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THE ESCAPE is the latest addition to David Baldacci’s John Puller Series. John Puller is an agent in the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command. He is good looking, patriotic, strong, smart--and a member of an illustrious military family. He is a loner who becomes involved with a woman now and then, but his main companion throughout the series is his cat AWOL. His father, also John Puller, was a legendary general. Now he resides in a VA hospital with dementia. His brilliant older brother, Air Force Major Robert Puller, once an expert in nuclear weapons and cyber security, is in a maximum-security prison--the United States Disciplinary Barracks, or DB for short - having been court-martialed and convicted of treason. In the two previous Puller books, Robert’s crime and his punishment had been left unexplained. Puller had visited him often, and Robert had helped his brother stave off a devastating attack, but he is in prison for life. In this book, his disappearance is the “escape” of the title.
The circumstances of the escape are unusual. During a storm, the prison loses power and then the fail-safe back-up generator fails as well. When this happens, the cell doors that were supposed to lock automatically instead unlock. Guard units are called in to keep order, but when the lights come on, one prisoner is missing: Robert Puller. In his cell is a dead man, identity unknown. For reasons that at first seem unclear, John is assigned to investigate his brother’s escape. He has both personal and professional reasons for wanting to find his brother. He has never been fully convinced of his brother’s guilt, or even sure about why he had been court-martialed and found guilty, since John had been out of the country at the time. But now he uses his investigative powers to uncover what may be a far-reaching conspiracy framing his brother. Spies from a foreign country may be involved.
Veronica Knox, who works in some covert branch of the government, joins Puller in his search. He does not trust her at first, and she does not always seem to be telling the truth. She may be trying to help clear his brother’s name, or she may be part of the conspiracy. There is some sexual attraction between the two, but much distrust as well. Other important figures are killed as Fuller investigates further, and at one point he himself is kidnapped and almost murdered. A powerful person or group does not want him to find his brother or to bring him back alive.
David Baldacci is a writer who just seems to get better and better. His heroes are intriguing and never stray so far into super-human feats of strength or endurance that we stop believing in them. He is able to create satisfying story arcs yet keep us wanting more from the next thriller in the series. He also manages to make his tales reflect contemporary life, mentioning the Edward Snowden issues as well as other relevant news items. We eagerly await the next installment in the adventures of John Puller and his family.
§Anne Corey is a writer, poet, teacher and botanical artist in New York's Hudson Valley.
Reviewed by Anne Corey, February 2015
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