the setup…
Walter Nash is now Dillon Hope, a man completely transformed and bearing no likeness to his former self. He’s formidable in every way…physically and mentally…and hellbent on avenging the death of his daughter. Nash is also working as an FBI informant and when we last saw him, he had infiltrated Victoria Steer’s enterprise, posing as a bodyguard for Rhett Temple in order to get close to and destroy his nemesis (Steers) and is a man with nothing to lose.
the heart of the story…
Unlike the first book, this begins at warp speed and doesn’t let up for quite some time. Nash sees Steers’s ruthlessness almost immediately upon their first meeting. He’s forced into a rescue of her mother out of a private prison in Myanmar with not only peril at every turn but ambiguity about who he can trust. But then things start to turn as he begins to question what’s truth or subterfuge. Who’s pulling whose strings and who is the ultimate puppet master? I loved that the ethical lines were murky and the humanity of Walter Nash clashed with the single mindedness of Dillon Hope.
the narration…
I’ve come to love the duet narration style in Baldacci’s books and it made a big difference here. With MacLeod Andrews at the lead as Nash, the full cast performance was outstanding. Will Collyer, Shiromi Arserio, Christine Lakin, Larry Herron and Tim Lounibos rounded out the cast.
the bottom line…
It’s a twisty story with lots of shifts, bends and turns beginning in Hong Kong, to Myanmar and ultimately back to the US. It felt like a master chess tournament and I just wanted to keep up. There were flashpoints to current events we’re experiencing here and worldwide that felt prescient and on target, not a good thing though. I found the story thought provoking and liked that Nash felt conflicted. Lots of gray lines here that rang authentic and realistic, making up for the first book leaving us on a cliffhanger.
Book Info
- Release Date: April 14, 2026
- Series: Walter Nash #2
- Narrators: MacLeod Andrews, Will Collyer, Shiromi Arserio, Christine Lakin, Larry Herron & Tim Lounibos
- Audio Length: 12 hours, 29 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
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Blue Mood Café 
Fab review, Jo, glad it was a good listen!
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Thank you, Nicki😏
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