The Innocent (Will Robie) [Kindle Edition]

David Baldacci (Author)

Book Description

America has enemies--ruthless people that the police, the FBI, even the military can't stop. That's when the U.S. government calls on Will Robie, a stone cold hitman who never questions orders and always nails his target.
But Will Robie may have just made the first--and last--mistake of his career . . .
THE INNOCENT
It begins with a hit gone wrong. Robie is dispatched to eliminate a target unusually close to home in Washington, D.C. But something about this mission doesn't seem right to Robie, and he does the unthinkable. He refuses to kill. Now, Robie becomes a target himself and must escape from his own people.
Fleeing the scene, Robie crosses paths with a wayward teenage girl, a fourteen-year-old runaway from a foster home. But she isn't an ordinary runaway-her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against all of his professional habits, Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away. He needs to help her.
Even worse, the more Robie learns about the girl, the more he's convinced she is at the center of a vast cover-up, one that may explain her parents' deaths and stretch to unimaginable levels of power.
Now, Robie may have to step out of the shadows in order to save this girl's life . . . and perhaps his own.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] spectacular entry into the hardcore action-adventure world...a tour de force of storytelling power and grace. Baldacci at his best, which is as good as it gets." (Providence Sunday Journal )

"This is another great novel by a brilliant writer. Baldacci catches you from the very first page and grabs your attention until the last word. Read it." (Lincoln Journal Star (NE) )

"Another action tale of espionage and betrayal from a master storyteller. Baldacci brings his unusual, distinctive skill in character development to portray people who seem very real, with a degree of unpredictability that advances this very clever plot." (The Free-Lance Star )

"This book is a definite one-day, 'edge-of-your-chair' read, with an ending that is a complete surprise. One of the best Baldaccis since Absolute Power, this is one that will have all suspense readers enthralled." (Suspense Magazine )

"Baldacci...crafts government-inspired thrillers like nobody else." (Inside Jersey )

"The Innocent is....all-American, all-heart... a maze of bread-crumb clues keeping you riveted to the page as each precious minute ticks toward its deadly ultimatum ....His talent for weaving so many disparate and delicate strands into a perilous web of deception is masterful, resulting in a remarkable, intellectually satiating experience." (Everyday eBook )

"The Innocent is Baldacci at his absolute best...Baldacci provides the reader a non-stop pulse pounding ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat into the wee hours of the morning...Five Stars." (Examiner.com )

"David Baldacci is still at the top of his game...He is a meticulous writer who blasts his plot into a million pieces yet is able to pull it back together before the final page is turned. [He] continutes to impress." (The Huffington Post )

"The spine-chilling action begins on the first page and doesn't let up until the last...The Innocent is not just a scary read; this is heart-stopping stuff!" (BookReporter.com )

"Forget Fifty Shades of Grey--the page-turner of the season is The Innocent by David Baldacci...The reader wants for nothing: there are car chases and shootouts, snipers and moles, safe houses and digestible bio-transmitters...The tale starts at a blistering rate and accelerates through 100 short action-packed chapters...this is Baldacci back at his best." (The Times (London) )

Review

"[A] spectacular entry into the hardcore action-adventure world...a tour de force of storytelling power and grace. Baldacci at his best, which is as good as it gets." (Providence Sunday Journal )

"This is another great novel by a brilliant writer. Baldacci catches you from the very first page and grabs your attention until the last word. Read it." (Lincoln Journal Star (NE) )

"Another action tale of espionage and betrayal from a master storyteller. Baldacci brings his unusual, distinctive skill in character development to portray people who seem very real, with a degree of unpredictability that advances this very clever plot." (The Free-Lance Star (Fredericksburg) )

"This book is a definite one-day, 'edge-of-your-chair' read, with an ending that is a complete surprise. One of the best Baldacci's since Absolute Power, this is one that will have all suspense readers enthralled." (Suspense Magazine )

"The Innocent is Baldacci at his absolute best...Baldacci provides the reader a non-stop pulse pounding ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat into the wee hours of the morning...Five Stars." (Examiner.com )

"David Baldacci is still at the top of his game...He is a meticulous writer who blasts his plot into a million pieces yet is able to pull it back together before the final page is turned. [He] continutes to impress." (The Huffington Post )

"The spine-chilling action begins on the first page and doesn't let up until the last...The Innocent is not just a scary read; this is heart-stopping stuff!" (BookReporter.com )

