| | |  | Terrorism | Home » » Zero Day | | | | | | | Description: | | From David Baldacci--the modern master of the thriller and #1 worldwide bestselling novelist-comes a new hero: a lone Army Special Agent taking on the toughest crimes facing the nation.
And Zero Day is where it all begins....
John Puller is a combat veteran and the best military investigator in the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Division. His father was an Army fighting legend, and his brother is serving a life sentence for treason in a federal military prison. Puller has an indomitable spirit and an unstoppable drive to find the truth.
Now, Puller is called out on a case in a remote, rural area in West Virginia coal country far from any military outpost. Someone has stumbled onto a brutal crime scene, a family slaughtered. The local homicide detective, a headstrong woman with personal demons of her own, joins forces with Puller in the investigation. As Puller digs through deception after deception, he realizes that absolutely nothing he's seen in this small town, and no one in it, are what they seem. Facing a potential conspiracy that reaches far beyond the hills of West Virginia, he is one man on the hunt for justice against an overwhelming force.
David Baldacci is one of the world's favorite storytellers. His books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with over 110 million copies in print. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at www.DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at www.WishYouWellFoundation.org, and to look into its program to spread books across America at www.FeedingBodyandMind.com.
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Average Customer Review:
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111 of 118 found the following review helpful:
 Tinker, Tailor, Reacher, PullerNov 09, 2011
By rck12
I just read this book about 30 days ago, except it was written by Lee Child. His latest just released Reacher novel, titled "The Affair". I thought the reviewers were mistaken about Balducci's "Zero Day" being a knockoff...but they weren't! Unfortunately, I pre-ordered Zero Day without looking into it.
Pretty much the same lead character, a military killing, a small southern town, understaffed investigation, and a local female sheriff to partner with. The only thing different were the bad guys, and their evil ways.
So it didn't do much for me, as I just read the Child book first. Had I not, it would have been just an OK read.
For the military-lawyer/investigator genre, my hands down favorite author is Brian Haig, and his six Sean Drummond novels.
151 of 168 found the following review helpful:
 Outstanding.Nov 01, 2011
By MED
"constantly reading"
Baldacci has long been a must read for me. This book is him at his best. The writing is crisp and you are hooked from page one. John Puller is a Army CID - called into investigate a brutal family killing in rural West Virginia. The father is a Defense Intelligence Agency high ranking colonel about to transition to civilian life. Puller questions his solo assignment to the highly sensitive case. He is also saddled with a father who is a living (though retired) Army legend and a brother serving life for treason.
Along the way he partners with a local police detective - female detective Samantha Cole.
Baldacci gives enough background to promote interest without bogging down the story. And just as you think you have it ... the story takes a sharp left. Concisely written police procedural wrapped around a compelling story.
110 of 123 found the following review helpful:
Not a clone, but it'll peeve us mountain boysNov 04, 2011
By Roger D. Curry
I just don't buy into the Lee Child - Jack Reacher clone idea. If I wrote the book, sure, call your lawyer, Lee - I'm not creative enough to think of such a good plot. But Baldacci made his bones a LONG time ago. He has a long track record of superior writing. Every now and then, there will be some plot overlap within genres, and thrillers are no exception.
Zero Day is written with all of Baldacci's usual skill and perhaps even a little bit more energetic dialogue.
The novel is set in the coal fields of West Virginia. That's my home. And so I look at this with an unusually critical eye for accuracy as will was for perceptions of disrespect - Believe me, West Virginians are REALLY touchy.
I hit the annoyance button on both accuracy and respect, but I'm not sure if that's fair. If I read something set in, say, Washington State, I won't know what's true and what's not, because I've never been there. That doesn't keep me from enjoying the book.
Coal mining is a background theme of Zero Day. The health effects of mining are made up from whole cloth. For instance, there's no explosion of childhood cancer rates around coal mining. This not say that coal mining is good for you - the effects are simply more subtle and some would say more insidious. Baldacci suggests that surface mining does not take place because of extraction costs but because it uses fewer workers. That one is just a head-scratcher - it's all about money. And Baldacci seems to think that it's hard to find coal. Nope, not even. It's not like the old oil and gas wildcatter days when the developer took a chance on a dry hole. Coal seams are very well know, and the development work is about the details of extraction.
And Zero Day's portrayal of West Virginia is, well, fictional. "Moonshine stills" are not a significant law enforcement problem. There are no little mountain lions hopping about in the woods. What I took the most umbrage to was dialogue by a minor character who was removing personal property from the home of someone who had just died: "A lot of folks around here ain't got nothing. They find out you died and ain't got no relations, your stuff's gone before you know it." If I say that about the character of the people in your neighborhood, I'm hoping that you would be peeved. That may happen here, as elsewhere, but it certainly isn't a cultural trait or a common practice.
