Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci

Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci
(Atlee Pine #1)
404 pages / 11 hrs, 9 mins

"...Atlee Pine, [is] an FBI special agent assigned to the remote wilds of the western United States. Ever since her twin sister was abducted by a notorious serial killer at age five, Atlee has spent her life hunting down those who hurt others. And she's the best at it. She could be one of the Bureau's top criminal profilers, if she didn't prefer catching criminals in the vast wilderness of the West to climbing the career ladder in the D.C. office. Her chosen mission is a lonesome one--but that suits her just fine.

"Now, Atlee is called in to investigate the mutilated carcass of a mule found in the Grand Canyon--and hopefully, solve the disappearance of its rider."    --from the publisher

I like this new character. I think Baldacci does a decent job of writing from a feminine perspective. The setting is great, and the story is interesting even though a bit far-fetched. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Chase by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

The Chase by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, 303 pages

This is the second in the Fox and O'Hare novels Janet Evanovich has coauthored with Lee Goldberg.  Kate O'Hare is a FBI agent working with con artist Nick Fox to retrieve a bronze rooster stolen by Carter Grove.  The heist leads them across the country from Palm Beach to Washington D.C. across the ocean to Scotland and Shanghai.  Along with some unusual cohorts, Kate and and Nick get the job done. They recover the rooster, but not without some excitement in Kentucky.  This was a good book and a quick read.  Janet and Lee have created some likeable new characters which make it hard to wait six months for the next book.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child

A Wanted Man: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child --- 405 pages

The seventeenth and latest book in the popular series of suspense thrillers about former Army MP Major Jack Reacher, now his own very independent dispenser of justice.

Reacher's just trying to get from Nebraska to Virginia. There's a woman there he wants to meet. He's only talked to her on the phone a few times, but she intrigues him.

Standing on the eastbound lanes of an Interstate highway interchange in the middle of a cold winter night, with a badly broken nose from his last adventure, Reacher finally thumbs a ride with two guys and a woman headed to Chicago. But as they ride through the night, Reacher senses tension in the car. Little things --- offhand comments and actions --- that don't add up.

What Reacher doesn't know is that some ninety miles from where he was picked up, a man has been found stabbed to death, execution style, in an old pumping station. An eye witness happened to see three men go  into the station but only two come out. Within minutes the county sheriff is on the case. The pumping station provides access to a huge underground aquifer; in this age of terrorism, that's enough to trigger a call to the FBI.

Roadblocks go up on the highways. The APB says two men in a red car; then two men in any kind of car; then two men and a woman in any kind of car. But no one is looking for three men and a woman. Not yet.

All Reacher wanted was a ride to get him down the road towards Virginia. But instead he finds himself in the middle of a massive conspiracy, an undercover terrorism investigation gone bad, and now both the bad guys AND the good guys are gunning for Reacher.  It looks like the only way to extricate himself will require cleaning up the mess that others have made. Once again. So Reacher obliges.