"Zero Day is a nifty, paranoid thriller disguised as a murder mystery, and Baldacci advances it at a speedy clip with a nice mix of intrigue, tantalizing clues and the occasional explosion...Baldacci's books are fast-paced battles between good and evil." (Richmond Times Dispatch on Zero Day )

"A complex puzzle . . . Baldacci is a master craftsman." (Associated Press on The Sixth Man )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 715 KB
• Print Length: 433 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (April 17, 2012)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006VFLIYK
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #18 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers
  • #20 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers
  • #31 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

323 of 334 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Who among us is innocent? April 17, 2012

By Susan Tunis TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

While I'll admit that I haven't read everything that the prolific Mr. Baldacci has published in recent years, I'm pleased to say that The Innocent is the strongest novel I've seen from him in quite some time. It was a book that I didn't want to put down until I'd read it all.

The novel opens with Will Robie. We learn that he is "an inch over six feet and a rock-solid one hundred and eighty pounds", that he is one day shy of his 40th birthday, and that he is a professional killer. But this is no thug off the street; this is a man with a rich interior life, a moral center, and more than a little going on upstairs. Therefore, it's not too surprising when we soon learn that Robie is employed by an unnamed federal agency to carry out "sanctioned assassinations." In his own words:

"Sometimes he went after people intent on global menace, like Rivera or Talal, or sometimes he simply went after a problem. You could take your pick of labels, but in the end, they all meant the same thing. His employer decided who among the living and breathing would qualify as a target. And then they turned to men like Robie to end the living and breathing part. It made the world better, was the justification."

Except this time, he's being sent after a different type of target--a woman, an American, a mother. At the crucial moment, Robie refuses to fire. It doesn't smell right. Someone finishes the job with a long-range sniper shot, and it looks like they'll finish Robie as well if he doesn't run.

Elsewhere, we meet the wise-beyond-her-14-years Julie Getty. She's been in and out of the foster care system, and she's in the process of escaping her latest "caregivers." Julie has parents that she loves and who love her, but who are engaged in an ongoing battle with addiction. Returning to her parents' home illicitly, Julie is just in time to see the two of them murdered in cold blood. She is a witness, so she too is on the run.

Julie and Robie arrive at the same escape route, a late night bus from DC to NY. Each notes the other, and when things get ugly fast, it's not clear which of them was the target of the violence. Nonetheless, these two characters form an unlikely alliance as they attempt to unravel the mysteries surrounding them.

When it comes to a Baldacci novel, plot is front and center, and I thought this one was deftly handled. The pacing was excellent, and my interest in the story being told never flagged for a moment. I'll admit that I DID suspect the ultimate bad guy, but I didn't have a clue as to the whys and wherefores. The story was suspenseful and unfolded beautifully. It all made sense and held together well in the end. As a native Washingtonian, I won't say that the novel was hugely evocative, but the DC setting was handled reasonably well. Mr. Baldacci seems to have a good feel for the workings of the town. Additionally, Robie and Julie made appealing and well-fleshed protagonists. One of the things I liked best about this novel is that it is a stand alone, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if we see these characters again. The door is left open for sequels or a continuing series.

All and all, I found The Innocent to be a very successful entertainment. More like this, please, Mr. Baldacci! And I'm left pondering who among the characters really was the eponymous "innocent" of the title.

58 of 64 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Put your life on hold when you start reading April 17, 2012

By BrianB VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

Will Robie has killed a lot of people. It is what he does best. He is a hired assassin, one who works for the US government. Even though his targets are supposedly very bad people, he seems an unlikely choice for a hero. His latest assignment, however, is a US government employee in Washington DC. When he breaks into her apartment and finds her asleep, her two children nearby, he finds a conscience and decides not to carry out his assignment.

In this line of business there are penalties for failure, and he immediately finds himself dodging bullets from his former employers, on the run and running out of options. He nevertheless detours to rescue a 14 year old girl who seems to be targeted by killers too. They form an unlikely (granted, the whole thing is unlikely, but one expects that in this type of novel) alliance, one that provides entertainment and an emotional foundation to the story. There are several climaxes, as different story lines resolve, and one of them was too obvious to be satisfying, but the whole novel was still quite good.

The action is fast and non-stop, the dialogue crisp and realistic, the characters thinly drawn but likeable. This is a superior action and mystery novel, by one of today's best action novelists. Baldacci gives his fans what they want here, with plenty of cliffhanger moments, with a plot that twists and turns, surprising the reader in almost every chapter. This is one of the author's better efforts, superior to Hell's Corner (my last review of his writing). I recommend this enthusiastically to Baldacci fans, and those who might just become fans.

