Bea Reviews Daylight by David Baldacci

Series: Atlee Pine #3
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes
Publisher: 
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: 
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Blurb from goodreads:

FBI Agent Atlee Pine's search for her sister Mercy clashes with military investigator John Puller's high-stakes case, leading them both deep into a global conspiracy -- from which neither of them will escape unscathed.

For many long years, Atlee Pine was tormented by uncertainty after her twin sister, Mercy, was abducted at the age of six and never seen again. Now, just as Atlee is pressured to end her investigation into Mercy's disappearance, she finally gets her most promising breakthrough yet: the identity of her sister's kidnapper, Ito Vincenzo.

With time running out, Atlee and her assistant Carol Blum race to Vincenzo's last known location in Trenton, New Jersey -- and unknowingly stumble straight into John Puller's case, blowing his arrest during a drug ring investigation involving a military installation.

Stunningly, Pine and Puller's joint investigation uncovers a connection between Vincenzo's family and a breathtaking scheme that strikes at the very heart of global democracy. Peeling back the layers of deceit, lies and cover-ups, Atlee finally discovers the truth about what happened to Mercy. And that truth will shock Pine to her very core.

My Thoughts:
 
I enjoy Baldacci's writing but somehow had missed the first couple Atlee Pine books. This book did contain spoilers for those but I didn't mind. I liked Atlee and the story so I'll pick up the earlier books at some point. While I know generally what happened but I want to see who and how.

The appeal of this book for me was that it crosses over the John Puller series and I enjoy that one so much. I figured it would be a good way to see if I like Atlee Pine and I do. She's a maverick, smart, sassy, resourceful, determined. She's taking personal time off from her FBI job to try and track down her missing sister who was kidnapped when they were six years old. Lordy, does she make progress. No spoilers but she makes a lot of progress and her sister may still be alive. 

One of her suspects is also a suspect in a case that Army CID investigator John Puller is working so they join forces. They make a great team and I hope that they will team up again. All of the characters are vivid and distinct, even the ones who make brief appearances. At times I needed a score card to keep track of everyone; the joy of an ereader is that I can easily search names to prod my memory.

"Daylight" was full of action, and engrossing, though the story itself was overly complicated and definitely stretched credulity. But the fast pace and appealing characters helped to gloss over those flaws somewhat. Since it left me wanting to read more in this series, I'd say the story overall was a hit. Your mileage may vary but Baldacci rarely fails to entertain.