The Last Mile (Memory Man Series, 2) by David Baldacci (Epub)

Description

Convicted murderer Melvin Mars is counting down the last hours before his execution–for the violent killing of his parents twenty years earlier–when he’s granted an unexpected reprieve. Another man has confessed to the crime.

The confession has the potential to make Melvin Mars–guilty or not–a free man. Who wants Mars out of prison? And why now?

But when a member of Decker’s team disappears, it becomes clear that something much larger–and more sinister–than just one convicted criminal’s life hangs in the balance. Decker will need all of his extraordinary brainpower to stop an innocent man from being executed.

User’s Reviews

Review “Entertaining and enlightening, The Last Mile is a rich novel that has much to offer…In the best Baldacci tradition, the action is fast and furious. But The Last Mile is more than a good action thriller. It sheds light on racism, a father-son relationship and capital punishment. Both Mars and Decker are substantive, solid characters….Utterly absorbing.”―Associated Press”[Amos Decker is] one of the most unique protagonists seen in thriller fiction….David Baldacci has always been a top-notch thriller writer …[his] fertile imagination and intricate plotting abilities make each of his books a treat for thriller readers. The Last Mile is no exception.”―BookReporter.com”The intricate details in Baldacci’s explosive new novel engage until the final word. He’s hit the pinnacle traveling the Deep South and exploring its traditions. Decker and his compatriots are characters to remember long after reading this impressive undertaking.”―RT Book Reviews (4 1/2 stars – Top Pick!)”A compelling mystery with emotional resonance. Just when the story line heads to what seems an obvious conclusion, Baldacci veers off course with a surprising twist. The end result is another exciting read from a thriller master.”―Library Journal (Starred Review)”Baldacci excels at developing interesting, three-dimensional protagonists…Baldacci fans will not be disappointed, and The Last Mile gives good reason to look forward to the next Amos Decker thriller.”―New York Journal of Books

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ I believe Baldacci writes well, but too often. It is easy to create a premise that will draw readers in. It is more difficult to construct a series of believable events that explain the premise. This takes time and a good editor, neither of which are apparent in this book. For example, Baldacci has the protagonist sent to death row by his father who thinks this is the best way to protect him. In retrospect, the son would have been a high NFL draft choice and could have more hired more than sufficient security. Baldacci also has the son’s car die right in front of a motel, but does not explain how this could be done–pre-Google. Then there is the house where a murder was committed that has sat untouched for twenty years. Perhaps Baldacci paid the property taxes so the house would not got to auction. If you read fast enough (Evelyn Wood x 10) that you don’t notice the holes in the plot, you could enjoy this book. Last Mile proves that fast paced chapters do not necessarily make a good book.

⭐ I ran across David Baldacci’s book “The Hit”, a Will Robie novel, while planning a trip to Florida. I don’t read often because I rarely find an author that keeps my attention. I didn’t have any issues with this author. I finished The Hit in 3 days, went to a local store and bought “Memory Man”, the first of the Amos Decker books. I finished that in another 3 days. Half-way in I decided to order The Last Mile because I didn’t want down time in between books. I can’t put these things down. It’s like Jason Bourne meets Criminal Minds (though Amos Decker is far from Jason Bourne). The writing is just captivating. Every time I finish a chapter and want to maybe put the book down, I just immediately start reading the next chapter. I love how he writes in short chapters because it’s so much more enticing to say “let me read these next 6 pages” and the next thing you know you are 60 pages in and hooked. I’m going to read every one of his books because I’m sure I won’t find one I don’t enjoy.

⭐ THE LAST MILE (Memory Man Series Book 2) By David BaldacciMY REVIEW 5-StarsI finished reading this second installment of the Memory Man series featuring Amos Decker just this past Friday, November 22, about three years following its release. The fact is, I just read the inaugural outing of the character of Amos Decker a couple months ago. If you at it in that light I bringing myself up to speed fairly quickly.Memory Man [2015] and its sequel in 2016 (The Last Mile) have a lot in common, and it is all good. Baldacci is the author at the helm, the truly unique and likeable loner Amos Decker is cast as the lead protagonist, and memorable three dimensional characters we met in the first book return in this follow up mystery/crime novel.Today’s date shows there is no need for a long Customer Review on this one. It was published over three years ago and read by a zillion fans of Baldacci’s all over the globe. The Last Mile boasts over 58,653 ratings on goodreads.com with an overall rating of 4.2. Amazon has 6,470 Customer Reviews of the Kindle Edition with an impressive 4.6 rating (92% 4 or 5 Stars with nearly three quarters of those readers allotting the novel a 5-Star Review). I am pleased to add still one more 5-Star Review to those impressive statistics. The Last Mile is a totally absorbing story which pulls you in quickly, and keeps you engrossed until you read the last line of the last page. Baldacci is indeed a thriller writer extraordinaire, but I find that what has been called “extreme readability” is one of the major keys to his amazing popularity and global success. In short, his books are simply “unputdownable”. I remember reading David Baldacci’s works in the late ’90s but the only book title that immediately pops into my head is ABSOLUTE POWER (1996). This first foray into the field of crime fiction led to the feature film starring the award winning Clint Eastwood. The rest is well, history.I would imagine that it is no small feat to create a truly unique protagonist to spearhead a new book series, but Baldacci’s Amos Decker is exactly that…truly unique. When we first meet Amos in Book 1 (Memory Man) he is barely on the mend, and not far out from living on the streets in a cardboard box. He is morbidly obese, disheveled, and doesn’t really care about having barely two pennies to rub together. His back story is as remarkable as it is gut-wrenching. He had been afflicted with hyperthymesia (perfect recall) prior to his entire life being imploded by the horrific murder of his entire family. Decker had already been dealing with the reality of a personality transplant and the eruption of various personality traits as a direct result of his acquired disability. However, we learn that possessing a perfect memory is an invaluable asset to a seasoned cop and highly intelligent detective like Amos Decker. Baldacci doesn’t create a hero in the mold of a magnetically handsome, tall and “built” stud in his prime, flawed and maybe either seeking solitude, hitting the liquor too hard (or both). He heads in the direction of memorable protagonists that don’t always get the girl, like the Sandwich King created by Lawrence Sanders NYPD Capt. Edward X. Delaney, or the portly, perceptive, and not an ounce of fashion sense, retired FBI Agent E.L. Pender (FBI E.L. Pender Series by Jonathan Nasaw of THE GIRLS HE ADORED fame). In my opinion, Amos Decker is the most intriguing, and certainly the most sympathetic protagonist from a field of genuinely unique heroes in the annals of crime fiction.A third trait of the book that I mentioned is the return of familiar faces in the second installment The Last Mile. We meet several new characters in this follow up to Memory Man that are just as well developed, so real that you become deeply entrenched and entranced by the narrative as it unfolds. Baldacci has a truly gifted ability to create characters in his novels that we care about. Doggone it, he gives us reasons to care, he allows us to vicariously experience their raw emotions, their distress, and hardships that are relatable and lamentable to his readers. I loved the character of Melvin (“Mellow”) Mars, imprisoned and abandoned until he was literally about to walk “the last mile”. In this particular book we find ourselves traveling the Deep South and being reminded of the injustices carried out by a few misguided white racists in the ’60s. Thankfully, Baldacci handles this sorrowful part of our nation’s history candidly but I felt fairly. It was truly an enjoyable reading experience and along the path to its conclusion there were plot twists I didn’t see coming, and finally I loved the end of the book. It was powerful, poignant, and reflected true poetic justice.

