Source: Review copy
Publication: 12 November 2020 from MacMillan
PP: 416
ISBN-13: 978-1509874576
FBI Agent Atlee Pine’s search for her twin sister, Mercy, coincides with military investigator John Puller’s high-stakes case, leading them both into a global conspiracy from which neither of them will escape unscathed.
Ever since Mercy was abducted after a brutal incident when the girls were just six years old, Atlee has been relentless in her search for the truth. Now, just as time is running out on her investigation, she finally gets her most promising breakthrough yet – the identity of her sister’s kidnapper: Ito Vincenzo. Last known location: New Jersey.
As Atlee and her assistant, Carol Blum, race to track down Vincenzo, they run into Pine’s old friend John Puller, who is investigating Vincenzo’s family for another crime involving a military installation.
Working together, Pine and Puller pull back the layers of deceit, lies and cover-ups that strike at the very heart of global democracy. And the truth about what happened to Mercy is finally revealed.
And that truth will shock Atlee Pine to her very core.
This series just keeps getting better. Baldacci spins the most brilliant stories and FBI Agent, Atlee Pine and her administrative assistant, Carol Blum are terrific characters. In concept, there’s something of The Fugitive about this series only, rather than chasing the unknown one-armed man, Atlee Pine is trying to find the man who took her twin sister Mercy some thirty years ago and left six year old Atlee seriously injured.
Atlee is making progress, too. She has followed a trail and discovered a lot of useful information. For that reason, I would not read this as a stand-alone, but read from the beginning to enjoy the series from the start.
Following the leads from Book Two, A Minute to Midnight, Atlee is now pursuing the Vincenzo family, mobsters with connections in all sorts of unlikely places. She tracks Ito Vincenzo’s family to New Jersey but finds that he has been missing for some time and his son is in prison. Tracking down his grandson, she finds herself caught up in a high stakes investigation led by investigation led by Army CID investigator. John Puller. (I enjoy the crossover of characters from the Baldacci universe and this time both John Puller and his brother, Robert are involved).
Though Atlee had no way of knowing, there’s a web of deceit being woven around her and soon she and Puller, working together, find themselves he targets of killers who are prepared to stop at nothing in their quest to use blackmail, drugs, sex and extortion in order to maintain their hold on the levers of power.
Their investigation walks them straight into danger and with their lives at stake, they realise that this enemy has friends in the highest places. What follows is both surprising and explosive. Every time you think you know what’s coming, Baldacci throws another curve ball right at you. Daylight is powerful, shocking and riveting.
Verdict: Baldacci has a great line in powerfully paced, exciting thrillers and this one is no exception. What makes this series though is Atlee Pine’s dogged determination to find out what happened to her sister and the revelations that she uncovers are truly shocking and surprising. Daylight is another electrifying book in this unmissable series.
David Baldacci is one of the world’s bestselling and favourite thriller writers. With over 130 million copies in print, his books are published in over eighty territories and forty-five languages, and have been adapted for both feature-film and television. David is also the co-founder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation®, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across the US.
Live and Deadly 