Exit

Exit by Belinda Bauer

Published February 2nd 2021 by Atlantic Monthly Press

5 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the second Belinda Bauer book I have read and thoroughly enjoyed. I will definitely be checking out her backlist. Felix Pink is retired and keeps busy and feeling useful volunteering as an Exiteer—someone who sits with terminally ill people as they die by suicide. He assists with logistice, lends moral support and removes evidence so family and friends are not implicated in their deaths. On this job, he is working with a young woman named Amanda that he has not worked with before. She does the unthinkable, then when it ends up that the wrong person died, Felix is thrown into a police investigation.

I really enjoyed this original and unique mystery/thriller. Was this a mistake or was Felix set up as the fall guy for murder? The story is told from two points of view. The first is Felix and the other is the detective investigating, Calvin Bridge. Felix is a seventy-five year old widower who became an Exiteer after his son died of cancer, then his wife of dementia. Bridge suffers from a lack of confidence and is struggling with his wife leaving him. Both of these men are likable and realistic. Bridge and his team try to unravel all of the twists and turns in this crime. It is not simple, it is pretty convoluted and I was kept guessing throughout. The subject of assisted dying is handled well in this story and both sides are presented. Bauer also uses humor in a dry way to lessen the seriousness somewhat. This story has a slow build up in the investigation and it kept me glued to this story. A wonderful mystery that also has a moral issue at its core. Well done Belinda Bauer. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating and opinions shared are my own.

Daylight

Daylight by David Baldacci, Narrated by Brittany Pressley and Kyl Brewer

Published November 16th 2020 by Hachette Audio, Grand Central Publishing

4.5 Stars:

4.5 stars: This is the third book in the Atlee Pine series, where Atlee finally finds out what happened to her twin sister Mercy. While giving it her last shot to find Mercy, Atlee stumbles onto a complex investigation that involves some high ranking politicos. She hooks up with CID agent John Puller, who is investigating the same people Atlee is trying to question about her sister. Puller has his own Baldacci series and I like how these two characters are brought together in this book to solve this mystery and crime. Working together, Pine and Puller uncover a gigantic cover-up and find themselves crossing paths with a threatening killer.

As I said above, this is the third book in the series, and although the crime is a standalone, the back story continues. You could read this book as a standalone, but I don’t recommend it. The other books are so good, you would want to read them from the beginning. This is an action packed story where there are several bodies, several villains and more than one motive, money being the main one. I enjoyed the characters in this one, both Atlee and Puller are likable heroes. Puller’s brother Robert and Atlee’s Assistant Carol Blum also play important roles in this story and put their lives on the line as well. Baldacci sure knows how to write an action packed thriller that will keep you turning the pages long after you should have put your book aside to do other things. I thought this was going to be the last in this series, but it ends on a cliffhanger, so now, I have to wait, impatiently, for the next Atlee Pine book. This caused me to drop half a star from my rating. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Brittany Pressley and Kyl Brewer. They were also the voices of the previous books in this series, so it was nice to hear these familiar voices, with their tone and expression that make this book all the more enjoyable and tense.