes!

Baldacci is one of my go to authors. Have read all of King&Maxwell series, all of the Camel Club series, all of the John Puller series, and the Will Robie series… Getting in on the ground floor with Atlee Pine.

I enjoyed this book very much

The first in the Atlee Pine series, this book is full of action, mystery, and suspense.

I liked the fast pace of this book. It was a quick read with a surprise ending. Strong characters and a good story line.

Very cool story and characters for a detective novel.