Amos Decker Hunts Evil in a Small Town in David Baldacci’s ‘The Fallen’ [REVIEW]

Can Amos Decker stop a killer in the Rust Belt before he strikes again? (Photo courtesy Canva)

A man who never forgets. A town plagued by death. When the two collide, will he be able to vanquish evil and find a killer before he strikes again? Find out in David Baldacci’s thrilling novel, The Fallen.

Grand Central

Amos Decker is the Memory Man. After suffering a football injury, his personality and his mind have never been the same.

Now he and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison visit a town in the Rust Belt known as Baronville, where they find a police force that is stumped by a series of murders which have all happened in a very short time. The only clues left behind are obscure Bible verses and old symbols, but no one seems to be able to make heads or tails of any of it.

Baronville may be the place Alex’s sister and her family call home, but it’s also a crumbling community, one where money is scarce and opioid addiction is on the rise. And then there are the killings. In fact, Decker’s only been in town a couple hours when he encounters a double homicide.

As Decker begins to connect the dots of this case, he realizes that things aren’t always what they seem, and the recent rash of deaths might only be part of a much bigger conspiracy. Now it may be up to him to solve the case… if his memory doesn’t fail him first.

With The Fallen, David Baldacci has once again delivered a sinister, multi-layered, fast-paced novel guaranteed to entertain. In Amos Decker’s fourth outing, he proves just as intriguing as he did in the series’ first volume. (My husband will tell you I finished Memory Man in one sitting without taking any breaks!)

Over time, Amos has evolved as a character, and little by little he has come to understand that sure, his life is different, but the changes don’t have to define him—after all, remembering things isn’t the only thing he is good at.

Here, Baldacci also demonstrates just how kind and compassionate Amos is. There’s one scene in particular, when Amos comforts Zoe, Alex’s niece, as she grapples with the death of her father. There’s a trust and understanding that passes between them that is simply beautiful, especially as Amos reaches out to this girl that is so obviously distraught.

Regardless of what any of us have lost, I think all of us desire to be understood and comforted when we’re grieving, and this is just the sort of tenderness Amos offers. The result is that the two forge an enduring bond of friendship that elevates this novel from a great thriller to great literature. I loved it!

This isn’t to say that all the other elements we have come to expect from Baldacci aren’t still here. There’s plenty of surprises, loads of red herrings, and taut hold-on-tight adrenaline-pumping excitement. As a result, The Fallen is everything we look for in a Baldacci yarn. It’s one detective story that you don’t want to miss.

David Baldacci
(Photo by Guy Bell, GBPhotos.com)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Baldacci is a global number one bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with over 130 million worldwide sales. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television.

David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America.

Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org. Prefer to find him on social media? Like David on Facebook and follow him on Twitter, Instagram, BookBub, and Goodreads.

THE FALLEN
By David Baldacci
432 pp. Grand Central. $29.

Purchase The Fallen direct from Jathan & Heather’s Beach Reads Book Shop or from one of these other fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Half Price Books, IndieBound, and Powell’s.