The Last Mile

THE LAST MILE by David Baldacci is the second book in the Amos Decker series. It's not necessary to read the first (MEMORY MAN) before the second; however, it's worth it to see the continued character development of Amos. In the first book, he strives to find out who murdered his wife and daughter and whether or not the murders were the result of an unknown enemy. Due to a gridiron hit on his first day in the NFL, he had developed two rare brain conditions that left him with perfect memory and auras. He could never forget finding the dead bodies of his family (in perfect detail) and that anguish resulted in his literally losing his life (jobless, homeless, friendless, etc). In the end, he does succeed in his quest for answers (and retribution) and along the way develops trustworthy associates and a semblance of humanity in him has emerged.

In THE LAST MILE, Amos and most of those trustworthy associates return in another action-packed murder/mystery thriller. Amos is part of an FBI Task Force formed to solve high profile unsolved cases. In this case, Melvin Mars, a star high school football player and Heisman Trophy winner on his way to the NFL (reminiscent of Amos' youth and thus his interest in the case) was convicted in the murders of his parents 20 years ago and is on death row. At the 11th hour, someone else (also on death row) confesses to the crime and reveals pertinent details that no one but the real killer(s) would know. But Amos has his doubts. That's the simplified story line.

So, Melvin Mars is added to the cast of characters in Amos' life and at the end of this intriguing, compelling thriller the reader is left stunned. All of the characters are fleshed out a bit more and Decker is more humanized as his brain is remembering emotions and feelings again. The ending was satisfying and left wide open another Amos Decker book (or books). I can't wait. [b:The Last Mile 26245853 The Last Mile (Amos Decker, #2) David Baldacci https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1450227326s/26245853.jpg 46239650]

I think I like this book better than the first one. It had a lot of humour but also made you think. I guessed who was going to be involved that they weren't aware of when chasing down the bad guys. Pleased it ended with everyone getting what they deserved. Would have been nice nice to know the pay out figure!

This was better than the first Amos Decker book though there were still some things that bugged me. But I think Mars went a long way to bringing some life into the book.