Copyright 2015 by Columbia Rose Ltd., published by Grand Central Publishing, New York

Let me start by saying that the plot in this book is one of the most twisted, perverse and just downright evil that I have ever read. Since I am a fan of Jeffrey Deaver, the master of twisted and perverse, that is saying something.

I will also give Baldacci credit for pulling things together at the end. A plot that, for most of the book, made no sense and seemed to be rife with red herrings, actually comes together at the end to make sense. Quite an accomplishment, really.

This is #5 in the series of mystery/adventure books featuring my favorite government-sponsored assassin, Will Robie and, eventually, his co-assassin and love interest, Jessica Reel. As it is not the last book in this series, I won’t be giving anything away by telling you that both Robie and Reel survive. But not for lack of trying. Just about everyone else in this book dies. I couldn’t compute the body count, but it runs into the dozens. As the setting for the book is Cantrell MS, a small rural town, I think that a substantial percentage of the population bit the dust. Some of the dead were not residents, fortunately – they were just hired hands which Robie and Reel dispatched with relative ease. They are fully capable of taking on a battalion armed with automatic weapons and barely breaking a sweat. But they nearly meet their maker at the hands of the villain who was armed with a single pistol. Doesn’t seem likely, but it makes for a good story.

The body count begins with Robie killing a bad guy under orders from Uncle Sam. But he also, accidentally, kills a 4-year-old girl. This unbalances him and he is unable to finish his next assignment. He needs to take a break to clear his head. Fortunately his father has been charged with murder in Cantrell MS so Robie heads there to work out his inner demons and, hopefully, help his estranged daddy. He senses that he can’t move forward until he deals with some unresolved issues from his past, one being his father and the other being the loss – and disappearance – of his high school sweetheart over 20 years ago.

It doesn’t take Robie long to make some new enemies who appear to be associated with wealthy casino interests in Mississippi. He doesn’t kill any of the 4 men in this initial encounter, but he maims them and pisses them off enough that they come back in force. His bacon is saved, in this second encounter, by the timely arrival of Jessica Reel. This encounter results in the death of 7 men. More deaths – including the death of a teen girl – soon follow. Meanwhile the FBI appears in town, hot on the trail of a serial killer.

So… random killings in a small town, a possible serial killer, casino-related thugs, a murder charge against his father and the mystery of the disappearance of his old girlfriend (and her entire family). Quite a variety of plotlines. What more could be added? How about some pedophilia?

It is a jumble, for sure. I don’t want to give more of the plot away because it is truly twisted and surprisingly coherent. Pretty satisfying, really.

8 out of 10.

Copyright 2005 by Lincoln Child and Splendide Mendax, Inc. Published by Grand Central Publishing, New York.

This is #6 in the series of Preston & Child books featuring Aloyisius Pendergast, FBI agent extraordinaire. I have read several other Pendergast books but this is the earliest one in the series of all that I have read. As there is a lot of continuity (characters and plot references) in the series, I think anyone who is interested should start at the beginning and work through them chronologically.

Preston and Child are skilled authors. As testament to their skill, I will tell you that I read the last 300 pages of this 560-page book in one day, probably the most reading I have done in single day in the past decade. The plot and prose definitely kept my interest.

This is a “brother” book. Many protaganists in long-running mystery series have brothers who are the basis for some of the stories in the plot. Sherlock Holmes had Mycroft. John Puller had Robert, Jack Reacher had Joe. Aloyisius Pendergast has Diogenes.

But where the other brothers are merely interesting, Diogenes is pure evil. He is the supervillian counterbalance to Aloysius’ superagent. The Pendergast plots, as I have mentioned before, stretch the limits of credulity, but if you check your disbelief at the door, you will have a good time. Follow the adventures of the rich, Rolls-Royce driving superagent as he roams the world.

This is not a whodunit but rather a “what is he doing and how is he going to do it” plot. Diogenes, who apparently saves Aloysius’ life at the end of the previous (unread by me) installment turns out to be more Dr Mengele than Schweitzer – he saved his life in that book only to keep him alive to torture him in this book. The torture takes the form of serial killing of all of Aloysius’ close friends. Ultimately the life of his closest friend, NYPD detective Vincent D’Agosta is threatened. Pendergast and D’Agosta counter this threat, as they often do, by going on a crime spree.

Like I said, check your disbelief at the door.

The book does not fully resolve the legal perils of Pendergast and D’Agosta, nor does it terminate the life of Diogenes who lives to see another day (and, no doubt, another book). But the lack of a clean finish doesn’t tarnish the book very much.

8 out of 10.