The Last Mile was published by Grand Central Publishing in 2016. Melvin Mars, a former college football star, has spent twenty years on death row for the murder of his parents. Hours before his execution, another man confesses to the crime — then is found murdered himself. The FBI’s newly formed task force (to which Decker has been recruited) takes the case.
Decker’s investigation reveals that Mars was framed — elaborately, expensively, by people with resources and motives that reach back decades. The case connects to Mars’s father’s past, to a crime committed before Melvin was born, and to powerful people who need the original conviction to stand.
Baldacci uses the wrongful-conviction thriller to explore race in the American justice system: Mars is Black, and his conviction — based on circumstantial evidence and an inadequate defense — exemplifies the systemic failures that disproportionately imprison Black men. Decker, whose perfect memory prevents him from applying the shortcuts and biases that lead to wrongful convictions, serves as the ideal investigator for a case where the system deliberately looked away.
Collecting The Last Mile
First edition (Grand Central Publishing, New York, 2016): Hardcover with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $12–$25
- Very good/very good: $6–$12