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The Innocent
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July Government Assassin Group Read: The Innocent by David Baldacci *Spoilers*
Currently almost 2/3rd through The Eye of God by James Rollins.....I think I'm going to skip my other current reads to delve right into The Innocent next. Looking forward to the discussions soon!
Looking forward to discussing The Innocent with everyone!
I just bought The Innocent today... Now all I have to do is set aside some time to read it!
I went to pick this up from audible but the reviews were less than optimistic so I'll just stalk this thread to see whether its worth getting in a non audio form.
Travis, if you belong Audible if you don't like a book you can return it and they will refund your 1 credit. I've down it in the past without a problem. About listening to The Innocent, it was different. It's the first book I listened to with sound effects. I thought it added to the story and it didn't bother me at all.
Guys/Gals, I have The Innocent on my Kindle.....but I just got a notice today that my "hold" from a digital library is available today, and that book is
. I'll end up reading both this month, but with the time limit from the library I figure I need to read The Hit first. Either way, it should be fun month.......
Yay! I am almost finished with The Hit myself. We can discuss both books. I think there's a few of us who've read both.
I finished The Hit today. Kept me guessing the entire time. Can't wait to talk about both books :)
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I am loving "The Hit". I am almost 60% into this story. David reminds me very much of some early Robert Ludlum novels. What a great action/suspense story. I can figure The Innocent is just as good. I will have to go back and check my digital library and see what other Baldacci books I can borrow. But darn that library, another book on hold just became available: NOS4A2. Now I will have to read tha LONG book before I can start on The Innocent. But I will get there......Thanks for this thread for introducing me to the writing of David Baldacci!
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I have also read The Hit and I loved it even more.
Only now started The Innocent and already finding Will Robie to be a fascinating character. This is my first Baldacci book, so don't know about the other ones, but here from the very beginning I'm feeling a STRONG no-nonsense Lee Child-esque vibe that I'm loving it!
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How far is everyone with The Innocent?
I'm almost to the 3rd act, 120 or so pages to go....The plot is getting overly complicated. Just like Robie, still has absolutely NO idea what's going on!
When will we usually start talking about the book?
Let's start now. I really enjoyed the relationship between Robie and Julie. Neither one of them are trusting people, yet they grew to trust each other. The human element and the action was what I found most engaging about the book.
What did you think of there relationship did you like it or dislike it?
What did you like best about the plot?
If there's anything else you want to talk about? I'm happy to discuss!
*Spoliers* haha I don't know how to do that lolBut I kept thinking, and wanting, Robie to actually adopt Julie. I loved how they came to trust one another and how the relationship between them came to be.
Also I thought it was a huge coincidence that Julie just so happened to be on the bus that Robie used as his escape route, as both of them were connected in the whole thing.
I wish I had the book with me currently to talk more in depth, but being on vacation, the book is at home. I think my favorite part was finding out who the shooter was, although I was upset with the relationship that was between her and Robie and really wanted it to continue, I believe that this would leave the perfect opening for him to get with super agent Vance, cause Julie does think she likes him.
Did anyone else want Robie to adopt Julie? And who would you have Robie be in a relationship with, if anyone or will he always be on his own?
Can't wait to discuss more about the book! -David
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I really enjoyed the relationship between Robie and Julie. Neither one of them are trusting people, yet they grew to trust each other. The human element and the action was what I..."
Thanks for coming up with questions, Eileen. It's kind of tough to think of good questions every month, so I appreciate you throwing some out there!
Whew, finished it! It was a blast of a read with a very fast pace and a great ending. I loved the brooding character of Will Robie and the way he was hoping against hope to maybe have a normal life someday, even with all the shits happening around him, and thats why it was very sad to see him suffer so much in the end with the *main* revelation. But that twist also gave the story gravitas and depth. The supporting characters including the teenage girl and the FBI agent was also very strong, and thankfully devoid of any cliche.But I do have one slight disappointment as I STILL don't know what happened in Robie's past that made him a Government Assassin without any hope for a normal life. Baldacci gave many hints to a dark past that led Robie to this path, like this: "There was a reason he kept taking these assignments, kept pulling the trigger on one monster after another. He had never talked to anyone about it, and doubted he ever would. It wasn’t that the memories were too painful. It was that he had frozen that part of his mind. He was incapable of articulating a single sentence about it. That was the way he wanted it. Anything less would not allow him to function"....But in the end he didn't give any answers regarding who he was. I sure hope in some future book we find out something about that.
David wrote: "*Spoliers* haha I don't know how to do that lolBut I kept thinking, and wanting, Robie to actually adopt Julie. I loved how they came to trust one another and how the relationship between them c..."
Maybe this will help on how to do spoiler tags.
Up in the right hand corner of the comment box it shows how to do that.
(Some html is ok)
< spoiler > add comment. < / spoiler > without spaces
David, I think they work so well together in the story is because there both loners and self sufficient. They can relate to each other. I really thought (view spoiler)
That really upset me too! I felt so sorry for Robie. The first time he took the chance on having something "normal" in his life. I do think that super agent Vance (love that Julie calls her that) will be around a lon
g time in the series. I can picture the 3 of them together when the series ends, hopefully many books from now.
Have a wonderful vacation!
Lady D, you're welcome! Happy to help!
Rizwan, I was wondering those same things myself. I think Baldacci begins to explain some of Robie's past in the second book. Which we should discuss at another time and not confuse anyone who is still reading The Innocent.
