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Customer Review
- Reviewed in Canada on June 22, 20203.5 Stars. This is the 6th book in the Adam Decker(Memory Man) series. I read the previous 5 with much enjoyment. This one didn’t appeal to me as much.
This works well as a stand-alone, but those unfamiliar with the series should read at least the first book to learn about Decker’s unique abilities.
Adam Decker suffered a serious head injury at the start of playing pro- football.
When he regained consciousness he was a changed man. He was diagnosed with hyperthymesia (perfect recall) which renders one unable to forget anything they have seen, heard or read, and also with synesthesia where colours are seen in relation to people, places or numbers. These are very rare but actual brain conditions. He also lost empathy and some social skills.
These disorders were upsetting to him, but his heightened memory was put to good use when he joined his hometown police force. Attempting to lead as normal a life as possible, he married and was the devoted father of a young girl. One evening, he returned home to find his wife, daughter and brother-in-law brutally murdered.
Adam Decker went into decline. He lived on the streets, was dirty and shabby, grew a scraggly beard, and gained considerable weight. He was determined to pull himself together and returned to work to find his family's killer.
I found Walk the Wire slow-moving at first. The action didn't really pick up until a character new to me, entered the plot. This was Will Robie, a skilled assassin, secretly hired by the government to eliminate persons threatening the country. My first thought that he would be the perfect candidate for an action series of his own. Not being familiar with David Baldacci’s other books, I was pleased to learn that Robie already was the protagonist in his own thrillers.
Decker’s synesthesia seems to be declining. He is showing interest and feelings for others, and has made a connection with his brother and plans to visit his sisters after avoiding them. He seems to be gradually emerging from his time as a dour loner. It was difficult to know whether his super memory is normalizing. This investigation relied on his intelligence, bravery, and rational thinking and the only examples of his recall were in relation to remarks he heard recently. He will still be a terrific detective, but I fear not as intriguing a character.
Decker now works as a consultant for the FBI. He is called to the boomtown of London, North Dakota, along with his partner, Alex Jamison. The town has seen hard times but now wealth from oil is bringing in newcomers as well as an upswing in crime. The town is dominated by adjacent oilfields, a religious community and a mysterious compound that was once a military base. It was built for the supposed purpose of using radar to track satellites and any incoming missiles and then sold to Vector, a security company.
They have been called upon to investigate the murder of Irene Cramer. Her body had been dumped in a field, her head and body expertly autopsied, and it was later found that her intestines and stomach had been sliced open. Cramer had been a popular school teacher in the religious sect but at night she worked as an escort, mainly with men from the oil fields. I learned more about fracking for oil than I ever wanted to know. This interfered with the flow of the story for me. Who was Irene Cramer and why was she killed?
There were two separate plots here with only minimal connection. There was an obsessive deadly love story. Murders and suspected suicides were piling up. Then there was the former military base which was not as it seemed, with secret use by government authority in the 1950s. Now very strange things are happening, again under the auspices of the government. Planes and helicopters have been seen landing and ambulances taking bodies away. There is a vast conspiracy, and mercenaries will kill to keep its secrets. Robie and his partner, Jessica Beel, have been sent to discover what is going on at the military base and to protect Decker. There is a race to solve the mysteries before an impending catastrophe destroys the area.
Intense action escalated later in the book with much excitement and plenty of head-spinning surprises, danger and thrills.
