Daylight

Special Agent Atlee Pine has some serious anger problems and is told by her boss to sort out her underlying trauma’s or leave the FBI. So, now she’s looking for the person who abducted her twin sister and almost killed herself when they were 6-years-olds. After a long series of adventures (that are told in the 2 previous books), she has discovered a large part of the story and the identity of the culprit, Ito Vincenzo. Who has disappeared a long time ago. His son is currently in prison and the grandson is involved in a drug ring. At the start of the book, she disturbs a raid on the grandson’s house/pill factory that was organised by John Puller. Since they have a mutually shared interest in the same persons, they join forces. But they soon experience that they get stonewalled everywhere, even when there’s an attempt on their lives in which another CID agent dies. The local police try to use a black boy as the scapegoat for the shooting. Someone high up in the chain of command must be involved to organise such a massive cover-up. The conspiracy involves people with a lot of power to pull strings in almost every direction the investigation goes. It’s more than dangerous with people dying all around them; friends, witnesses and suspects alike. Both Pine and Puller refuse to give up, though. I must admit that Atlee Pine is a new character and I’m really sorry that I didn’t read the 2 previous stories as that would have given me a better insight in the kidnapping story, her family relations, and history. As for now, I could piece everything together as the author gives an oversight of the major discoveries she made when she talks to Puller. Him, I do know from earlier books. He was never my favourite character but as a cat-lover, he can’t be too unsympathetic. His brother Robert, whom I like better, also appears in this book. There are also 2 memorable recommendations to make. Carol Blum, Atlee’s administrative assistant shows phenomenal courage under duress and Puller’s cat AWOL not only warns him for intruders but remains stoic after a gunfight. I luckily do not have experience with gunshots but my cat apparently knows that I’m at the door from the moment I step of my bicycle before putting my key in the lock. Baldacci writes very patriotic books. Even as a foreigner, I feel sympathy for the armed forces and FBI while reading his stories. They’re so suspenseful and compelling that I have problems putting them down to perform my other activities. The plot is rather complicated because of the different crimes they must investigate in various places. There are also so many people involved in the crimes that you have to keep your wits with you. The cross-over between the 2 series is a great success, Puller and Pine strike up a beautiful friendship, but there’s no romance between them. Maybe that can still happen in the future because the storyline of Atlee’s sister Mercy is not finished yet. I thank Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the free ARC they provided and this is my honest, unbiased review of it.