But to apply my own rubric, there's nothing that takes Zero Day below five stars. It's plot, characters and action are every bit on a par with Baldacci's prior works.
But, Jeez, Dave, next time pick on Ohio or New York, OK?
19 of 21 found the following review helpful:
Just when you think you figured it out, Baldacci takes the story in a new directionDec 31, 2011
By Ali Julia
The new book from David Baldacci "Zero Day" introduces us to a new hero, John Puller. Like in his other books David Baldacci the plot develops quickly and makes you root and care for the hero. He is a army Special Agent who prefers field work to advancement in the military ranks. He is called to investigate a case in rural area in West Virginia, and unravels a conspiracy that reaches well beyond the borders of West Virginia borders. The plot is fast-moving, enjoyable, and unpredictable. Just when you think you know what is happening Baldacci takes the story in a new direction.
I got this book on a vacation day when I was supposed to do a slew of errands... however, I could not put the book down and wound up reading the book all day turning my chore day into a fantastic trip into imagination and adventure.
The book ends in a way that makes you think we will be seeing this hero again, and I am looking forward to it.
Ali Julia review
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P.S.
I "discovered" David Baldacci only about a year ago. My plan is to read all David Baldacci books, so I put this list together with all the books and which series they belong to, I hope someone else will find this list useful as well.
David Baldacci book by publication year
Absolute Power (1996)
Total Control (1996)
Winner, the (1997)
Saving Faith (1999)
Simple Truth, the (1999)
Wish You Well (2000)
Last Man Standing (2002)
Christmas Train, the (2002)
Split Second (2003) King&Maxwell series
Hour Game (2004) King&Maxwell series
Camel Club, the (2005) Camel Club series
Fries Alive! (2005)
Collectors, the (2006) Camel Club series
Mystery of Silas Finklebean, the (2006)
Simple Genius (2007) King&Maxwell series
Stone Cold (2008) Camel Club series
Divine Justice (2008) Camel Club series
Whole truth (2008) Shaw&James series
First Family (2009) King&Maxwell series
True Blue (2009)
Hell's Corner (2010) Camel Club series
Deliver us from eval (2010) King&Maxwell series
The Sixth Man (2011 King&Maxwell series
One Summer (2011)
Zero Day (2011)
Baldacci books by series
Sean King and Michelle Maxwell
1 : Split Second (2003) by David Baldacci
2 : Hour Game (2004) by David Baldacci
3 : Simple Genius (2007) by David Baldacci
4 : First Family (2009) by David Baldacci
5 : The Sixth Man (2011) by David Baldacci
Camel Club
1 : Camel Club, the (2005) by David Baldacci
2 : Collectors, the (2006) by David Baldacci
3 : Stone Cold (2008) by David Baldacci
4 : Divine Justice (2008) by David Baldacci
5 : Hell's corner (2010) by David Baldacci
John Puller
1 : Zero Day (2011)
Shaw & James
1 : Whole Truth, the (2008)
2 : Deliver us from evil (2010)
Freddy and the French Fries (Fiction' Children & Young Adult' Humorous Fiction)
Fries Alive! (2005) by David Baldacci
Mystery of Silas Finklebean, the (2006) by David Baldacci
47 of 62 found the following review helpful:
superb police proceduralOct 31, 2011
By Harriet Klausner
U.S. Army's Criminal Investigative Division Warrant Officer John Puller, Jr. visits his brother Robert, a nuclear scientist convicted of treason at the US Disciplinary Barracks, but his sibling refuses to answer whether he did it or not. Their father the famous Army hero would like to believe his oldest son did not betray his country.
At Quantico, Puller's Special Agent in Charge Don White assigns the Warrant Officer to investigate the murder of Defense Intelligence Agency Colonel Matthew Reynolds in Drake, West Virginia. The officer worked at the Pentagon, but what disturbs Puller is the DIA should be making the inquiry into the murder of the colonel, his wife and two teenage children in their rural home. He makes contact with Sergeant Samantha Cole, the civilian homicide detective investigating the mass murders, but she considers him an unwanted outsider and acts accordingly towards cooperative Puller.
This is a superb police procedural filled with a twist that takes a local rural homicide investigation spinning it into international waters as only David Baldacci can do and make it feel real. Puller is terrific as the agent holding the story line together. Readers will relish this fast-paced thriller as Zero Day has come to West Virginia and other nearby states.
Harriet Klausner
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