Publishers Weekly
★ 04/17/2023
Baldacci (The 6:20 Man) is at his best in this standalone thriller about an ex-cop and single mother who’s drawn into a murder investigation. Mickey Gibson has found some stability after her husband divorced her while she was pregnant with their second child, having moved to Williamsburg, Va., to be near family and joined investigative firm ProEye. Her new normal is rocked, though, when she’s called by a woman named Arlene Robinson, who says she’s working with Mickey’s boss and assigns her to inventory the contents of a recently foreclosed mansion. When Mickey arrives at the house, she discovers the decomposing corpse of an elderly man and immediately becomes a person of interest in his death—especially after police learn that ProEye has never heard of anyone named Arlene Robinson. As Mickey tries desperately to clear her name, she’s drawn further into a shadowy plot orchestrated by the woman calling herself Arlene. Baldacci keeps the twists coming fast and furious in this tense page-turner, never losing credibility even as it takes bigger and bigger swings. Readers will fall in love with Mickey and hold their breath for her through to the very end. Agent: Aaron Priest, Aaron M. Priest Literary. (Apr.)
AudioFile
Two narrators prove twice as nice in this engaging audiobook from a thriller titan. Lisa Flanagan does the heavy lifting, smoothly portraying the female characters…Corey Carthew is kept busy voicing a multitude of male characters, mostly from law enforcement or business…Flanagan and Carthew work together seamlessly to ratchet up the tension. The result is an exciting thrill ride for listeners.”
#1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner
David Baldacci is one of the all-time best thriller authors.
People
A master storyteller.
Providence Journal
Walk the Wire solidifies Baldacci's status as this generation's premier storyteller . . . The perfect thriller.
Associated Press
David Baldacci is a master storyteller.
From the Publisher
"Baldacci is at his best in this standalone thriller. [He] keeps the twists coming fast and furious in this tense page-turner, never losing credibility even as it takes bigger and bigger swings. Readers will fall in love with Mickey and hold their breath for her through to the very end."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Intriguing... Baldacci’s readers will find plenty to enjoy here."—Booklist
Praise for David Baldacci "David Baldacci is a master storyteller."—Associated Press
"Walk the Wire solidifies Baldacci's status as this generation's premier storyteller . . . The perfect thriller."—Providence Journal
"David Baldacci is one of the all-time best thriller authors."—Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"A master storyteller."—People
"An exciting thrill ride for listeners."—AudioFile Magazine (audiobook)
"This is Baldacci at his formidable best, teasing the reader with hints and suggestions while pushing the story forward at breakneck pace. Do not miss it.”—Daily Mail
"Motherhood is no barrier to crime busting in this clever thriller... from a master storyteller."—Kirkus Reviews
APRIL 2023 - AudioFile
Two narrators prove twice as nice in this engaging audiobook from a thriller titan. Lisa Flanagan does the heavy lifting, smoothly portraying the female characters, notably Mickey Gibson, a single mom and detective turned asset retriever, and Clarisse, a con artist who tricks Mickey into investigating the murder of a reclusive businessman. Corey Carthew is kept busy voicing a multitude of male characters, mostly from law enforcement or business, whom Mickey and Clarisse interact with while solving this case. While it's often intriguing to see how well a narrator handles a character of the opposite sex, it's much cleaner differentiating genders this way. Flanagan and Carthew work together seamlessly to ratchet up the tension. The result is an exciting thrill ride for listeners. D.E.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2023-05-16
Motherhood is no barrier to crime busting in this clever thriller.
Mickey Gibson is an ex–crime scene tech, ex-cop, ex-detective, and a single mother of two tykes, including one who's been known tothrow up on her. She works at home as an investigator for ProEye, chasing down criminals online, and she is quite good at it. Her ex-hubby, the rat, had said he wanted a big family but bugged out on her when the “daddy do list” “ruined” his weekends. Now a phone call turns her life upside down. A woman she doesn't know, ostensibly from ProEye, asks her to do some fieldwork: inventory the contents of an old mansion. The woman at first goes by Arlene, but she might really be Clarisse or Francine. In other words, “she’s a liar, plain and simple,” and she has strong motivation to get Mickey involved. Naturally, the contents of the mansion include a murder victim, a smelly corpse that had once been “a criminal on a global scale.” Mickey feels compelled to solve the crime, though she’s emphatically told “it’s not your job to solve this sucker. You’re not a cop anymore.” More murders follow as the possibility of a hidden treasure looms. Two strong, engaging women drive the complicated plot—the multitasking mom who’s compelled to solve a crime while defending against threats to her children, and the childless manipulator who has her own big-time personal issues. She—let’s call her Clarisse for now—has the best lines: “Hell, with just the right eyeliner I can rule the world,” and “Life was a shell game. The winners could just hide the truth better than everybody else.” And she has a lot to hide. In the end, the plot elements are all tied up in a neat little bow.
More good fun from a master storyteller.
