THE FORGOTTEN by David Baldacci

Finished Su 10/28/18

This is a paperback that Janny loaned to me the last time that Joe and Janny visited Westview for pizza.

A crackling plot-line, and the writing is better than Lee Child, but not as good as Michael Connelly or Greg Iles.

The title refers to the abject poor of the world. The central theme of the novel is the smuggling of people. They are even color-coded; 'Green' for future prostitutes, 'Red' for common laborers, 'Blue' for drug mules. Obviously, 'Labor' is a major cost to business and slave labor is very enticing to their bottom line. Modern day slavers might be the next illegal Big Business that will become more lucrative than the drugs or that it will become a major part of the business; smuggle drugs AND smuggle people.

John Puller is on leave from a major case that he has solved for the Army, CID. The details of this case are not in the novel, and Puller is probably a character in a Baldacci series.

NOTE: There are four books in the Puller series. 'THE FORGOTTEN' is book #2.


Puller's father is a retired three star general who is suffering from the initial stages of dementia. He has received a strange letter from his sister. John Puller was basically raised by his father's sister. Nothing is mentioned about what happened to his real mother.

John Puller travels to Paradise, FL. to contact his Aunt Betsy, his father's sister. She has drowned in her reflecting pool. It's called an accident, but Puller thinks it might be murder.

A parallel plot involves Mecho, a giant of a man from Bulgaria. Late in the novel it's revealed that his sister had been kidnapped by these modern day slavers.

The slaves are imprisoned on an abandoned drilling platform in the Gulf. Mecho was rounded up by the slavers, but he easily swims to the Florida shore. He witnesses two people, a couple, shot in the head and pulled back into the bay.

The reason that this couple, Puller's aunt, and her neighbor were murdered is that these people witnessed the staging area on the beach where the slaves were brought in from the off-shore drilling stations.

Mr. Lampert is the richest man in the area and lives in the largest mansion. He is the brains behind the entire smuggling operation. His partner is a ruthless man from Columbia, Rojas. This man is not caught, but he's always been in the sights of the authorities.

Murdoch is a woman living on Lampert's compound. She is his mistress, but also is a south american agent working to stop the slaving operation.

Landry is a female cop from Paradise. She is actually working for Lampert, but in the beginning she is presented as a possible love interest for Puller.

Carson is a female one star general and a close friend of Puller's. He contacts her on the phone for information about his aunt, and Carson soon comes to Florida to help him. She's on leave or vacation.

THE BIG SHOOT-OUT- Landry, Puller, Carson, and Landry take a Rigid Inflatable Rubber Boat (RIB boat) to the drilling station (during a hurricane) to free the slaves. It's a big military style operation, and they win.

The Big Reveal is that Landry is shown to be working for the bad guys, and Puller had loaded her gun with blanks so that she wouldn't work against-kill- the good guys.

Although Mecho never finds his sister, he does convince Puller that Lampert can be smuggled back to Bulgaria and face charges there. He will be worked like a slave for the rest of his life.

There were various fights at Puller's hotel with a local gang. Puller is always able to take out a half dozen of them with little or no effort. In one case, Mecho is his next door neighbor (they didn't know each other) and Mecho took out two gang members that Puller hadn't counted on.