'THE LAST MILE' - DAVID BALDACCI

THE LAST MILE (2016)

The last mile refers to a gas chamber situated not a mile, but about 30 feet away in Texas State Penitentiary where Melvin Mars the foot ball star is being readied for the death penalty.

At the eleventh hour, he is saved from death as someone else confessed to his crime which was killing his parents and burning them!

Amos Decker is the police detective with  ‘hyperthymesia’ – condition with a perfect memory and total memory recall. Decker leads the story with the FBI team weaving through a plot of hidden agendas, federal and police accomplices.

David Baldacci is a renowned Italian born, American lawyer turned writer  aged 56, with at least 33 thrillers , not to mention many others works for children.

He always brings in description of sports or physical fitness in almost all his novels. 

His heros are generally middle aged men who are larger than normal but have been physically fit in the past. The female officers of law are fit, agile women who outsmart the men – and the present story is no exception to this rule!

There is always a take home message from almost all his books about how to remain fit. 

For instance in this book, Mars the prisoner keeps himself physically fit by doing daily for 20 years, in his prison cell –

• ·         200 pushups first with fist, then on finger tips and finally in backward dog position with his head touching the floor on each pass,
• ·         300 deep deep squats,
• ·         Yoga and Pilates for strength, balance, movements and flexibility &
• ·         1000 stomach and core reps.

I have found Baldacci’s recipe for fitness always fascinating! If only we could do a fraction of these every day, we will all be a lot healthier!

His earlier books ‘Absolute Power’, ‘Total Control’  (disappearing executive in technology conglomerate- wanting the best for his family) and  even ‘The Winner’ ( the corrupt and prefixed lottery system)  have involved a lot of research and intriguing details.

Though ‘The Last Mile’ was released as late as 2016, I found the book not so very well researched on the finer details. 

I would have liked to see more of finer descriptions of people, places and events.

But the story keeps you interested in the book enough to finish it at one go.