What can I say about this book besides it's another stellar entry into an already great series? Honestly, not much except that this is the fourth featuring former police detective Amos Decker, who landed a spot on my Top 10 book "heroes" list right from the first. That's partly because he's an Ohio boy (I've been a proud Buckeye State resident most of my life) and a football standout - that is, until he took a nearly deadly hit on his first play as a member of the Cleveland Browns.
He didn't die, obviously, but he did end up with some rather unusual after-effects - most notably being hyperthymesia, or the ability to remember every single moment of every single day and call any one of them up at will. He also acquired synesthia, or the association of colors with people and objects. Particularly in his career as a detective, those rare abilities usually are extremely helpful, but in his personal life, not so much. There's no escaping, for instance, the years-ago horror of the brutal murder of his beloved wife and young daughter. He's also a bit emotionally challenged, in that for the most part he's unable to express his feelings. Those qualities make him a unique character - the biggest reason I'm a big fan.
These days, Amos and his partner Alex Jamison work with the FBI (another "connection" since my late mother's maiden name is Jamison). As this story begins, they are in small-town Baronville (located in northwestern Pennsylvania not far from the Ohio border - another fun coincidence, since I live in northeastern Ohio not far from the Pennsylvania line). They've come to visit Alex's sister Amanda, her husband Frank and their daughter Zoe, who not long ago relocated in Baronville when Frank took a job at a huge new distribution center. Still another coincidence; the area in which I live - just off Interstate 80 - is a hot spot for distribution centers as well.
Amos and Alex are hoping for a few days of down time, but that changes quickly when Amos notices some strange sights and sounds at the house behind the one they're in. Unable to resist checking things out, Amos finds two dead bodies. Poking around results in another serious head injury - one that has mind-altering potential. Further investigation, with help from local cops, reveals other recent murders - far more than would be expected in such a small town. Among the suspects is the hermit-like descendent of the town's founding father, who was a highly successful industrial magnate believed to have caused the town's steep economic decline and, not inconsequentally, the opoid addiction that's running rampant in and around the community.
Amos has to work to win the confidence of the local police, and gaining traction in that area puts him and his partner in the crosshairs of the bad guys. Murders keep piling up, and it's clear that someone is intent on adding Amos and Alex to that stack. Can they find out what's really going on and who's behind it before they become victims as well? Ah, but that's for me to know and other readers to find out. The only thing I'll pass on is that this is another winner - highly recommended!
The Fallen by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing, April 2018); 433 pp.
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