Anyone else wonder about Mr. Blue? I think there's more to Mr. Blue then we know at the moment.
Eileen wrote: "Rizwan, I was wondering those same things myself. I think Baldacci begins to explain some of Robie's past in the second book. Which we should discuss at another time and not confuse anyone who is ..."Very nice to hear that Eileen, Thanks! I've already started The Hit, so can't wait to find out more about Robie!
Eileen wrote: "Anyone else wonder about Mr. Blue? I think there's more to Mr. Blue then we know at the moment."He was one of those characters I just kept expecting to end up working against Robie.
Rizwan, I hear what you are saying about the background and there certainly is still plenty of mystery. However, I like that, it makes me want to come back and read more about the character, not just whatever circumstances he might find himself in.
Ctgt wrote: "Eileen wrote: "Anyone else wonder about Mr. Blue? I think there's more to Mr. Blue then we know at the moment."He was one of those characters I just kept expecting to end up working against Robie..."
Ha! I was almost certain the whole time I was reading that in the end BlueMan would turn out to be the Main Bad....Well obviously thats why the actual ending was more satisfying.
I agree with Ctgt about the slow unraveling of the mysteries regarding Robie and his agency, but as currently we only have one more book to read, we'll just have to wait and see what Mr. Baldacci has for this series in the future.
That's the way I felt about BlueMan from the beginning. A mysterious character, I liked him. Honestly, I figured out the ending before it happened. It by no means ruin the story for me.
That's the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 stars. Most of the action books I read where the protagonist is a man (view spoiler)
Rizwan wrote: "but as currently we only have one more book to read"Good point. It may take awhile.
Eileen wrote: "I really enjoyed the relationship between Robie and Julie."That dynamic is what helped this book stand out from the vast hordes of thriller/suspense novels. Frankly, the assassin who has a change of heart has been done plenty of times before. The double cross, triple cross, mole in the agency? Been there done that. I liked the fact that Robie never could quite figure out why he was dragging this girl around when all it did was complicate things.
If it wasn't for the comparisons to the movie Leon:The Professional, this would have been a pretty unique story.
Ctgt wrote: "If it wasn't for the comparisons to the movie Leon:The Professional, this would have been a pretty unique story."LOL Every time Robie was peeking through his keyhole to see whats going on in the corridor or in his neighboring apartments, I was automatically getting flashbacks from LEON!
Mainly because of this movie & many copycats of it, at first I wasn't too keen on the whole "Assassin-Innocent girl" aspect of the book, but I'm so glad that Baldacci handled it deftly and without falling into any cliched or melodramatic situations & conversations.
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They both read well. I'm hoping he stays with Robie a while.
I never even thought about comparing the two. I watched that movie years ago, maybe that's why. It's was a good movie. I knew I was going to like this Robie's character when he went to visit Julie's foster parents. It had me laughing and wishing he'd shot them.
Another reason I think the story works so well between is I think Robie sees himself in Julie and wants her to have a better more normal
life then he had.
Ctgt wrote: "Leon:The Professional"I'd forgotten about that movie. Wow! For shear action and a fast pace, Leon was fantastic. Nothing supernatural or gravity-defying. Just straight-ahead action. I'm going to watch it again!!
This was my first Balcacci book and I'm giving it four stars **** instead of five, because I thought the ending dragged and didn't have enough punch. However, I always "wondered" about what's-her-name and her convenient positioning in the story. I probably would have streamlined the plot, if I was writing it. However, the way David unrolled it was fine for me (the reader)-- complicated, but not overly so. Just as he got quite a few balls in the air, he cleared that air and took them down. That is a talent. Leaving the balls up there for a prolonged period really strains a reader's attention span. At least I wouldn't want the reader to need a spreadsheet to keep track of everything.
The classic spy novels stretch a reader pretty thin, but that's to be expected: Furst, Hobbs, Kerr, Littell, Steinhauer.
So Lady D figured out the perp!! Good work there! I thought it was a fairly lame association. No WOW! moment there for me.
Actually, Julie was the scene-stealer. I'd rewrite the entire story from her POV. She's the one with all the juice, in my book (and I wish she was in my book).
I've put The Hit in my library queue! Can't wait!
Cheers!
Jim in Missoula
I couldn't agree more, Jim. Julie was definitely the scene stealer. It would have been interesting to see how the story would've unfolded from Julie's point of view.
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I read this a while back...and forgot we were discussing it. I like it. I'm not necessarily a Baldacci fan but I've liked some of his work. This one could have gone off the rails several ways but d..."Mike, did you ever continue with the series? I've only read the first two and hope to read more soon.
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I thought there was. Now I have to go check.
I just checked and you're right, Mike. There's only 2 so fast in the series. I noticed The Hit just came out in April of this year and The Innocent the year before in April. I guess and hope the next Robie book will come out next April.
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:)
Let me know if you see anything about book 3, thanks!
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I think there was a good balance between action and suspense. Will thinks on his feet, but he still thinks things through.
I gave this 4.5 stars, and I gave The Hit five stars.
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I am totally hoping for a third book in the series.
Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress wrote: "I am totally hoping for a third book in the series."Yeah me too....But even after searching thoroughly, I couldn't find anything other than the new King & Maxwell novel coming in October. Sure as hell hoping to see a new Will Robie thriller next year!
Action/Adventure Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
NOS4A2 (other topics)The Hit (other topics)
The Innocent (other topics)
I will post discussion questions soon.