I had heard about David Baldacci before and I had received only words of praise about his writing. After rummaging for a while, I did manage to get my hands on this book and it was worth the wait! Thriller and mystery novelist have always found a high place in my book and Baldacci is already a part of one of my favourite pages!
Before I provide the review, it is customary to give an outline of the plot. It starts with an assassin, Will Robie, on a mission. He is hired by a secret organization that works for the United Stated government and is visible to the eyes of only those people with an obnoxiously high pay grade. His job profile is to eliminate threats that may prove lethal for his country in future. One such mission of his goes haywire after he refuses to pull the trigger after sensing that something was wrong. In another part of town, a teenager Julie Getty is left devastated by the inexplicable murder of her parents and is on the run and fate conspires to make the two of them meet. Or is just fate?
Meanwhile, Robie begins investigating the crime scene in which he himself was involved along with the feds. One such fed, Nicole Vance, begins to take special interest in Robie after witnessing his skills at a shoot out. The people responsible remain a step ahead of him which forces him to think that he is being played with. Digging further into the murders assures him that the two murders have a connection but fails to pin point it. Keeping Julie safe is his top priority but with every level of his organization being infiltrated with traitors, there aren’t many whom he can fall back on!
To keep a reader interested, there are two basic things.One that the writing should be crisp and two the author should not waste a lot of time explaining what is happening. I found the latter a problem while reading a Dan Brown novel and believe me, it did begin to get on my nerves. At every stage, the reader gets a clear idea of what is happening but the mystery still remains very carefully concealed. The characters have been created so realistically that you cannot help but feel ssociated with them till a certain extent.
Baldacci has crafted a plot which compels the reader to stick to it until he has finished reading the last page. The touch of realism added to it makes it worth a read.His dialog is succinct, direct, and hard-edged. His sense of place as complete as a tour guides, the tension is a taut and beautifully maintained as a tightrope walkers, and the narration is top drawer. And who doesn’t like a cool as ice assassin?
We at OP give 4 on 5!
Gaurav Prasad is the modest one and as he said, “I will just keep this short and sweet.” Currently pursuing my computer science engineering he is for sure included in the list of millions who are fascinated by sports. Needless to say, being an Indian, he is a huge fan of cricket as cricket virtually flows through the veins of all Indians! Apart from this, he generally likes to spend his time reading novels ,watching movies, etc, activities of a normal college going guy. If there is something that he want to learn, it would have to be musical instrument he says.”I truly believe that music is a great option to take out your stress. 
