"Nearly three months had passed since Tangier and the death of Khalid bin Talal. The weather was cooler, the sky a little grayer. Robie had not killed anyone during that time. It was an unusually long period for him to be inactive, but he did not mind. He took walks, he read books, he ate out, he did some traveling that did not involve the death of someone. In other words, he acted normal."
-from the novel
I believe the only book I've read by this author was The Christmas Train, which I really enjoyed. This one was quite different and I have a feeling it is more typical of Baldacci. I would call it a political thriller but it qualifies as a murder mystery, as well.
Main character Will Robie is a hired assassin working for the U.S. government. (That was more than a little shocking to me. Am I just naïve?) Near the beginning of the novel he fails to complete an assigned hit and while on the lam, he meets up with a fourteen-year-old girl, Julie, who is also on the run. After both of them are nearly killed in a bus explosion, Robie takes on the role of Julie's protector. As her story unfolds and several people are found murdered, Robie, with the help of FBI agent Nicole Vance, tries to find a connection among the victims and the answer to why HE is being targeted. All this makes for a pretty exciting plot with a surprise ending. I did figure out one of the perpetrators before it was revealed but there were a couple of other twists and turns that made the novel a page turner for me. I'd give it a 4 and I'll definitely read another of Baldacci's books one of these days.
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