"True Blue"

by David Baldacci

Mr. Baldacci is an author on my auto-buy list so it could be I’m a bit biased and may have expected too much.

The primary thread was a bit difficult to follow and it was way too long to devour in a single evening. Some I found to be a bit too far-fetched to be believable.

In True Blue we meet sisters Beth and Mace Perry and attorney Roy Kingman. Beth Perry is the DC Chief of Police and Mace's older sister who's father was a Defense attorney who got shot in the face when the girls were teens. Mace Perry, the younger sister, is a disgraced police officer looking to clear her name. Roy Kingman is an attorney in a high profile law firm who was going about his Monday morning business until he finds a murdered coworker and gets caught up in Mace’s plan to get reinstated to the DC police force. Of course nothing is what it appears on the surface in a Baldacci thriller and pretty soon it begins to be a wild ride through government corruption. A seemingly simple murder turns into a government money laundering scheme dealing with some big, bad overseas players and sanctioned by those in some of the highest offices in our nation.

While it’s a highly captivating read, I will admit that it requires some suspension of belief (an ex-cop on parole and a lawyer who is a suspect in the murder break the law repeatedly in order to help solve the case). Baldacci helps us believe the yarn through his realistic and compelling depiction of a DC not thought about by most—a tough and gritty neighborhood where even cops tread carefully and crimes are committed out in the open streets. It’s DC like you’ve never thought of it before

In the end, this novel is an interesting read that may appeal to anyone who enjoys government conspiracies, mind-bending twists, and a somewhat sociopathic, rough-and-tumble heroine with a basketball-playing easily manipulated attorney (WHAT?!) counterpart.

As a note, this text does contain a lot of PG-13 language, enough so that I stopped counting. The usage fits the characters, but readers that are sensitive to this will not want to pick up this novel. Also, the murder in the book also involves evidence of rape, which is spoken about in a graphic medical fashion which may be offensive to some readers.

Reviewed by Nan Sevic

"Simple Genius"

by David Baldacci

An earlier review (by Nanc) of David Baldacci’s “Stone Cold” prompted me to read and enjoy it. I’ve just now finished a second of his novels, “Simple Genius”, and here are my thoughts on it.

It has a promising premise (ain’t alliterations great?): a suspicious death in a semi-secret Manhattan project-like compound is being investigated by the two protagonists and a psychotherapist compatriot. The complex is working on the development of quantum computer/encryption technology, and is a river’s width across from a secret-secret C.I.A. installation. Much of the novel’s content involves the interaction among the characters of both facilities.

The characterization is rich albeit not too deep. One of the protagonists, Michelle, is suicidally neurotic and the other, Sean, is alternately bewildered and heroic. Beyond them we have a crew of mathematical and computer geniuses, a caricaturish C.I.A militarist, his neglected, wandering wife, a hippy psychologist, a redneck sheriff who always seems over his head, a wise old rural newspaper publisher with a lust for a Pulitzer, and an idiot-savant young girl who can factor prime numbers faster than super computers. I enjoyed his choice of names: the complex is “Babbage Town” and the initial corpse is “Turing”.

Of course, Baldacci continues leaving us wonder who the evil-doers are; obviously no one is probably as they seem.

So I found the book fascinating up until the final chapters. It was here that it morphed into a typical thriller movie scenario complete with hidden tunnels and treasure, boat and airplane chases, and lethal exchanges (martial arts, gunfire, rockets, grenades, etc). I realize that most contemporary novels are written with movie rights in mind, but I miss the old gatherings in Wolfe’s study with Archie and Nero confronting the killer in the presence of all the suspects – Miss Scarlet in the library with a wrench.

Review by Ken West

"Stone Cold"

by David Baldacci

I read the first instalment of David Baldacci's "Camel Club" series and was not overly impressed. It was tedious and the plotting was mediocre at best. I skipped the second novel in the series and, for reasons unknown, picked up the third.

Wow! Can this guy write! The characters are more fleshed out, the plot is one surprising twist after another and the climax is anti-climax followed by a smashing finale. I really, truly did stay awake all night to finish this.

Oliver Stone is a former CIA assassin living in the nation's capitol, making sure the Republic is kept out of evil hands. Having lived in a tent in Lafayette Park across from the White House for several years, Stone now lives in cemetery caretaker's cottage. (Oliver Stone, by the way, is an alias and the play on the conspiracist director is deliberate.) Assisting Stone in his gargantuan task is the Camel Club, three other misfits, Reuben Rhodes, Milton Farber and Caleb Shaw. Joining them is a con artist on the run, Annabelle Conroy, the youngest of the lot. At one time, all of them were forces to be reckoned with, now they are ageing has-beens.

In less capable hands, this cast of characters would be unbelievable. In fact, in the first novel, they were unbelievable. But Baldacci has refined them, each and everyone, to the point where they do indeed appear perfectly capable of meeting the challenges that face them, not as supermen, but as friends bound to one another and willing to sacrifice themselves for their friends.

Threats abound. Annabelle ripped off a ruthless casino owner, Jerry Bagger, for $40 million and he is seeking revenge. At the same time, Harry Finn, a threat assessment analyst contracted to various government agencies, is killing off retired CIA assassins, who murdered his father, a former US Intelligence spy. Add to the mix the villainous Carter Gray, director of the CIA and Senator Simpson, who used to be Stone's CIA superiors, and you have a very, very busy novel of close calls, danger, thrills and suspense.

Baldacci brings it off without missing a beat. The characters, as noted above have the essence of "real". They have fears. They make mistakes. They do brave things. (And, of course, they are fortunately lucky.) Baldacci's plotting is magnificient. He pulls rabbits out of hats and you do indeed believe that there was a rabbit in that hat.

Balducci lards "Stone Cold" with an array of fascinating facts and factoids. (Did you know, for instance, that the staff of a United States Senator has 20,000 square feet of office space a piece? Do you have any idea of how much that costs taxpayers?) These facts all play a part in the story and my hat is off for the way Baldacci pulls it off.

The plots and sub-plots are easy to keep clear and things move enjoyably quickly. The climax turns out to be anti-climatic and Baldacci goes on to end the book with a (forgive me) bang.

Review by Nan Sevic