‘The Guilty’ by David Baldacci

Published by Macmillan,
19 November 2015.
ISBN: 978-1-4472-7755-2

Special Agent Will Robie fails on a mission and is given time off. He flies home to Cantrell a small Mississippi town to see his father a judge. He has been arrested for murdering a man acquitted by the Jury when he appeared before Judge Robie in court.

Will has not been home for twenty two years and left under a bit of a cloud. He is not made to feel very welcome especially by his father. He also left behind a childhood sweetheart, what he wonders happened to her after he left, no one seems to know her whereabouts.

When Will looks into the murder his father is accused of committing he finds a connection to child pornography involving a well-known figures of the Establishment.

When there is another murder the F.B.I, start to suspect that there is a serial killer on the loose and help Robie with his investigations.

Another Agent Jess whom he has worked with before is sent to help him prove his father's innocence and look into the murders. Together they unravel a complicated tangle of events that finally lead them to the truth after many narrow escapes. Neither of them survive unscathed.

I am an avid reader of David Baldacci's books and this one does not disappoint. I have read a couple of the Will Robie stories before so it was very interesting to find out a bit more about his unhappy childhood with a seemingly uncaring father.

It is an exciting and compelling read from start to finish, and speaking of the finish, what an unexpected one!

The reader is led down so many twisting paths and presented with so many red herrings that the revelations at the end of the story were a complete surprise. Well they were to me!

A really great read, I cannot praise it enough.

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Reviewer: Tricia Chappell

David Baldacci.  A lifelong Virginian, David was born in Richmond in 1960. He received his Bachelor’s degree in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, after which he practiced law for nine years in Washington, D.C. He has published 22 books.

While David is involved in several philanthropic organizations, his greatest efforts are dedicated to his family’s ‘Wish You Well foundation.’ Established by David and his wife, Michelle, the Wish You Well Foundation supports family literacy in the United States by fostering and promoting the development and expansion of new and existing literacy and educational programs. In 2010 the Foundation partnered with Feeding America to launch a program to address the connection between literacy, poverty and hunger. Through Feeding Body & Mind, nearly 1 million new and used books have been collected and distributed through area food banks. David explains, “With this program, people go home with food, which they need to live, as well as with books, which they need to change their lives.”

  

Tricia Chappell. I have a great love of books and reading, especially crime and thrillers. I play the occasional game of golf  (when I am not reading). My great love is cruising especially to far flung places, when there are long days at sea for plenty more reading! I am really enjoying reviewing books and have found lots of great new authors.