For review of all books in the Amos Decker series, go here.
Stars: 3 / 5
Recommendation: It is still a well-written and engaging story, even though it leads to unexpected roads. Definitely not fast-paced since a lot of redundancy and droning goes on. Somehow Baldacci still managed to keep the reader gripping to the tale. That is what this makes readable!
Walk The Wire is the sixth book in the Amos Decker series by David Baldacci and originally published on April 21, 2020. This is a cross-over book with Baldacci’s Will Robie series. The last time Will Robie and Jessica Reel made their appearances was in the 2017 book End Game in the Will Robie Series.
The stories in this series center on Amos Decker, a detective turned private investigator who has an excellent memory, that he doesn’t forget anything and can recall things from his past and personal experiences and also everything he heard or read about in history. His condition – hyperthymesia and synesthesia – is due to the helmet-to-helmet collision with opposing team player on his very first NFL game, that almost killed him. He was revived twice which caused his brain to retain memory; and also see world in a kaleidoscope of colors and numbers. He uses his skills to catch killers as a detective first and later as a private investigator.
Amos and Alex are sent to London, North Dakota, a boom town due to increasing fracking business. But they uncover something more sinister while they investigate the deaths of two women seemingly unrelated. They uncover religious outsiders who don’t want to do anything with the world; bunkers from WWI; uncover secrets behind a decades old supposed accident and above all bioterrorism. A small town with an interesting name famous for fracking becomes the ground zero for the deadly bioterrorism that has been locked for almost a century.
This is not a simple tale as it seems leading Amos Decker down a path that opens doors to unexpected avenues. There is still a lot of paraphrasing and repetitive scenes and scenarios that we could have gotten away with it and still have a decent story. It is unusual for Baldacci’s books since I read a few of his novels in a different series. Perhaps to show Decker’s synesthesia and hyperthymesia, he had to take this approach.
Decker still remains a fat agent as he describes himself. He continues to be very human with real emotions as opposed to having a god-like figure and overtly rich as shown in many TV shows. This was the one of the saving graces that made me give 3 stars. I see a lot of football euphemisms included in the plot and also different plays that they use on football.
As the books proceed we see that Amos struggles with his ever changing memory. Although he seems to regain his perfect memory still. Obviously eith Will Robie and Jessica Reel resurrected in this book, we meet their superior Blue Man as well
The books in this series are following a similar pattern. It is still a well-written and engaging story, with strong cross-over elements. Definitely not fast-paced since a lot of redundancy and droning goes on. Somehow Baldacci still managed to keep the reader gripping to the tale. That is what this makes readable!
It begs to be asked though will there be another Will Robie book?
Spoiler Alerts:
Plot Reveals:
1) Police force in London, ND – Lieutenant Joe Kelly;
Sub Plots:
1. FBI Joint Task Force – Special Agent Ross Bogart; “Alex” Jamison, FBI consultant.; Todd Milligan;
2. Mary Lancaster is diagnosed with early onset dementia.
3. Amos Decker’s family and friends: His dead family – Cassandra “Cassie” his wife, Molly his daughter and Johnny his brother-in-law; he has two sisters – Renee and her husband Stan Baker and kids,
4. Alex’s family – sister Amber and niece Zoe Mitchell;
Galavant Reflections 