“Zero Day” by David Baldacci – The Dangers of Isolation

Many of the great murder mystery and horror stories which have been written over the years, whether in literature or in movie format, have been successful because of one main element: they played with our innate fear of isolation, especially in a time when we are all used to living amongst thousands, or even millions of other people in a city.

Just to give a few examples, consider Murder on he Orient Express, And Then There Were None and Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie, or perhaps, if discussing movies, I could point you to Friday the 13th, The Evil Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Silent Hill.

What made these stories so great is that the characters had no one but themselves to rely on, with the worst part being that one or more murderers (or something terrible, as is the case with Silent Hill) are on the loose with no authorities to intervene. Deep inside, even though we often seek isolation from the world, we fear it, because we know no one will be there to help us.

With this in mind, I’d like to present you Zero Day by David Baldacci. It follows a tough-as-nails John Puller, the absolute best military investigator currently under the employ of the U.S. Army. One day, he gets sent by his management to a remote, rural area in West Virginia, countless miles from any kind of military outpost.

Along with the local homicide detective, a no-nonsense woman with some secrets of her own, Puller must work to uncover the truth behind the grizzly slaughter of a family. Bit by bit, Puller starts to uncover what could be a conspiracy which stretches even beyond the town; will he end up face to face with a killer, or some kind of unstoppable force he could never see coming?

As was mentioned above, part of what makes this book great is the sense of isolation from the rest of the world. Yes, it does take place in an entire town (although it is pretty small), but Puller might as well have crashed from Mars on it; he’s a complete alien and stranger to the people who have been living there for generations.

There is no military to help him, and all he can rely on is himself, and of course his government-granted authority. The characters in this book, while not being as fully developed as they could be, have more than enough background story exposed to make you genuinely care for their fate… at least that’s the way I felt. The story itself was actually quite interesting, and although the final twist may be a bit predictable, it still doesn't detract from the entire ride.

Finally, I have to address the issue that many people believe Zero Day by Baldacci is a rip-off Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. While I do admit that in this world pretty much anything is possible, it has to be mentioned that this plot structure is far from being uncommon: a highly-ranked investigator representing the government is sent to investigate an unusual murder in a small American town where nothing is what it seems.

Heck, following this line of thinking, it would be fair to say that both Lee Child and Baldacci ripped off David Lynch’s TV show, Twin Peaks. Second, for those who don’t know him, David Baldacci has already built his reputation a while ago; he is known as being as someone who is actually interested in writing and isn't doing it for the money.

In other words, Baldacci really had no reason to rip off Lee Child, especially with a relatively banal plot structure such as this one. Art becomes more and more derivative with time, and things like this are bound to happen.

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David Baldacci Personal site Certainly one of the more famous authors of the 21st century, David Baldacci was always gearing himself to become a prominent writer, beginning his work at a very young age as a child. He gifted the readers with countless classics and bestsellers such as The Innocent and Absolute Power.