83 of 95 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Tough assassin meets tough 14-year-old girl April 17, 2012

By TChris TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

As The Innocent opens, Will Robie is carrying out a mission for his Agency masters. He assassinates a man (and his four ultra-evil bodyguards) who is planning a military coup in Mexico that will create a government hostile to American interests. This is followed by the rather improbable assassination of a Saudi prince. Robie doesn't let himself be bothered by his assignments, but he finds himself with a dilemma when he's ordered to kill a nearly middle-aged woman in D.C., particularly when he discovers (after breaking into her apartment) that she's the mother of two, including the infant sleeping next to her, and a U.S. government employee to boot. The dilemma is resolved when Robie's handler shoots mother and child from a distance and attempts to take out Robie in the process.

After this dramatic opening, the story takes a strange twist when Robie, who wonders whether he has become the target of the government he once served, encounters fourteen-year-old girl named Julie whose parents have been murdered. Robie and Julie barely survive the explosion of a bus on which they had been riding. Who was the target: Robie or Julie? What, if any, is the connection between the woman Robie was sent to kill and Julie's parents? Many gun battles and explosions later, the answer to those questions remains unclear. That's what held my attention to the end of this fast-moving novel.

I wouldn't call the plot byzantine, but it is deliciously complex. To my amazement, every plot thread (even an incident or two I didn't expect to be important to the overall plot) comes together in the final chapters. The story covers a lot of ground and introduces a gaggle of supporting characters, ranging from Gulf One army buddies to traitorous FBI agents, from the retired assassin who is Robie's mentor to the White House political analyst who becomes his romantic interest. Robie can't trust anyone, including the FBI agent with whom he is partnered (another potential romantic interest for the studly Robie). None of the characters are given great depth but they seem real, and that's enough in a story that is driven by plot rather than character.

David Baldacci's prose style is punchy and efficient. Short sentences and single-sentence paragraphs during action sequences contribute to The Innocent's blistering pace. There are times, particularly in the final chapters, when Baldacci succumbs to melodrama. Since the story continues to be engaging, that is a forgivable sin.

This is a dual climax thriller. The novel seems to be moving toward a particular scene, but when that scene occurs, there are still many pages left. That scene borders on the preposterous and the unmasking of a key bad guy -- clearly intended as a shocker -- is disappointingly obvious. The second and final climax is unsurprising but satisfying.

With all the action, suspense, and mystery that Baldacci provides, The Innocent will probably appeal to a Hollywood producer, particularly since brash, snarly fourteen-year-old girls always make appealing movie characters. Thriller fans don't need to wait for Hollywood; The Innocent ran like a movie in my imagination as I was reading it. I would give The Innocent 4 1/2 stars if I could.

More About the Author

David Baldacci made a big splash on the literary scene with the publication of his first novel, Absolute Power, in 1996. A major motion picture adaptation followed, with Clint Eastwood as its director and star. In total, David has published 26 novels, all of which have been national and international bestsellers. His novels have been translated into more than 45 languages and sold in more than 80 countries; over 110 million copies are in print worldwide. David has also published three children's books. He has received numerous accolades for his writing; most recently, he was inducted into the 2011 International Crime Writing Hall of Fame and received the 2012 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award.

A lifelong Virginian, David was born in Richmond in 1960. He received his Bachelor's degree in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1982 and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1986, after which he practiced law for nine years in Washington, D.C.

While David is involved with several philanthropic organizations, his greatest efforts are dedicated to his family's Wish You Well Foundation®. Established by David and his wife, Michelle, the Wish You Well Foundation supports family and adult literacy in the United States by fostering and promoting the development and expansion of new and existing literacy and educational programs. In 2008 the Foundation partnered with Feeding America to launch Feeding Body & Mind, a program to address the connection between literacy, poverty and hunger. Through Feeding Body & Mind, nearly 1 million new and used books have been collected and distributed through area food banks. David explains, "With this program, people go home with food, which they need to live, as well as with books, which they need to change their lives."

David and his family live in Northern Virginia.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#5 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#3 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#3 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#5 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction

#5 in Books > Literature & Fiction

#12 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#3 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#3 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#5 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction

#5 in Books > Literature & Fiction

#12 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary