New Release Book Review: The Fallen by David Baldacci

New Release Book Review: The Fallen by David Baldacci

Title: The Fallenthe fallen small

Author: David Baldacci

Published: April 24th 2018

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Pages: 464

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Suspense, Thriller

RRP: $29.99

Rating: 4 stars

Amos Decker, David Baldacci’s unique special agent with the gift of a remarkable memory, returns in The Fallen.

BOOK 4 IN THE AMOS DECKER SERIES

Small towns which have seen better times are not unusual. But the mysterious events in Baronville, Pennsylvania, are raising the highly-tuned antennae of agent Amos Decker and his FBI partner, Alex Jamison. What was supposed to be a relaxing vacation turns into a murder investigation when two bodies are found in a nearby deserted house.

With the body count rising, Decker and Jamison dig deep to uncover a sinister truth in Baronville, which could be the canary in the coalmine for the rest of the country.

But even the duo’s skills and Amos Decker’s infallible memory may not be enough to save this town, or them, from becoming the next victims.

My review:

David Baldacci, author of some 35 plus novels, definitely needs no introduction. He is the bestselling author of the Memory Man series. The Fallen marks the fourth and latest chapter in this popular set of novels, featuring enigmatic lead Amos Decker. The Fallen is a thrill ride from start to finish and I guarantee this book will draw appeal for loyal fans of the series and newcomers.

Amos Decker is supposed to be on a short vacation with FBI partner Alex Jamison, in the small town of Baronville, situated in Pennsylvania. However, as quickly as the two agents try to relax, their holiday plans are derailed. A murder investigation begins in the town where Alex and Amos are holidaying. It seems both agents can’t help themselves, they soon become embroiled in the murder case. With a rising body count, it is a race against the clock to help solve these murders. The more Amos and Alex search for the truth, the more shocking the revelations involving the small town of Baronville becomes. Amos draws on his unique memory skills to try to crack this case. But even this hardened and wise team may not be able to solve the case unscathed. It is a fight to the death to stop any further murders from taking place and to try and save the desperately crumbling town of Baronville from further despair.

The Fallen, the latest novel from international bestselling author David Baldacci, was one exhilarating thriller that kept me completely engaged for the entire novel. It is my first outing with Mr Baldacci. I’m not sure why it has taken me until now to experience his writing and enjoy his books. Anyhow, I hope to rectify my gap in Baldacci’s works and The Fallen was a great start.

For those who are long standing fans of Baldacci’s work and the Memory Man series, I am confident that The Fallen will not disappoint in any shape or form. For freshman to the series and Baldacci’s work, I can attest to this novel being a great place to start your David Baldacci journey. If you do have the opportunity to catch up on the previous novels in the Memory Man series, I would suggest going in this direction as it will enhance your reading experience of The Fallen. However, as I am pushed for reading time, I was satisfied with the amount of back detail Baldacci provides to new readers of the Amos Decker series. From very early on the piece I had a good grasp of Amos, his partner, tragic background and the unique gift that he brings to his investigations.

What I loved most about The Fallen was not just the richly layered narrative, which contained plenty of tangents to keep the reader on their toes. Rather, I found The Fallen to be a fine ode to small town America. Baldacci uses The Fallen as a vehicle to highlight the issues at stake in small towns such as Baronville, which are dotted all across the US. With a downturn in manufacturing and production, resulting in significant job losses across these towns, the future is bleak. Many of these so-called ghost towns, provide the breeding grounds for unsavoury activities to spark. In Baronville’s case, the employment deficit has resulted in a huge rise in the drug trade. With the increase of the drug trade, the conditions prove fertile for other negative activities, such as murder and violence. Baldacci ties this in expertly within his novel and illuminates a country-wide problem very well within The Fallen.

Baldacci balances the personal issues of his leads well within a compelling narrative. Baldacci reveals just enough of the personal side of each of these characters, so that we develop quite the attachment to these leads. The use of Amos Decker’s memory skills, where Baldacci works to highlight the pitfalls, as well as the positive points of this impairment, made for an interesting read. The Baronville case the duo work to solve is a complicated one and it certainly got my brain ticking away the whole time I spent with this book.  I do like books that make me think hard and this is one of those novels. Baldacci knows a thing or two about action scenes and The Fallen is a perfect example of Baldacci’s ability to present a solid action-thriller based novel. This was one heart pounding thriller, where Baldacci issues surprises his audience right up until the end of the novel. The sense of mystery also runs right through the very core of The Fallen.

Overall, I was impressed by my first David Baldacci novel and I am tempted to explore the previous novels in this series, along with other works by this author. It amazes me that Baldacci can balance out his writing so well and pen so many different characters. Spreading himself across a range of different series and genres is no easy task, but it seems Baldacci has it down pat. I found The Fallen, Baldacci’s latest, an entertaining read and a novel that I would not hesitate to recommend. If you are already a fan of Mr Baldacci’s work I’m sure you will agree The Fallen is one action packed new episode of the Memory Man series.

The Fallen by David Baldacci was published on April 24th 2018 by Pan Macmillan. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.

To learn more about the author of The Fallen, David Baldacci visit here. 

*I wish to thank the publisher, Pan Macmillan for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.

 

 

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