May 282013
The Forgotten
In Paradise, nothing is what it seems…
THE FORGOTTEN
Army Special Agent John Puller is the best there is. A combat veteran, Puller is the man the U.S. Army relies on to investigate the toughest crimes facing the nation. Now he has a new case-but this time, the crime is personal: His aunt has been found dead in Paradise, Florida.
A picture-perfect town on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Paradise thrives on the wealthy tourists and retirees drawn to its gorgeous weather and beaches. T
List Price: $ 14.99
Price: $ 7.97
All is not what is seems in Paradise…,
This is the second book in Baldacci’s Reacher-like series featuring John Puller, a military cop. The Forgotten picks up from where Zero Day left off, but it’s not necessary to have read that book previously. Whilst the events from that book are referred to occasionally, there are no spoilers given.
When the book opens, Puller is contemplating returning to work after a brief vacation taken to recover from the events of Zero Day, when his father receives a worrying letter from Puller’s Aunt Betsy, who lives in Paradise, Florida. She alludes to something dodgy going on and “mysterious happenings at night”. Puller goes down to Florida to visit his aunt, but when he gets there he discovers that she has recently deceased, having drowned in her backyard in what the police have decided was an accident. Given the letter she just wrote, Puller is not convinced it was an accident and starts to investigate further. Almost immediately it becomes apparent that there is more than meets the eye to the entire affair.
At the same time, there is a mysterious man who has literally washed up in town. He has arrived on a mission, but we don’t know what that mission is or whether he is going to turn out to be a villain or a hero. He is Puller’s match in every way.
The first half of the book develops slowly but maintains the intrigue as Puller pursues his investigations. In the second half things start to come together and the action builds. There are several twists along the way.
It’s impossible to avoid the comparison to Lee Child’s books because the lead character and overall formula are so similar. If you enjoy Child’s books, you’re pretty sure to like this too. It’s not as good as Child at his best – it doesn’t hold your attention as well and Puller is not as charismatic as Reacher. But it’s as good or better than several of the recent Reacher instalments. I find Baldacci pretty hit and miss as a writer, but this one works.
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|John Puller – Baldacci’s new Jack Reacher,
Now that Oliver Stone and the Camel Club are over, David Baldacci is looking for a key player for a new series. Welcome to Military Criminal Investigator, John Puller Jr, who some of you will have met first in “Zero Day”. Puller is basically a military policeman, over 6 feet tall, very athletic and powerful but with battle wounds from active service, great with weapons and a diligent and brilliant investigator. After the traumas of “Zero Day” Puller went off for some post stress R & R – “He had no map, no plan, no destination”.
Does all of this sound a bit familiar, a bit like Jack Reacher? Of course it does. We all love Jack Reacher but after so many iterations his adventures are getting a bit thin and repetitious. So let’s see what Puller can offer. Firstly he is still in the military although this adventure starts out as a personal investigation. His aunt who raised him sent a letter saying “people are not being who they seemed”. When Puller arrives in Florida he finds that she has been drowned in her back-yard fountain, which the police think is accidental. Puller he gets involved with the local police in trying to convince them that it was murder. Like Zero Day, a simple investigation quickly uncovers something far more sinister and dangerous.
The finale is fast and furious escapist nonsense with a team of unlikely goodies, including some kick-ass females, taking care of almost a football team of nasty baddies.
Did I enjoy it? Yes because I like Baldacci’s page-turning style and characterisation, with well thought-out plot. Did I worry about the Jack Reacher similarity? Yes, because Baldacci should be able to create a new character without apparently having to plagiarize another one. What is my greatest concern? That someone might have plans for a John Puller movie with Tom Cruise in the lead role.
I worried over an appropriate rating and came up with 3.5 stars (somewhere between Amazon’s “OK” [3 stars] and “I like it” [4 stars]. In the end because I did enjoy it I rounded it back to 4 stars. Would I read the next Baldacci book, even if it was John Puller again. I think so.
PS (EDITED) Someone who commented pointed out that Lee Child gets a bit of revenge in his latest Reacher book “A Wanted Man”, by introducing a dim witted deputy named John Puller. I’m sorry I missed the connection. When Reacher met Puller and found he was a dim wit, he said “Were you dropped on your head as a baby?” ROFL!
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|Forget it!,
This is the first John Puller novel by Baldacci for me. The protagonist is a Jack Reacher wannabe. He is a military cop still in service with a demented retired general for a father. Like Reacher he is very tall, tough and indestructible. The story takes place when Puller is on vacation and starts looking into the suspicious death of his aunt in a small resort coastal town in Florida. Then it evolves into a complex tale of human trafficking and three different parties including Puller trying get the bad guys. Initially the three are on parallel tracks but incredibly merge and create mayhem. Throw in a female one star general who has the hots for Puller and you begin to get the picture. Like most mystery and action story writers Baldacci is woefully inept when it comes to gratuitous soft porn and should stay away from it. I think he should also refrain from the action stuff. The last few action packed chapters of this book are painful to read and I found myself skipping over pages. Most of the stuff is laughably impossible. Like the one star general who while on vacation can with a simple phone call scramble up a combat helicopter to aid the good guys. Like how our action heroes navigate the rough seas in the wake of a hurricane in the middle of the night in a small boat and reach their destination absolutely intact. I could go on but will stop. Suffice to say I will not be reading any more Puller stories. If I crave for more mindless bravado and simplistic plot lines I will stick with Jack Reacher, thank you.
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