The Guilty by David Baldacci – a Review

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM / The Book Depository

Description:
Will Robie is the government’s most professional, disciplined, and lethal assassin. He infiltrates the most hostile countries in the world, defeats our enemies’ advanced security measures, and eliminates threats before they ever reach our shores.

But now, his skills have left him. Sent overseas on a critical assignment, he fails, unable to pull the trigger. Absent his talents, Robie is a man without a mission, and without a purpose.

To recover what he has lost, Robie must confront what he has tried to forget for over twenty years: his own past.

THE GUILTY

Will Robie escaped his small Gulf Coast hometown of Cantrell, Mississippi after high school, severing all personal ties, and never looked back. Not once. Not until the unimaginable occurs. His father, Dan Robie, has been arrested and charged with murder.

Father and son haven’t spoken or seen each other since the day Robie left town. In that time, Dan Robie-a local attorney and pillar of the community-has been elected town judge. Despite this, most of Cantrell is aligned against Dan. His guilt is assumed.

To make matters worse, Dan has refused to do anything to defend himself. When Robie tries to help, his father responds only with anger and defiance. Could Dan really be guilty?

With the equally formidable Jessica Reel at his side, Robie ignores his father’s wishes and begins his own desperate investigation into the case. But Robie is now a stranger to his hometown, an outsider, a man who has forsaken his past and his family. His attempts to save his father are met with distrust and skepticism . . . and violence.

Unlike the missions Robie undertook in the service of his country, where his target was clearly defined, digging into his father’s case only reveals more questions. Robie is drawn into the hidden underside of Cantrell, where he must face the unexpected and possibly deadly consequences of the long-ago choices made by father and son. And this time, there may be no escape for either of them.

Review:

The Guilty by David Baldacci is the 4^th book in his Will Robie series. I love this series, but then again, I love most of whatever David Baldacci writes.

The Guilty picks up where Will is on assignment as an elite CIA Assassin, where he accidently kills a child. He cannot get past this horrific memory, and he is no longer sure of himself. Will has not seen his father since he left home over 20 years ago, and now he learns his father has been arrested for murder. He is given time off, and decides to go back home to Mississippi and find out what has happened to his father all those years he was gone.

When Will tries to visit his father, he is turned away. He begins his investigation on what his father has been up to; he is surprised to learn that his father remarried, has a son, and was a judge; this from a man who was always angry and would beat him. Without the help of his father, Will finds himself in the middle of something much larger than a simple murder for revenge. The past will rear its ugly head, with many surprises, and twists that will involve many people.

It is when Jessica Reel, Will’s friend and sometimes partner joins him to help decipher the truth that things get even more exciting. I love to watch Will and Jessica work together in solving crimes, and how easily they dispatch their enemies. They are an unbeatable team. However, as they get closer to the truth, the stakes are high, and the danger escalates.

When his father is out on bail, Will learns more about his father, that will open him up to reveal more of himself.   The last half of the book was a thriller, which I could not put down. Just when I thought I knew who the murderer was, I was blindsided by all the revelations, and twists as we reached the exciting tense action packed climax. Needless to say, I was very surprised at end.

To tell too much more would be spoilers. The Guilty is a top notch mystery, suspense thriller that holds you on the edge of your seat, not to mention when both of their lives will hang by a thread. Will Robie and Jessica Reel are great team (even if they are the toughest and best assassins). I hope Baldacci keeps them together.  

Once again, David Baldacci gives us another fabulous thriller, which we have all come to expect from him, and throughout the book, there was not a dull moment. I suggest you read this series.

Reviewed by Barb