The Last Mile

David Baldacci

Apr 2016 · Sold by Grand Central Publishing

About this eBook

When a convicted killer is saved by another man's confession, Amos Decker, now an FBI special task force detective, must find the truth in this "utterly absorbing" #1 New York Times bestseller (Associated Press).

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.

Ratings and reviews

The Last Mile begins with Melvin Mars who is currently on Death Row for supposedly killing his parents. He has always claimed innocence, but evidence against him proved otherwise. Twenty years later on the day of his execution, he gets a reprieve as someone else comes forth and confesses that he was in fact the one who killed Mars’ parents. Something just does not seem right though. Decker wants this case bad because of the similarities between this case and the case of his that has never been solved. With the help of the FBI, Mars himself, and a special task force, this well-crafted novel provides the reader with an abundance of twists and turns that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Amos Decker is perhaps the coolest fictional detective ever. Due to an accident which ended his NFL career, he has a medical condition that enables him to have perfect recall of everything – which comes in pretty handy in his line of work, but is also a curse because he remembers EVERYTHING and let’s face it, sometimes you just want to forget. In addition to his memory thing, he is funny, unique and totally relatable. Although The Last Mile is book two in the series, I feel as though it can be read as a stand-alone. But with that being said, I am definitely going to go back and read Memory Man just for the fact that I love Decker and want to learn more about him. David Baldacci definitely has an awesome talent of drawing the reader in and keeping them guessing until the very end. The Last Mile has everything I love in a good mystery – highly captivating, fast-paced, well-written, suspenseful, and a cast of well-developed characters that will keep you wanting to know how the story will end. An intriguing read that you will not want to put down.

Amos Decker was on his way to Washington where he was to join an FBI special task force investigating cold cases. He heard the news on the radio that a former college football star, Melvin Mars, was hours away from being executed for the murder of his parents 20 years ago, when someone else (also on death row) claimed responsibility for the murder. Decker is suspicious about this sudden development and recommends the task force take on this case because he wants to know the truth. This was quite a thrilling page-turner. I loved the surprising twists this story took. The characters were interesting, especially Mars. I routed for and felt sorry for him throughout the book. Decker was interesting once I understood him more. I was confused about him at the beginning of the book. I gather the first book explained more about Decker so if I had read it I would have understood more about him. Most books have short refreshers about the characters to remind readers who they are. That didn't happen in this book so I wanted to know what profession he was in that enabled him to start working for the FBI among other things. The story was enjoyable once I got some of my questions answered. I suggest reading the first book before this one. I won this book in a Goodreads Firstreads giveaway. I didn't get it for a long time so Goodreads' customer support helped me get a copy. I really appreciate their work on this.

I read constantly and am admittedly easily entertained. this book much like all of the other books by Mr. Baldacci is interesting and keeps your attention throughout.

About the author

DAVID BALDACCI is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world's favorite storytellers. His books are published in over forty-five languages and in more than eighty countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.