Amos Decker–the FBI consultant with a perfect memory–returns to solve a gruesome murder in a booming North Dakota oil town in the newest thriller in David Baldacci’’s #1 New York Times bestselling Memory Man series. When Amos Decker and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison are called to London, North Dakota, they instantly sense that the thriving fracking town is ripe for trouble. The promise of … sense that the thriving fracking town is ripe for trouble. The promise of a second gold rush has attracted an onslaught of newcomers all hoping for a windfall, and the community is growing faster than houses can be built. The sudden boom has also brought a slew of problems with it, including drugs, property crimes, prostitution–and now murder.
Decker and Jamison are ordered to investigate the death of a young woman named Irene Cramer, whose body was expertly autopsied and then dumped in the open–which is only the beginning of the oddities surrounding the case. As Decker and Jamison dig into Irene’’s life, they are shocked to discover that the woman who walked the streets by night as a prostitute was a teacher for a local religious sect by day–a sect operating on land once owned by a mysterious government facility that looms over the entire community.
London is a town replete with ruthless business owners, shady government officials, and religious outsiders, all determined to keep their secrets from coming out. When other murders occur, Decker will need all of his extraordinary memory and detective skills, and the assistance of a surprising ally, to root out a killer and the forces behind Cramer’’s death . . . before the boom town explodes.son dig into Irene’’s life, they are shocked to discover that the woman who walked the streets by night as a prostitute was a teacher for a local religious sect by day–a sect operating on land once owned by a mysterious government facility that looms over the entire community.
London is a town replete with ruthless business owners, shady government officials, and religious outsiders, all determined to keep their secrets from coming out. When other murders occur, Decker will need all of his extraordinary memory and detective skills, and the assistance of a surprising ally, to root out a killer and the forces behind Cramer’’s death . . . before the boom town explodes.son dig into Irene’’s life, they are shocked to discover that the woman who walked the streets by night as a prostitute was a teacher for a local religious sect by day–a sect operating on land once owned by a mysterious government facility that looms over the entire community.
London is a town replete with ruthless business owners, shady government officials, and religious outsiders, all determined to keep their secrets from coming out. When other murders occur, Decker will need all of his extraordinary memory and detective skills, and the assistance of a surprising ally, to root out a killer and the forces behind Cramer’’s death . . . before the boom town explodes.son dig into Irene’’s life, they are shocked to discover that the woman who walked the streets by night as a prostitute was a teacher for a local religious sect by day–a sect operating on land once owned by a mysterious government facility that looms over the entire community.
London is a town replete with ruthless business owners, shady government officials, and religious outsiders, all determined to keep their secrets from coming out. When other murders occur, Decker will need all of his extraordinary memory and detective skills, and the assistance of a surprising ally, to root out a killer and the forces behind Cramer’’s death . . . before the boom town explodes.town replete with ruthless business owners, shady government officials, and religious outsiders, all determined to keep their secrets from coming out. When other murders occur, Decker will need all of his extraordinary memory and detective skills, and the assistance of a surprising ally, to root out a killer and the forces behind Cramer’’s death . . . before the boom town explodes.
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Another excellent book by my favorite author!
Bestselling author David Baldacci charts another adventure for the Memory Man, Amos Decker, and his partner, Alex Jamison. Walk the Wire is Baldacci’s sixth installment in the popular series.
This time, the two are dispatched to a little town where all the residents know each other, the major local business enterprises are controlled by a few powerful citizens, and the town is undergoing the latest in a series of booms and busts. The current economic growth is the result of fracking, the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks, boreholes, and the like in order to force open existing fissures and extract oil. Because of it, London, North Dakota, is like “the California Gold Rush of 1849, only on steroids.” And “the ordinary rules of civilization don’t necessarily apply . . .” Against that backdrop, Decker and Jamison set out to determine why a beautiful young woman named Irene Cramer was targeted by a killer.
Decker is eager to uncover the secrets that motivate the folks in London, among them the local coroner/mortician who examines Cramer’s body but omits salient details from his report, and the two most successful and prominent businessmen in town. Arch rivals and competitors, their mutual dislike is legendary. Both have survived family traumas, including tragic accidental deaths and suicides. There’s an Air Force station housing a radar array not far from town, outside of which ambulances are lined up. No one seems to know why so many emergency vehicles might be needed or why the state of North Dakota needs two such stations within its borders. It’s adjacent to land owned and occupied by The Brothers, a branch of the Anabaptists. Their lifestyle is somewhat akin to that of the Amish, except they use some modern technology such as vehicles and heavy equipment. But like the Amish they live communally and operate their own school. Cramer was working as a teacher in that conservative environment by day, and serving as an escort by night.
