Here the Road Ends - Jack Benton and The Fallen - David Baldacci

 Happy sun and warmer temperatures! The sun is out and it has been quite nice here in Central Texas. I grew up in the Midwest and further north and just cannot tolerate that cold anymore. Now I am not asking for 90's either. Don't get me wrong.

I finished two books in two of my favorite series this week.

I listened to The Fallen by David Baldacci. This is Amos Decker #4 in the Memory Man series.

About: "Amos Decker and his journalist friend Alex Jamison are visiting the home of Alex's sister in Barronville, a small town in western Pennsylvania that has been hit hard economically. When Decker is out on the rear deck of the house talking with Alex's niece, a precocious eight-year-old, he notices flickering lights and then a spark of flame in the window of the house across the way. When he goes to investigate he finds two dead bodies inside and it's not clear how either man died. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. There's something going on in Barronville that might be the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the country.

Faced with a stonewalling local police force, and roadblocks put up by unseen forces, Decker and Jamison must pull out all the stops to solve the case. And even Decker's infallible memory may not be enough to save them."

If you haven't read this series, here is the background on Amos Decker. From book #1, The Memory Man.

"A big, towering athlete, he was the only person from his hometown of Burlington ever to go pro. But his career ended before it had a chance to begin. On his very first play, a violent helmet-to-helmet collision knocked him off the field for good, and left him with an improbable side effect--he can never forget anything.

The second time was at home nearly two decades later. Now a police detective, Decker returned from a stakeout one evening and entered a nightmare--his wife, young daughter, and brother-in-law had been murdered."

Decker goes on to join the FBI in book #2. 

In The Fallen, Decker has gone on "vacation" with Alex Jamieson as above. While siting on the back deck the very first night, Decker sees lights and flame across from Alex's sisters house. He can't help himself from going on over to see what it was all about. Finds two bodies. Calls local law enforcement. He quickly senses that he knows more about what may have happened then they do. They seem incompetent.

As the story goes on, Decker finds more and more signs of something illegal going on in the town, involving many of the citizens of Barronville. The citizens seem to want to blame John Barron (of the founding family) for the demise of the economy in town. He is threatened. Decker gets beat up and it seems like he has lost some of his unique memory abilities. Some vacation.

I really like this series. I like how Decker methodically solves the mysteries. The stories are complex and interesting. They are unique. When I read one, I don't feel like I just read a similar story last month. 

There are seven books in this series.

I also read Here the Road Ends by Jack Benton. It is book #9 in the Slim Hardy series. (Chris Ward is the authors real name but writes a few different genres and for the Slim Hardy books, writes under Jack Benton) I have posted about this series before.

About: "When her mentally disabled son develops a strange obsession, Audrey Johnson contacts private investigator John “Slim” Hardy for help. Andy Johnson has been making teddy bears and leaving them on the memorial of a nine-year-old girl who drowned on Dartmoor more than forty years ago. When nothing will put him off his bizarre tribute to a child who died before he was even born, Slim moves to the peaceful rural community of Brentor to investigate. However, as he digs deeper into the past, overturning stones that do not wish to be overturned, he uncovers a bombshell that will rock the quiet, private community to its very core. And soon he will be looking over his shoulder, because there are people out there on the moor that want their secrets to remain buried."

Background: Slim Hardy is a loner and a private detective. He was in the army and has PTSD. He struggles with remaining sober because of his demons. But he is a really good detective and is called upon by individuals to solve cases that no one else can, often cold cases. He moves around to wherever  these unsolvable cases take him. He likes black coffee, preferably a day old. 

In this story, Slim follows Andy and finds he is taking a teddy bear to the memorial of a young girl who died on a school trip 40 years ago. Andy is autistic and in his 30's. He wasn't even born when the school girl was drowned. Why is Andy obsessed with her.  He makes the bears himself and changes out the bears that are weather damaged. Slim notes the the expressions have been altered on the bears when Andy brings them back. The story of the girl is that she became separated from her class, on a visit to the moors. One of the male teachers went to find her and came back screaming that he saw a girl with a yellow smile and the vision has driven him to insanity.

As in all small villages, no one wants to talk about it. He has doors shut in his face, and is threatened. Slim has two people that he calls in most of the books, to do research for him, looking up police records, information on the internet or looking at old pictures. They are always "favors." Slim really doesn't have any money to pay them. His cell phone is an old Nokia that doesn't do anything other than make calls, when he is lucky.

I really like this series too. It is kind of a noir series. Always a "dark" feel to it. Slim is a very likeable character and you feel kind of sorry for him, with all that happened to him. But he gets up everyday, puts one foot in front of the other and keeps on going. And he is very good at what he does.

Here the Road Ends just came out February 15, 2024. 

I recommend you start at the beginning of both of these series because the background information is important and for the character development.

https://www.davidbaldacci.com/landing-page/david-baldacci-amos-decker-series/

http://www.amillionmilesfromanywhere.net/tokyolost.html