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shannon_reidwheat's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
emilyilyily's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
annaisjoyful's review against another edition
4.0
Not bad, an easy read. My heart didn't speed up too much though and I could put it down at all times.
beastreader's review
3.0
John Puller works for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Unit. So whenever the Army is in need of the best to help solve a murder, they turn to John. This latest murder case is a gruesome one. A colonel and his family including two little children were slaughtered.
John is joined by local authority Samantha “Sam” Cole. Together they head down a path of deceit, greed and murder.
It has been several books since I have read one from Mr. Baldacci. I have to admit that this was not one of his strongest. Though, it still kept my interest and there was plenty of action. The adrenaline rush and the characters were what I found lackluster. John was not bad but the secondary characters did not pop off the pages at me. I wanted them to as this was the type of story that they needed to. I kind of went through the motions, reading this book but not really caring if the good guys came out on top. I did like Sam. She was tough and could hold her own with John. Don’t be expecting much romance between John and Sam. They pretty much keep things on a professional level. There were not a lot of surprises in this book. Though, it is one that you can read and if you put it down for a few moments and still come back to and get right back into it. I hope that Mr. Baldacci’s next book has lots more action.
John is joined by local authority Samantha “Sam” Cole. Together they head down a path of deceit, greed and murder.
It has been several books since I have read one from Mr. Baldacci. I have to admit that this was not one of his strongest. Though, it still kept my interest and there was plenty of action. The adrenaline rush and the characters were what I found lackluster. John was not bad but the secondary characters did not pop off the pages at me. I wanted them to as this was the type of story that they needed to. I kind of went through the motions, reading this book but not really caring if the good guys came out on top. I did like Sam. She was tough and could hold her own with John. Don’t be expecting much romance between John and Sam. They pretty much keep things on a professional level. There were not a lot of surprises in this book. Though, it is one that you can read and if you put it down for a few moments and still come back to and get right back into it. I hope that Mr. Baldacci’s next book has lots more action.
judithdcollins's review
3.0
Have read of few of Baldacci’s books and I liked The Forgotten (#2 Puller) better than (#1 Puller) Zero Day. I listed to both on audio and enjoy sound effects and the narrators Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy made the novel very interesting.
Again war hero, John Puller is the top investigator in the US Army CID. As in Forgotten he is called to work the case after someone is brutally murdered in a remote area of West Virginia. As usual, upon his investigation, there is more than meets the eye and teams up with local homicide detective Sam Cole. There are secrets of the past and deceit surfaces. Without giving up the ending-- A shocking conclusion of family and justice and how to make things right – A fast-paced book with battles between good and evil.
Again war hero, John Puller is the top investigator in the US Army CID. As in Forgotten he is called to work the case after someone is brutally murdered in a remote area of West Virginia. As usual, upon his investigation, there is more than meets the eye and teams up with local homicide detective Sam Cole. There are secrets of the past and deceit surfaces. Without giving up the ending-- A shocking conclusion of family and justice and how to make things right – A fast-paced book with battles between good and evil.
jacki_f's review against another edition
4.0
David Baldacci writes a number of series, but this book introduces a new character: John Puller. Puller is a specialist military policeman who grew up in a military family. He has strong deductive powers, superior combat skills, a loner personality and drinks a lot of coffee. Sounds familiar? The story is highly reminiscent of Lee Child's books - but the good news is that it's better than the last few Reacher novels. If I didn't think Child writes his own books, I would be wondering if Baldacci had poached Child's top ghost writer. Certainly it's hard to believe that this book was written by the same person who penned the dire True Blue.
The story involves Puller being sent to small town West Virginia to investigate the murder of a colonel and his family. He quickly builds a strong rapport with the police sergeant Samantha Cole and they work together on the case. As the body count grows, it swiftly becomes apparent that there is more to this than a simple family murder and that both Puller and Cole are in danger. There are a lot of twists and the story holds your attention nicely. None of it is very plausible, but that's pretty common for the genre. If all you want is sheer entertainment, you will find it here.
The only thing that really bugged me about this book was Sam's family - both her brother and sister play key roles and neither is even remotely believable. Their conversations, motivations and actions are all simplistic and highly unlikely. A shame, because several of the other characters are genuinely interesting and nuanced. I found my heart sinking a little whenever the family came into the action. But otherwise I was pleasantly surprised and I thought it was easily the best that "Baldacci" has written in a while. If you enjoy Lee Child's books, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy this also.
The story involves Puller being sent to small town West Virginia to investigate the murder of a colonel and his family. He quickly builds a strong rapport with the police sergeant Samantha Cole and they work together on the case. As the body count grows, it swiftly becomes apparent that there is more to this than a simple family murder and that both Puller and Cole are in danger. There are a lot of twists and the story holds your attention nicely. None of it is very plausible, but that's pretty common for the genre. If all you want is sheer entertainment, you will find it here.
The only thing that really bugged me about this book was Sam's family - both her brother and sister play key roles and neither is even remotely believable. Their conversations, motivations and actions are all simplistic and highly unlikely. A shame, because several of the other characters are genuinely interesting and nuanced. I found my heart sinking a little whenever the family came into the action. But otherwise I was pleasantly surprised and I thought it was easily the best that "Baldacci" has written in a while. If you enjoy Lee Child's books, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy this also.
papidoc's review
4.0
I read one of Baldacci's books years ago, and wasn't really thrilled by it, so I never went back to him. Recently, I saw a review of this one, and it looked intriguing, so I checked it out from the library. It was actually pretty good. I may have found another series to read, though this one only has 3-4 books in the series. Apparently Baldacci isn't afraid to end a series when he runs out of ideas.
John Puller is a CID inspector, reminiscent of a more law-abiding Jack Reacher. He finds himself in West Virginia trying to figure out who murdered an entire family. Eventually, his brilliant brother, in prison for treason, takes on a pivotal role in solving the mystery. I'm looking forward to finding time for the next one.
John Puller is a CID inspector, reminiscent of a more law-abiding Jack Reacher. He finds himself in West Virginia trying to figure out who murdered an entire family. Eventually, his brilliant brother, in prison for treason, takes on a pivotal role in solving the mystery. I'm looking forward to finding time for the next one.
davisek223's review
2.0
Every time I read a David Baldacci book, I wonder why I waste my time. His characters are wooden, the plotting has holes you could drive a truck through, and his writing is atrocious. But for some reason I keep picking up his new ones, thinking somehow that this one will be better than the last. Much like John Grisham, I guess, Baldacci showed promise early on and I keep hoping he'll live up to it. But he doesn't -- not in past books, and not in this one either. As Baldacci books go, this one was less awful than previous ones, but still pretty horrible.
retiredlibrarylady's review
4.0
A bit far fetched but very readable, as his thrillers usually are. Maybe the U S government would leave bomb-ready material under concrete in a rural area for decades and maybe an underpaid military VIP would be willing to blow up several states for money... I can't quite swallow that but of course our hero is the customary large man trained to do amazing things and always victorious in a fight. So he wins!