No Man’s Land

NO MANS LAND is David Baldaccis fourth book in his very successful John Puller series. I can say without a doubt this is the best of the series. Two parallel stories keep the readers interest through the first half, merging seamlessly by the middle of the book.
Thirty years ago when John Puller and his older brother, Robert, were young boys when their charming and beautiful mother mysteriously disappeared one evening from the Ft. Monroe, VA army post. The army investigated but not a single clue to her disappearance was ever found. Thirty years later, a friend and neighbor at the time who was now dying of cancer, wrote a letter to the Armys Criminal Investigation Division accusing the father, Fighting John Puller Sr., a retired 3-star army general, of murdering his wife. Aging Puller Sr. presently resides in a nursing home suffering from deteriorating mental and physical health.
Miles away a convicted killer, Paul Rogers, is released from a federal prison having served ten years for murder. Within hours after his release he kills two young people who had been harassing him. This sets Rogers on a rampaging cross-country voyage and more killings. Rogers knows where he is headed and nothing will deter him from achieving his long-awaited and final goal. For Rogers, payback time is only days away.
Meanwhile, Chief Warrant Officer John Puller, teaming up with his older brother, Air Force Colonel Robert Puller, for intelligence information, is on a mission to learn what happened to his mother and to clear his fathers good name. Puller also gets help from fellow CID sidekick and sometimes girlfriend, Veronica Knox.
Baldacci is a terrific writer. He skillfully develops his prime characters and injects exciting secondary players who add spice to the story. This is the best of Baldacci. There is not a weak page of narration or dialogue in this book. I give No Mans Land a top rating of 5+ stars. Its a winner.

John Puller is a serious detective with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Agency. He does superb work and always gets his man. But there is one case that he has really never looked into and that is the case of his own mothers disappearance 30 years previous. He was just a young boy when his mom disappeared and he has never really thought about solving the crime.

But when someone comes forward to accuse his father of killing his mother that gets his interest. He doesn’t want to see his father’s reputation destroyed and besides he can’t believe that his father would kill his mother.

This sets him on a course of investigation that leads to a serial murder, Department of Defense experimental science and possibly a meltdown in his own views of his father, who wasn’t where he said he was the night that John’s mother disappeared.

The most interesting part of the novel is the details regarding Liquid Armour, Ekoskeletions and synthetic skin. Further there was an experiment to make a super soldier, one that couldn’t feel pain and one that didn’t fear combat. Did that really happen? If so, is there a connection to John’s family and his mothers disappearance?

The technology as well as the mystery makes for a very entertaining and enlightening novel. I ended up after the novel doing some online searches for DoD science experiments and want to find out more about these new technologies. Where is robotics and computer enhanced medicine taking us?

Enjoy the novel. Baldacci is a master story teller.

The Puller series started out gripping. The previous book (The Forgotten), in my opinion, was not up the expectations the series has set and, one had to really put ones “reality” meter into a dormant state or it would ruin the story. This one gets the series back on track (for the most part). There are still a few stretches that cross the line into the realm of “not in this reality” but, the story is a page turner and, clues and the “red herrings” accrue at a furious pace.

In my opinion, the ending was the weakest part of the book. It did not ruin the tremendous build up but, it didn’t really do it justice either. It seemed an attempt to tie up too many lose ends in too few pages so, some of them were just not tied off particularly well.

Bottom line: I am hooked on the series now (as well as the Amos Decker series) and I am anxiously awaiting the next one

A multitude of mysteries over a span of thirty years. There are multiple layers that began with a murdered mother of an army family. Our main character’s mother had disappeared thirty years ago. It changed his childhood dramatically, as well as his brothers. A dyeing woman’s letter of accusation about his mothers death opened wounds and his pursuit of the truth.

Meanwhile a soldier used as an experiment by scientists contracting with the army, surfaced and began seeking retribution for what had happened thirty years before.

These two quests became intertwined. Numerous current day events also mixed with the old. The main scientist had continued her research over the decades. Her current research was also intertwined.

To find the truth, read away.

Before you begin this book, please realize it is the fourth book in a series involving the author’s John Puller character; it can be read as a standalone novel, but if you read the first three books in this series first this one will be much more enjoyable. Start with

Zero Day (John Puller series Book 1)

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As is typical with most Baldacci novels, he does a great job of getting you right in the middle of the action and feeling as if you are one of his characters – your pulse will start to beat a little faster at times and when he describes the surroundings of his various scenes you feel as if you are right there. The usual twists and turns in the storyline are prevalent and I had a hard time putting this one down.

If you like a good mystery / thriller, or have enjoyed other Baldacci novels, I’d recommend you pick this one up right now and strap yourself in for a book you won’t be able to put down.

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