Ticket 2 Ride

Hope Rises (2026) is a continuation of the Nash Falls (2025) which introduced the character Walter Nash. If you haven’t read the previous book, Hope Rises will feel like a suspense film you walked in on during the second half. Continuing the story is not the same as a TV series cliffhanger, people forget the dense plot information and there’s no recap to get you up to speed.

This is a long book at 416 pages and it reads like it. The story twists and turns, like switchbacks on a winding mountain road. Baldacci’s books are difficult to describe in a few words, but I will say that Walter Nash, is now Dillon, in his physical transformation and new identity, is working to bring down international drug kingpin Victoria Steers and her criminal empire while working directly for her, all the while she’s hellbent on finding and destroying Walter Nash. Steers is vengeful, murdering Nash’s daughter and wrecking his life. From Hong Kong to Myanmar to America, the race is on for Nash to bring Steers down before she finds out his true identity and destroys him.

Baldacci is a master of the high tension, mystery with international implications. He has created a large number of colorful characters who solve grisly murders, bring villains to justice, stop high stakes plots and solve decades old mysteries. There’s no standard Baldacci protagonist, each series has a very different kind of protagonist.

Until a few years ago, Baldacci was in my top three favorite mystery writers. He’s still in my top ten, but I find too much of a template in his writing. Maybe it’s because he churns out a new book every 6-8 months, and these are lengthy books. He’s one of the best at research and taking the reader deep into a locale or explaining a process or technology. What I’m finding less of is genuine characters and synthetic plots.

Hope Rises is good, but not great. Baldacci himself set the bar very high, but he’s having a difficult time reaching it. With each new book, my hope rises…