End Game: David Baldacci (Will Robie series, 5)

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After a significant run-in with the leader of the Neo-Nazis, Robie and Reel are barely alive, but must pick up the pieces and forge onwards, trying to locate a handful of prisoners who have gone missing. Their boss, Blue Moon is missing since a few days and they are given the assignment to find him, hopefully - alive. The climactic reveal was not much interesting as well, a bit so so, at least compared to the previous books, especially coming right after the jawdropping chilling final reveal and overall mystery of the A-plus greatness that was The Guilty. I tend to skim them looking for bits I understand but I know those who actually know something about that stuff would care passionately that he’s accurate in his descriptions. The last book in the series – The Guilty– had its ups and downs, although it was more good than bad.

If you’ve been reading the Will Robie series, I’d definitely recommend reading End Game and seeing it through. The fifth book in the Will Robie Series by David Baldacci proved to be the weakest so far, and that's really quite a shame given the previous books.David published his first novel, Absolute Power, in 1996; the feature film adaptation followed, with Clint Eastwood as its director and star.

This is just my kind of book with short chapters that often end with cliffhangers so you just have to read one more chapter. I've been a fan of his since Camel Club but his Will Robie/Jessica Reel stuff is terrible compared to his earlier books. Last seen in rural Colorado, Blue Man had taken a rare vacation to go fly fishing in his hometown when he disappeared off the grid. Jess is no help to us because – although we’re in both of their heads – Baldacci probably identifies more with Will so it felt like we were keeping his secrets rather than Jess’s.

As the investigation gathers steam, it is soon discovered that Blueman was well known in these parts, though his actual work was a complete mystery to the locals. The only part that I thought Baldacci may have actually written would have been the ending battle, which was the best part of the book. After the huge opening scenes we settle down a little into an unfolding storyline around Will’s boss, known to them as the Blue Man. Perhaps I ask too much of these books now, but I use to generally adore them when one would come out each year. I have long enjoyed Baldacci’s work, even though he seems to keep his fans dangling by creating and then shelving a series just as it gains momentum.

The rugged man who beds the helpless woman is not missing from this book, though the reader is surely wondering if Robie and Reel will ever master the art of sharpshooting Cupid’s arrows, rather than dodging them. It will work as a standalone, but you’ll miss out on a lot of the early character development, and that will take a lot out of the story. It’s wildly melodramatic, the romantic interests act like, and have similar dialogue to, high schoolers. At the very end they will need all of that skill and intelligence to overcome the forces of evil operating on a grand scale in the town of Grand. Understandably thrillers like this aren't meant to be compared to a classic like Ulysses but a level of intellectual prowess is often why I approach the books I do, and as I continue to read the Cussler/Child/Baldacci type of books I grow more frustrated with the lack of this important characteristic.Interestingly he worries briefly about his lack of humanity – having had a glimpse at the alternative the last time we met him… on a more personal mission. It's hard to believe that the same person who brilliantly wrote The Innocent actually wrote End Game.

When Reel and Robie arrive, they find a town with a stagnant economy, an understaffed police force, and camps recruiting people with dangerous ideologies. Y aunque el autor podría seguir escribiendo sobre estos personajes está bien que deje de estirar el chicle, hay que saber cuándo parar.

As soon as the teen in the first instalment left the series the characters lose their suspension of disbelief around how they speak to one another.