Author: David Baldacci
Genre: Thriller, mystery
Published on: April 17, 2012 by Grand Central Publishing
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...
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.
This is a book I’ve had on my sights for a while. When I saw it at the public library, I took the plunge. The Innocent is the first novel in a thriller series. Its protagonist is Will Robie, an assassin for the U.S. government. He owns several dwellings, but his main home is Washington, D.C. Robie makes a living by taking out dangerous people that not even the army can get to. When the story begins, he has just turned forty. It’s an age that makes Robie realize he’s closer to retirement than he would like. Although he’s still fast and strong, Robie eventually will have to take a desk job. That time’s still some way off, at least.
The first few chapters are slightly tedious, but still important. In them, Robie carries out a few missions. There’s no dialogue until a little while later. I wouldn’t skip these chapters, though, because they have some important clues. It’s not until the inciting incident that characters say anything. Robie faces a conundrum after refusing to kill his latest target. By this point, the book has provided plenty of insight into Robie’s personality even though he hasn’t said much yet. You get the impression that Robie only kills bad people. Because of this moral code, he ends up running for his life.
Almost every chapter is written from Robie’s point of view. After he goes on the run, the book introduces another character. She’s Julie Getty, a fourteen-year-old who boards a bus trying to escape a killer. There are a few chapters in which she is the POV character. Robie crosses paths with Julie when he takes the same bus as her while running from his employers. Robie neutralizes the man who’d pursued Julie, after which they leave the bus. But whoever is after them shows no signs of stopping. Julie and Robie are compelled to stick together while they figure things out.
An ally is able to eventually give Robie a way to find out why he’s landed in trouble. This person is very powerful, allowing Robie to pose as a DCIS agent. For those of you who don’t know (I’d never heard of this agency), the DCIS is the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, tied to the DOD. Through this post, Robie partners with FBI Special Agent Nicole Vance. She’s the officer assigned to investigate the murder of Robie’s last target. While he didn’t kill the person, someone who works with his handler did. Since the handler has gone rogue, Robie must find out why they turned and what their next plan is.
Julie was a very interesting character. Despite her age, she’s really mature and intelligent. Julie even attends a school for gifted students. The reason why she went on the run is because someone murdered her parents. It’s not revealed why until later, but it seems to have to do with something they knew. Now Julie has to stick with Robie for protection. It’s a good thing that he has a bunch of places to stay at. Most of them are secure, even from Robie’s employers. Julie’s presence takes a moderate toll on him, though. Robie has never had someone to care for before. He’s afraid to fail. Julie isn’t completely defenseless, though. As I mentioned, she’s sharp-minded. And while Julie’s normal otherwise (she’s not a hardened person), she has a desire to avenge her parents. This, along with other things, made me think Julie might end up becoming Robie’s trainee eventually.
The main antagonist’s identity is unknown until near the end of the book. Robie connects the dots once he has enough information. I’m a bit proud that I deduced who the bad guy was before Robie figured it out. There was a particular detail that made me go “aha!”. And there are several possible bad guys, so Robie has to pinpoint who is the one who’s currently making his and Julie’s lives difficult. The guy is powerful and richer than a king, though. He has reach in places that shock even Robie and Vance. This made me wonder how they could possibly defeat the bad guy.
The Innocent was such a thrilling and hard-to-put-down read. While I've never read Jack Reacher or Mitch Rapp, this book felt like it might be like them. Will Robie was interesting as a protagonist. He's this guy who prides himself on being such an efficient killer. Robie still has plenty of humanity; he's not one to blindly follow orders. Julie was a good partner for him, with her innocence and considerable intellect. As for Special Agent Vance, she felt like she might become a love interest for Robie. The two are keeping things professional for now, though. Lack of romance isn't a detriment for a book like this. The Innocent is primarily a thriller, and it was such a good one. I look forward to see what happens next.
My rating: ★★★★ 1/2
4.5 stars - A fantastic page-turner!
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