Book Review – Daylight by David Baldacci – Atlee Pine #3 featuring John Puller
My Rating – 4 out of 5
Table of Contents
Plot Summary – Daylight
David Baldacci debuted FBI Special Agent Atlee Pine in 2018 with Long Road to Mercy, followed in 2019 by A Minute to Midnight and now the third instalment, Daylight is out. Pine is a lone ranger, with her troubled past playing a big role in what she has become, along with her being a talented and dedicated Agent. Her posting as the sole Resident Agent, is at Shattered Rock, Arizona and the isolated posting suits her just fine.
A little backstory (not a Spoiler by any means) – Atlee Pine’s sole mission in life, besides crime fighting, is to find out what happened to her twin sister Mercy. They were both six, when one night, someone invaded their family home, hit Atlee on her head and leaving her for dead, kidnapped Mercy. Mercy was never found again, dead or alive, and remains Atlee’s enduring quest. Parallel to all her cases, she tries to find clues to what happened on that fateful night and will not rest till she gets to the truth.
In Daylight, Atlee is given a leave of absence to concentrate on finding out what happened to her sister and along with her FBI secretary cum Assistant, the matronly Carol Blum, Pine sets out to track down what happened to Mercy. Their investigation finally uncovers the identity of their assailant – Ito Vincenzo, the brother of a then jailed Crime lord. Trying to trace Ito, Pine and Blum reach Trenton, New Jersey and locate Ito and his grandchildren’s house. But they land bang in the middle of Army CID’s ongoing investigation into a drug trafficking ring on the nearby Army installation.
Surprise, surprise! Leading that investigation is none other than John Puller (Baldacci’s Jack Reacher clone)!! Pine and Puller know each other from earlier joint investigations and this time also, they decide to join hands. While a drug trafficking racket seems to be an easy bust, it devolves into a far more complex investigation than what either of them had expected. Puller is warned off the investigation and even real high ups in Pentagon are rendered helpless. The conspiracy runs deep and threatens the very base of democracy in the US and maybe the whole World.
While the parallel investigations are run full steam, both Puller and Pine are more or less on their own, their respective bosses having almost pulled the plug on them. Though Ito is missing, his son Teddy, who’s in jail, and grandson Tony are Pine’s only link to finding out what happened to Mercy, almost thirty years ago. Suddenly, Teddy is murdered while in jail, enforcing the belief that somebody with a lot of clout and a lot to hide is not going to allow the two to finish their investigations. Will they be able to overcome all the odds and hurdles placed in their way and solve their individual but intertwined puzzles? Read Daylight to find out!
Conclusion of the Book Review – Daylight
For the first time, David Baldacci brings together two of his chief protagonists from separate series’ of their own, into one novel and the result, while being enigmatic, isn’t exactly going to set the charts on fire. The duo, are all hunky-dory with each other and behaving like best chums throughout the book. While that sounds like an ideal situation to have in a widespread investigation, their is no spark in it, no disagreement – essentially no chemistry!
Overall, a page turner which finishes in no time! Recommended for a quick read for its intriguing story-line, intricate plot detailing and those who have followed the earlier books in the Pine series finally see what happened to her sister, Mercy. With the Holiday season coming up, pile up those books to read and this could jolly well be one of them, if thrillers are your thing.
*That’s it for now from me, hope you enjoyed reading this review as much as I enjoyed writing it! Keep watching this space for more such reviews!!*