Decker is shocked when he encounters his brother-in-law, Stan, who is working in the oil field. It seems that Decker’s sister, Renee, who resides in California, did not notify Decker about her divorce. But Decker is not good at communicating with his family members. Stan’s presence in the narrative serves two purposes. First, he provides assistance to Decker and Jamison as their investigation intensifies and expands. More importantly, he permits Baldacci to delve further into Decker’s personal life. In prior volumes, Decker’s loss of his wife and child have figured prominently in the story. Decker continues mourning them, even though in Redemption, the fifth book in the series, Decker returned to Burlington and, while visiting their graves, made a conscious decision to live in the present. He still experiences guilt on occasion, acknowledging that with the passage of time, the old adage that “life goes on” is proving to be true. His job keeps him busy and he has made a few new friends. He questions whether he is betraying Cassie and Molly because he “promised them while standing over their graves, that they would be the center of his life until he joined them.” The introduction of Stan and Renee was, according to Baldacci, “a device allowing me to show another side of Decker.”
Once again, it is Decker’s uncanny skill at noticing details and inconsistencies that escape most people, that propels the investigation forward. Decker has hyperthymesia, the ability to remember everything and the inability to forget anything. As a young professional football player, he sustained a traumatic brain injury that left him comatose. In addition to attaining perfect recall, his personality was altered. He has trouble expressing emotion and dealing with people, missing social clues. Additionally, he has synthesthesia because his sensory pathways commingled. He sees colors associated with things like death and numbers. Normally, he sees an area where there is a dead body as electric blue, but Decker has noticed his brain beginning to change recently. He has been forgetting things — only momentarily — and as he views a dead body, the room is not blue. “My brain keeps me guessing and I don’t much care for it. No, I hate it,” Decker laments.
Baldacci again demonstrates his ability to deftly meticulously plot a story full of surprising twists, unexpected revelations, and connections between characters that keep readers guessing. The story advances at a steady, unrelenting pace, and is populated with a cast of colorful characters. It is also timely, given the controversy surrounding fracking, a process that Baldacci explains in some detail as he describes the area in and conditions under which the work is performed. Gas flares dot the countryside as pure methane is burned and fills the atmosphere with C02 — to the consternation of environmentalists. But Baldacci’s approach is even-handed, never permitting the narrative to become judgmental or preachy.
Readers of Baldacci’s other series will be surprised and delighted when other beloved characters appear to assist Decker and Jamison when they need it most. Their appearances ramp up the action, and provide a seamlessly logical addition to the intricately imagined tale Baldacci tells.
Walk the Wire is full of intrigue delivered in Baldacci’s signature straight-forward style. Short chapters and snappy dialogue, especially between Decker and Jamison, partners and roommates who know each other well and always have each other’s back, punctuate a thriller that is action-packed, replete with complicated small-town relationships, and completely entertaining.
It is also poignant and touching. Decker continues to be relatable and likable; despite his quirks, he is empathetic because the devastation and loneliness of loss is universally understood, as is hope. “Time did not heal all wounds for him. It barely touched them, in fact. It was like pouring iodine on a cancerous tumor.” But Decker has made a decision to move forward and keep living, even as he never forgets.
The Memory Man saga does not end with Walk the Wire. Baldacci says, “I don’t want to pull the curtain on this guy completely open, because the magic tends to fade.” Fortunately for Amos Decker fans, there is more magic to come.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.
Fabulous as always!
I always buy Baldacci. He never disappoints.
Great read as always from this author. Have read all his books and look forward to the next one!
I really like Amos and Alex. To have Will Robie show up to save Amos was great. Will shows up when things are dire.
Amos and Alex are sent to the shale oil fields after a woman is murdered. They are given no details, just investigate the murder. There is so much more going on in this small town, that the murder is the least of their worries.
Informative about fracking and a pretty good read.
I’ve read 90% of David Baldacci’s books and he is by far my best novelist. Among the characters, he had introduced, I like Oliver Stone best. I hope I can still read about him someday!
Always good to read Baldacci
I loved Amos Decker when we were first introduced to him. He’s so much more than he appears, and with each book in the Memory Man series, we get to learn a little more about him. Walk the Wire is a fabulous thrill ride that captures you at page one and doesn’t let go until the very last. Amos is working with his partner Alex Jamison to solve a murder that is so much more than just a small town murder. There’s so much going on, you could get whiplash just reading, but to say it’s edge of the seat exciting is an understatement. And – spoiler here – Will Robie and his sidekick Jessica Reel make their appearances at just the right time. This foursome makes for an awesome problem-solving team. There are so many bodies, so many people, and so many different crimes happening concurrently, it’s hard to track, but track we do. And it adds up to Baldacci having hit a home run again. So what’s Decker up to next? Only time will tell.