I had theories. Decker had theories. Only one of us should be solving murders.
As usual, David Baldacci’s audiobook refused to stay in the car. Kudos to Hachette Audio for keeping it entertaining and enjoyable!
Long Shadows brings Amos Decker back for another complicated investigation, and at this point, I really like this guy. The more time I spend with Decker, the more human he becomes. He’s still blunt, socially awkward, and capable of seeing connections nobody else sees, but he has changed considerably from the man we first met in Memory Man. There’s more humanity underneath all that Decker-ness now, and I’ve really enjoyed watching his character develop.
This time, Decker also has a new partner: Frederica “Freddie” White. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about somebody replacing Alex Jamison, but I needn’t have worried. White is terrific. She’s smart, capable, and takes absolutely no crap from Decker. Better yet, she isn’t Jamison 2.0. She has her own personality and her own way of dealing with him, and watching the two of them figure each other out was one of my favorite parts of the book. Especially since she has two black belts and threatened to take him out if he didn’t behave.
I like her already.
The story begins with a suicide and quickly moves to the murders of a federal judge and her bodyguard, killed in the same house at nearly the same time. Naturally, things aren’t quite as straightforward as they appear.
Decker has a theory. I had a response to his theory.
Oh please ... What are the chances?
Apparently, the chances were pretty darn good.
That’s Baldacci, though. He takes something that sounds just improbable enough to make me skeptical and then starts fitting the pieces together. Meanwhile, what initially looks like one investigation becomes something much bigger and considerably more complicated.
And I never figured it out.
He’s gooood.
That’s probably why this audiobook escaped the car. Again. I would finish my drive, turn off the engine, go inside ... and turn the audiobook right back on. Baldacci kept me curious about how the murders fit together, whether Decker’s seemingly unlikely theory was actually right, and just how many more secrets were waiting underneath the ones we already knew about.
Five stars from me. Long Shadows gave me a complicated mystery I couldn’t solve, continued the wonderful evolution of Amos Decker, and introduced a new partner I’m already looking forward to spending more time with.
Apparently, my car no longer has exclusive listening rights to David Baldacci.
