WALK THE WIRE

5 stars out of 5

There are way too many reasons I love this series to mention, but - almost lifelong Ohio resident that I am - I'll confirm that one is "Memory Man" Amos Decker's connection to the Buckeye State: Not only did he graduate from THE Ohio State University, but he was signed by my favorite NFL team, the Cleveland Browns. The latter was, alas, a career-ender - on his very first play of his very first professional game, he was injured so badly that he could play no more. That experience did, however, leave him with  hyperthymesia, which causes him to remember every detail of every single day (whether he wants to or not) as well as synesthia abilities - associating colors with people and objects. 

Now an investigator, he and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison go where they're sent; in this instance, it's remote London, North Dakota, where the rich Bakken oil field has put the fracking industry in boom mode. They're here to investigate the apparent murder of a young woman named Irene Cramer, whose body was dumped in an open area and, inexplicably, had been autopsied. Neither Amos nor Alex has any idea why Irene is important to the FBI powers-that-be, but they do learn that by day she was a teacher at a religious community near the fracking operations (and near a secretive government facility that claims to be watching the skies for possible nuclear invasion). After the sun went down, it appears that Irene supplemented her income as a lady of the night.

Nothing, though, is as it seems; Amos and Alex spend a goodly amount of time looking into all three operations - fracking, the government facility and the religious group - trying to determine who Irene really was, why she was murdered and whether any or all of the three operations are connected in any way. It doesn't take long for the investigation to turn deadly, though, and therein came an exciting surprise - the appearance of three other familiar characters from a different (and another favorite) series. From that point on, the pace picks up fast, making for edge-of-seat action the rest of the way. Yeah, I know it's highly unlikely that an author will kill off a major character in a popular series (this is the sixth Decker installment). That said, from my perspective it's a credit to any author who can make me worry that it really could happen - and I admit to holding my breath more than once in this one. Great job!

Walk the Wire by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing, April 2020); 433 pp.