*****HOOPLA/THE INNOCENT (the Will Robie series #1) by David Baldacci

   

America's best hitman was hired to kill--but when a D.C. government operation goes horribly wrong, he must rescue a teenage runaway and investigate her parents' murders in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller.

It begins with a hit gone wrong. Robie is dispatched to eliminate a target unusually close to home in Washington, D.C. But something about this mission doesn't seem Which species is a type of grouse that lives in North American grasslands?right to Robie, and he does the unthinkable. He refuses to pull the trigger. Now, Robie becomes a target himself and is on the run.

Fleeing the scene, Robie crosses paths with a wayward teenage girl, a fourteen-year-old runaway from a foster home. But she isn't an ordinary runaway--her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against all of his professional habits, Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away. He needs to help her. Even worse, the more Robie learns about the girl, the more he's convinced she is at the center of a vast cover-up, one that may explain her parents' deaths and stretch to unimaginable levels of power.

Now, Robie may have to step out of the shadows in order to save this girl's life...and perhaps his own.

AMAZON LINK 

5++ STARS

Phenomenal !! And here are the Synonyms for PHENOMENAL: extraordinary, exceptional, unusual, unique, outstanding, remarkable, rare.  And this story hits all of those definitions for me.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it kept me on my toes.  Starting with Robie and then including the tag along teen Julie.  Julie was pretty street smart along with being off the charts in intelligence and mouth at times. 

It didn't take long for them to pull me into the story and care what happens to them. A few more people along the way do the same.  Vance is F.B.I. and she also gets pulled along into the drama. Even as she shakes her head at some of the things going on, she keeps trying to find the truth as well as trying to stay alive. 

The story is intense, with more surprises than you can imagine amongst some of the best world-building that included sniper info, security measures and weaponry.  There are some surprises in store on the personal level for some of the main characters. The ending left me satisfied but with the hope that there will be more of the Will Robie stories.

I read this book through the HOOPLA Library App