ZERO DAY by David Baldacci Review

ZERO DAY by David Baldacci

Published 10/31/11

Grand Central Publishing

Category: Fiction, Suspense & Thriller

From David Baldacci--the modern master of the thriller and #1 worldwide bestselling novelist-comes a new hero: a lone Army Special Agent taking on the toughest crimes facing the nation.

And Zero Day is where it all begins....

John Puller is a combat veteran and the best military investigator in the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigative Division. His father was an Army fighting legend, and his brother is serving a life sentence for treason in a federal military prison. Puller has an indomitable spirit and an unstoppable drive to find the truth. 

Now, Puller is called out on a case in a remote, rural area in West Virginia coal country far from any military outpost. Someone has stumbled onto a brutal crime scene, a family slaughtered. The local homicide detective, a headstrong woman with personal demons of her own, joins forces with Puller in the investigation. As Puller digs through deception after deception, he realizes that absolutely nothing he's seen in this small town, and no one in it, are what they seem. Facing a potential conspiracy that reaches far beyond the hills of West Virginia, he is one man on the hunt for justice against an overwhelming force.

Zero Day by David Baldacci

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I really like David Baldacci's books. He is intelligent and provides a suspense filled story with clean dialogue and well written characters. This particular book just didn't grab me. The problem was the acronyms for me. The protagonist is military and a lot of acronyms are used that I don't know. They are defined but I didn't want to keep looking back in the book to be reminded. Like I said, Baldacci is brilliant and he understands a lot of things that I don't having to do with forensics which I find fascinating. Military lingo is different than what speak and understand.

I was also disappointed with the crime scene not adding up to the crime, itself. It was weird. I can do weird. I watched Medium for a couple of years until it got too weird. Weird as in sadistic and shocking. It reached that level for me. I know Baldacci does a lot of forensic information in his books. I know the criminals are sadistic at times. But this one just didn't add up.

It's still a good read. If you like Baldacci, read it. If you've not read his books before, I'd start with another one. They are quite heart stopping and keep you guessing.