#Review - Daylight by David Baldacci #Thriller #Suspense

Series: Atlee Pine (#3)
Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
Release Date: November 17, 2020
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Source: Publisher
Genre: Thrillers / Suspense

FBI Agent Atlee Pine's search for her sister Mercy clashes with military investigator John Puller's high-stakes case, leading them both deep into a global conspiracy -- from which neither of them will escape unscathed.

For many long years, Atlee Pine was tormented by uncertainty after her twin sister, Mercy, was abducted at the age of six and never seen again. Now, just as Atlee is pressured to end her investigation into Mercy's disappearance, she finally gets her most promising breakthrough yet: the identity of her sister's kidnapper, Ito Vincenzo.

With time running out, Atlee and her assistant Carol Blum race to Vincenzo's last known location in Trenton, New Jersey -- and unknowingly stumble straight into John Puller's case, blowing his arrest during a drug ring investigation involving a military installation.

Stunningly, Pine and Puller's joint investigation uncovers a connection between Vincenzo's family and a breathtaking scheme that strikes at the very heart of global democracy. Peeling back the layers of deceit, lies and cover-ups, Atlee finally discovers the truth about what happened to Mercy. And that truth will shock Pine to her very core.

Daylight is the third installment in author David Baldacci's Atlee Pine series. This story begins right where A Minute to Midnight finished. Atlee Pine is a Special Agent with the FBI assigned to the remote and isolated wilds of the western U.S. as a Resident Agent. She's also criminal profiler specializing in serial killers--a field she became interested in after her twin sister Mercy was abducted and she was left for dead. With her boss’s permission, Atlee, and Carol continue the search for information about Mercy by heading for New Jersey.

She finally has a credible lead, but one that will put her in the crosshairs of another agent's case. Every time Atlee gets one step closer to finding out what happened to Mercy, something always gets in the way. The more she finds out, the more she realizes that many facets of her life were just an illusion including who her parents were. She is determined to find the truth, and no one is going to stand in her way. Upon her arrival in Trenton, New Jersey, Atlee goes hunting for Teddy Vincenzo, the grandson of Ito Vincenzo who Atlee now believes was involved in the disappearance of her sister Mercy. She encounters trouble right away, but not the bad kind.

US Army Chief Warrant Officer & CID Special Agent John has been working on an investigation of a case involving illegal drugs at a large army base located in Fort, Dix, New Jersey. His lead takes him right to Teddy Vincenzo’s doorstep where he runs into Atlee. Atlee and Puller find that there are common factors in both of their investigations. They decide to pool their resources and in doing so come upon a conspiracy involving highly placed officials of the U.S. government, as well as many extremely wealthy and influential men and women.

The action is constant for both Atlee and Puller. They can be hurt and require recuperation time showing that they are human and not supermen. For those who haven’t read the Puller series by this author, join the crowd. I do understand that Puller is something of a hero with rows of ribbons and medals that would make a 4-star General blush with envy. Puller’s brother Robert is a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force with some of the highest security clearances a person can have in this country. Robert joins Atlee and John when a friend of the family is removed from his command, and others seem to be doing everything they can to shut Atlee and John down by any means necessary.

After Atlee and John wrap up their case, Atlee & Carol return to Georgia to deal with some information that she discovered over the course of this story as well as her alleged father’s knowledge of the events. I am not going to say anything more about what she discovers since apparently this isn’t the final book in the series. I will say that what happened to Mercy shouldn’t happen to anyone ever. Is Mercy still alive? I don’t know. Fairly good chance that she is but Atlee has a long road to go before she is finally finished with her journey. She also needs to figure out what happened to her parents who all but abandoned her.

I liked the pairing of Atlee and Puller and would think about picking up the books in his series and reading them. There’s nothing romantic about the pairing. Just two people who are good at their jobs and must deal with so much over the course of this series. I continue to express my fondness for Carol Blum who has been working for the FBI for 4 decades. Her loyalty to Atlee and what she goes through makes her an extraordinarily strong woman to emulate. Once again, the author’s conspiracy theories involve something so farcical that you must suspend disbelief at times. But, then again, who knows? We’ve seen worse from our elected representatives and K-street lobbyists and advocacy groups. 

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