Gary's Reviews > The Last Mile

This is the 2nd book in the excellent Amos Decker series by author David Baldacci. Having already read the 1st book 'Memory man' recently the characters were already clear to me so I was quickly into this one, but I should point out this book works as a stand alone.
This is a fascinating series that features as the main character Amos Decker, a troubled soul who has a neurological condition called hyperthymesia which makes it impossible for him to forget anything. To make matters worse Amos Decker's memories exist of returning home to discover his wife, daughter and brother in law savagely murdered. Now a police detective he is constantly haunted by the deaths of his family and unable to forget the smallest detail.
The plot for this book features prisoner Melvin Mars, who is awaiting the death penalty following his conviction of murdering his mother and father. On the day of his execution, moments before meeting his death he is told the a prisoner on death row has confessed to murdering Mars parents. If his claims can be confirmed then Mars life will be saved. Amos Decker now works on cold cases and recognising the similarities between Mars and his own life decides to look into the case.

I really enjoyed this novel and the author is steadily building up the character Amos Decker into an excellent fictional detective. David Baldacci books are never short, this one being 644 pages but the it is so well written and paced that the time just disappears.