Title: Zero Day
Author: David Baldacci
Progress: 100%
Platform: Kindle
Amazon Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
NYT BS Hardcover List: #4 (debuted at number 1)
Book 5 out of 107
Back after a few days off for Thanksgiving with the family. With all the flying, I was able to finish off Zero Day. Nice job, Mr. Baldacci. I had a hard time putting it down. I eventually did, because reading at the Thanksgiving table would have been rude, but it was tempting to just keep on reading in between passing the stuffing and green bean casserole.
There are lots of things to learn from Zero Day, but as I'm anxious to get into the next book, I'll deal with just two.
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| I don't like riding in cars and I don't come when called. David Baldacci is now on my list, and you don't want to be on Angry Cat's list. |
First, (SPOILER ALERT!) at the end of the book, our hero Jack Reacher hits the road after a long, difficult case. He needs some downtime. He decides to go for a long drive. So he packs up his cat, named AWOL, and hits the road.
The cat sits peacefully in the backseat. The cat, at a gas station, leaves the car, goes somewhere to do his business, and then returns to the car with no coaxing.
As the owner of many cats, I can safely say that Mr. Baldacci has never owned or spent time around felines. They don't ride peacefully in the back seats of cars. Instead, they howl, meow and cry, detesting everything about the experience of being transported in a big, loud, stinky machine. I believe they consider it undignified.
Also, they do not, ever, ever, behave as dogs would behave. They don't come when called. They don't take care of business on a handy piece of grass and return to their vehicles. A cat set free, especially after a long car ride, is not going to obediently jump back into the back seat when finished. That cat will either run away or find something to hide under where he can watch you as he curses the day you were born.
This lack of cat knowledge is surprising because everything else in Zero Day is researched to within an inch of its life. I'm fairly certain I could build a decent nuclear bomb after taking in the last 50 pages where we get a detailed yet clear explanation of how such a bomb could be made.
The second thing, and this I think is the more interesting lesson, is about what I'll call the POV Depth Level, or POVDL.
As I think I made that term up, I get to define it. Let's go with... The depth that an author chooses to go into the the thinking of a character.
With the books I've read so far, the POVDL is quite high, more on the surface. In the thriller genre, the rule seems to be to reveal no thinking that doesn't immediately concern the plot. If it doesn't move the story forward, it doesn't hit the page.
Sure, sometimes we get a wise crack or quick observation about an attractive female (I've encountered nothing but male protagonists so far), but otherwise the hero's thinking is devoted almost exclusively to the case at hand as he reasons through the clues and plans out next steps.
In Shock Wave, the POVDL is so high I had a hard time getting into the head of the character and relating to him. Because of that, the book didn't grab me by the throat and make me care.
Not so with Zero Day. Jack Reacher became a real person to me. I think I could recognize him if I saw him on the street. I know a good bit of his likes and dislikes, how he treats people, what motivates him, and what scares him. I like him and care about him. If he had died at the end of the book, which considering the situation was quite likely, I would have been angry. I'm looking forward to spending more time with him.
Having said all that, we don't actually get too deep into his thoughts. We get enough to make him come to life, but we get only a rare few bits that aren't related to solving the murders and tracking down a potential terrorist cell.
Yet there were some perfect opportunities to get more into his thoughts. He is clearly attracted to the tough yet beautiful sheriff, Sam (short for Samantha), and aside from one admiring glance, we don't get to hear his internal monologue about what he really thinks about her, what he finds attractive about her, what he thinks of her eyes, her legs, or anything else about her.
In another section, he interviews a suspect who was kicked out of the Army due to the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. Reacher tells the guy, "DADT was bullshit," but we don't get to know if he actually thinks that. What does he think about gays serving the military? It would be interesting to know as he had completed six tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and has the medals and scares to prove it.
I liked Zero Day a lot, and I think it is an excellent example of a competent, entertaining thriller.
I do wonder if it would have been more entertaining, and more effective, if Mr. Baldacci had moved a bit deeper into the POVDL of Reacher. I'm not asking for Franzen-level of introspection (but I do wonder what a Franzen-written thriller would be like). I'm asking for these thrillers I've assigned myself to read to give me a little something more than a few thrills that fade away as soon as I'm done reading.
Mr. Baldacci did give me a character I will remember for a long time, and am looking forward to meeting again. Here's hoping I get to know him a little better next time around.
What did we learn? I'm not sure. We did explore a bit my theory that the thriller genre could benefit from a deeper POVDL. Not sure I'm right about that. I'm hoping to find the book that proves the theory soon.
Next up, Stephen King's 11/22/63. I know, it's not technically a crime thriller, but it does feature a notable crime, people do get shot, and there are thrills. I'm stretching the rules a bit. I have a feeling there is a lot to learn in that one. Four and a half stars on Amazon so far. That is tough to do.
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