⭐ This is a perfectly fine mystery thriller, but in a way, it suffers from how good it’s predecessor was. The plot of this book was fairly predictable, although there were a few twists here and there. By the middle of the book, you pretty much knew who was who and what was what. That doesn’t necessarily make it a bad read. My real complaint about the book is the characters seemed way underdeveloped. Part of it is that there are way to many of them, so none really get their fair due. The other is that in the first Decker novel, so much time is spent getting to know Decker’s mind, and in this novel, you don’t really get to know anybody. Each individual seems like they’ve been put in place to fill the archetypes needed for a mystery novel. I didn’t really care about any of them, and I wasn’t afraid for any of them. So, it’s a fun read, but Baldacci has done much better. This novel felt more like a script. You almost needed actors to exude emotion, otherwise, everybody either felt like they had none, or they were cartoonish. I think it would make a better movie than book.

⭐ As some other reviewers have mentioned- this is not one of this author’s best work. Liked the main character and plot was somewhat believable, but just didn’t have that special adventure. I sometimes wonder if these talented authors sometimes use other writers to write parts of the story. Like James Patterson, who just writes for the money in my estimation and whoi won’t read anymore.

⭐ I really enjoyed the first Memory Man book – I thought it was well written with a unique plot and good characters. This book is basically the opposite.I won’t get into major spoilers, but a semi-major plot point revolves on someone being able to sabotage a car so that it breaks down in a very specific location. What? Some of the characters come and go, are mean or nice without explanation and generally are annoying. And the “main” piece of evidence that everyone is searching for is rather unbelievable. Oh, and it’s hard to get a sense of the time frame the book takes place over, but the main character losses like 50 pounds…in two weeks? Or three?Fiction often requires the suspension of disbelief, but that is usually in regards to things like superpowers, time travel, etc. I don’t think it should apply to the basic way 99% of people act and behave.

⭐ I have read all of David Baldacci’s books and this one is another winner. Amos Decker is such an unusual character that he completely fascinated me. After a head injury playing football, he can forget nothing which makes him an excellent detective. He is unusual in that he is obese, out of shape and socially awkward but a very likable character. The supporting characters were well developed and believable and the plot had so many twists that it made me dizzy. I couldn’t put the book down and read it late into the night to see what surprise the next page would bring and was completely surprised by the ending. Loved it!I highly recommend this book even if you haven’t read the first book in the series, “Memory Man,” as this one can stand alone. I’ll be ordering book 3 for my Kindle now.

⭐ Full of American clichés with a bunch of references to Colombia drug cartels, slavery, racism,, bombings, killings, prisons, fights, and all sorts of inventions, way out of line from what anyone could see in 10 lifetimes. The story has many twists that are borderline absurd. This is the second Baldacci book I’ve tried, and will never buy another one.

⭐ 4.5 starsI liked this book even better than the first Amos Decker, perhaps because less time was dedicated to explaining the strangeness of Decker’s mind and more was given to the actual story.Again, there were some parts that stretched the imagination, such as why someone would leave an innocent person they cared for on death row, but Baldacci nonetheless masterfully weaves another work that I found hard to put down. The suspense runs from beginning to end, the characters are mostly likeable, and every now and then there is a little bit of action to really pick things up.To really be a great story, however, I believe the book needs a strong female protagonist, either a love interest or a woman who can somehow complement Decker’s hyperthymesia and sharp deductive reasoning…

⭐ I think that David Balducci’s Memory Man series is one of the best reads that I’ve had in a long time. I really like the Amos Decker character that he has created and also the supportive characters that Amos has met as he is gone from being a homeless ex-cop looking into his family’s murder to becoming part of an FBI task force in later books. The books are extremely well written, they have great Intrigue and complexity to them, and the character development of the sub stories within the major storie is really great. I am now in to book number 4 and look forward to any new books that the author may come up with for this character. A really terrific read. Most highly recommended.

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