The Fix

 Baldacci, David. The Fix. New York: Grand Central Publishing. 2017. Print.

First Sentences:

It was normally one of the safest places on earth. But not today.


Description:

OK, I admit it. I am a huge fan of David Baldacci's Amos Decker character, the ex-policeman/football player with the perfect memory. Having nothing to read that could quite match the intensity of the brilliant 787-page The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes that I had just finished, I returned to Amos Decker, my old reliable crime-solver, in Memory Man, the first (and in my mind the best) of the 7-book series). I read it, then the second book, The Last Mile, and now finished up with The Fix, a fine chaser to my Decker binge (for now).

In the four pages of The Fix, Decker is walking in front of the J Edgar Hoover building, home to the FBI, heading to a meeting. Several yards ahead, he notices a well-dressed man, Walter Dabney, walk up to a woman, Anne Berkshire, pull out a gun and shoot her in the head. Then before Decker could intervene, Dabney put his gun under his chin and shot himself.

Wow, what a start. Two deaths, sudden, intentional, in front of the FBI Headquarters, and memory-perfect Decker an eye-witness.  Seems an easy case. But the only question is who were these two people, why did Dabney kill Berkshire, and why choose the very public FBI building for this action?

Not much to go on, but Decker is roped into the inveestigation of these questions mainly due to one other minor point. The FBI has intercepted messages that very soon there will be a terrorist act on the magnitude of 9-11. And it is scheduled to take place sometime very soon. Where, when, how, and by who are a new set of questions to be answered. Could these shootings and terrorist threat somehow be linked?

Slowly, slowly, Decker and his partners on the FBI investigation team, uncover tiny nuggets of interesting information that may or may not contribute to these investigations. As they peel back ;ayers based on new discoveries, the cases become more and more unclear. Rather

than getting closer to a solution, Decker and his team feel increasingly confused with the disjointed information.

And the day of the terrorist event is rapidly approaching.

Highly recommended for lover to follow detailed crime procedure, to grapple with tiny clues, and try to puzzle out who is telling the truth and who is in these events up to their necks. The Fix, through Baldacci's terse writing and dialogue, encourages readers to immerse themselves and binge read until their eyes droop. But what a pleasant way to stimulate your mind and wear out your eyes.

 

P.S. If you are new to the Decker series, maybe start with the first book, Memory Man, to get some background on Decker and his partners, The Fix can clear up their backstories on its own but it is more satisfying to start at the beginning and read the first two equally comples and brilliant Decker books, then dive into The Fix as a dessert.

 

Happy reading. 

 

Fred

 

     See More Recommendations 

          (and an Intro to The First Sentence Reader) 

________________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Baldacci, David. Memory Man.   

The first book in the Amos Decker mystery/thriller series. Decker, due to a football accident, cannot forget anything: words, pictures, faces, events. After his wife and child are brutally murdered, and even though someone has confessed to the crime, Decker takes on his own personal investigation and uses his perfect memory to identify key clues to unravel the event and find the true killer(s). Highest recommendation. (previously reviewed here)