The Last Mile

By: David Baldacci

Narrated by: Kyf Brewer, Orlagh Cassidy

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's Summary

In his number-one New York Times best-seller Memory Man, David Baldacci introduced the extraordinary detective Amos Decker-the man who can forget nothing. Now, Decker returns in a spectacular new thriller...

THE LAST MILE

Convicted murderer Melvin Mars is counting down the last hours before his execution--for the violent killing of his parents twenty years earlier--when he's granted an unexpected reprieve. Another man has confessed to the crime.

Amos Decker, newly hired on an FBI special task force, takes an interest in Mars's case after discovering the striking similarities to his own life: Both men were talented football players with promising careers cut short by tragedy. Both men's families were brutally murdered. And in both cases, another suspect came forward, years after the killing, to confess to the crime. A suspect who may or may not have been telling the truth.

The confession has the potential to make Melvin Mars--guilty or not--a free man. Who wants Mars out of prison? And why now?

But when a member of Decker's team disappears, it becomes clear that something much larger--and more sinister--than just one convicted criminal's life hangs in the balance. Decker will need all of his extraordinary brainpower to stop an innocent man from being executed.

©2016 David Baldacci (P)2016 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"David Baldacci's latest thriller is not only highly relevant, it is also well timed. And the details seem so real that it's hard not to wonder if the author is an insider; the tone is that authentic. An absolute page-turner, King and Maxwell is Baldacci at the pinnacle of his game." (BookReporter.com)

"Its pace is relentless, and Baldacci's reworking of his perennial theme - absolute power corrupts absolutely - gives the book a sense of urgency and cultural relevance that many thrillers lack." (Richmond Times-Dispatch on The Hit)

"One of the most compelling characters in David Baldacci's thrillers is John Puller, a crackerjack investigator of military crimes...Twists and turns come fast and furious in the best Baldacci tradition. The Escape is much more than a thriller. It's a moving tale of two military brothers and their father, a retired Army general and fighting legend now suffering from dementia. Emotionally intense, The Escape is Baldacci's best to date." (Associated Press)

"Brilliant use of language...vivid supporting characters and numerous sudden and unexpected plot twists...[Baldacci] doesn't let the action sag at any point...In [Chung-Cha], Mr. Baldacci has created one of his most memorable characters." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on The Target)

"There’s nothing routine in this solid whodunit - just striking performances from superb narrators." (AudioFile)  

A dissapointment

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, there are many better Baldacci books available.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The story line was overly contrived. There were a number of major character behaviors that were not very logical. The conspiracy at the heart of this story was very overly complicated. The problem could have been solved much more directly. I can't say more without providing a spoiler.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Mr. Brewer does okay as a narrator. He ran out of voices with the large number of characters but I can understand that.
Ms. Cassidy has only one, maybe two discernible voices. I can't understand why Baldacci continues to use her when there are so many superior female narrators available.
The entire recorded narration needs some basic quality control.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Any additional comments?

I've read all of Mr. Baldacci's books and greatly enjoyed most. This was at best a mediocre effort and well below his customary standard of excellence.

Even better than the first in the series

Great storyline, great character development. The only thing that bugs me just a little about Baldacci books is that the villain gets a bit too much talk time along the lines of overexplaining their motives/methods/plans. I wish Baldacci would give the reader just a tiny bit more credit and not use that one cliched device in his books. I still give this one five stars regardless, because it wasn't quite as prominent in this book as in some of his others, and I did really like the story.

Another Baldacci winner

Let me start by saying I don't usually attack reviews. I don't understand why so many people had problems with the narrators, I thoroughly enjoyed both of them. Enough said about that.
As usual David Baldacci has written another winner. The character is spot on. I have listened to every book written by Baldacci. As is the norm, there are many twists and turns. If you are a mystery/thriller fan, I highly recommend this book.

Preposterous!!

The story draws you right in with interesting characters and a promising storyline. A convicted murderer saved from the needle at the last minute by an ex-detective whose damaged brain never forgets anything. Then it heads off into a bunch of plot twists each becoming more unbelievable and preposterous as they go. In the end they crack one of the most infamous unsolved crimes in American civil rights history by tracking down a clue hidden in a children's library book located in a sleepy Deep South town. Silly and over the top.

So, what happened to Ron McLarty?

I've struggled to separate the story from the narration performance of The Last Mile. My conclusion is that The Last Mile is a better story than Memory Man (Amos Becker Book 1). I rated the Memory Man 4 stars for the story. The Last Mile deserves 5 stars because it is a great story.

Narration is the next issue. Orlagh Cassidy's relatively small part of the female voices deserves 5 stars as usual for her. Kyf Brewer did the male dialog and the reading of the non-dialog text which is the probably 95% or more of the words in the novel. Kyf Brewer did a great job of narrating The Guilty which is Book 4 of Baldacci's Will Robie series, but his narration of The Last Mile is so bad that it is a major distraction from the superb story. Ron McLarty played exactly the same narration role in Memory Man that Kyf Brewer plays in The Last Mile. Frankly, I believe that this audiobook of The Last Mile should be withdrawn from the market to be recorded again with Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy narrating (or either of them alone). The bottom line is that I am awarding 1 star to the narration due to Brewer's performance. That is unfair to the incredible Orlagh Cassidy, but her role in the performance is small.

The overall rating presents another issue. Specifically, how much to penalize the author's story for the narrator's poor performance. This is an audiobook and the performance is important. I decided to rate overall at 3 stars because the quality pf narration is so poor that it detracts from enjoyment of the story.

Copies of all of David Baldacci's audiobooks are in my Audible library. He is one of my top 25 favorite authors. This is the lowest overall rating I have given to a Baldacci audiobook.

Plot holes filled by strong characters

I might be in the minority opinion but this plot had several holes. Some motives and results just did not make sense or get resolved. I don't want to share examples so as not to spoil it for anyone but the clues did not add up. What saves this book are the character sketches, the character development (I hope the series will continue, I love Decker), and the excellent writing. Narration was also top notch. Even though it's the second in a series it can easily be enjoyed as a stand alone.

Very disappointed with the narrator Kfy

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No, I spent to much time wishing Amos Decker's real voice would return. Kfy was a poor substitute for Ron McLarty.

What aspect of Kyf Brewer and Orlagh Cassidy ’s performance would you have changed?

I would have never put the two together. Ron McLarty has a strong and powerful voice. Kfy is a good narrator in his own right, but not the voice to replace Ron. Why would a writer allow for different narrators for the same character.

Get rid of Brewer!

The first book and narration was fantastic and I had a certain visualization of Amos based on the voice the narrator used. Apparently Brewer didn't listen to the first book because the voice he gives Amos makes him sound like a 14 year old boy. This audible version of the book was a complete waste of my money because I had to stop listening before the character I really loved was turned into someone who was grating and annoying. I ended up buying the Kindle version and reading it so I could put the original narrator's voice in my head.

The female narrator was disappointing.

Interesting story. The male narrator was fine, the female narrator was difficult to listen to. The editing was spotty.

Not one of Baldacci's finest works.

long, drawn out story that didn't feel Baldacci-esqe. It felt like a poor attempt at a story about racism where revenge wins in the end, but one of my least favorite books of his by a lot.