Divine Justice (Camel Club)
by David Baldacci
|
List Price: Our Price: $0.92 You Save: $27.07 (97%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Divine Justice (Camel Club)
Book Review: Best Camel Club Yet
Summary: 5 Stars
Best Camel Club Yet
David Baldacci writes a superb thriller with Divine Justice. He weaves together 2 very interesting plots into one action packed novel with many twists and turns. The central thesis revolves around the enigmatic John Carr (aka Oliver Stone) and his attempt to escape the dangerous world of Washington Intelligence after he assassinates two prominent government officials. During his travels he accidentally finds himself embroiled in the mysterious activities of a bucolic Virginia town named Divine. One thing leads to another as he finds himself becoming more and more involved in the strange goings on and even stranger local inhabitants. Couple all this with a massive CIA manhunt for Mr. Stone by the "Company's" best "finder" and you have the makings of a very good story. Needless to say all the usual suspects are present, but what makes the story so interesting is not everyone is who they appear to be. The Camel Club eventually arrives in force to help Oliver Stone, and in the hunt by the CIA's finder, Joe Knox, old revelations of Stone's past come to light that somewhat mitigate his actions. Wrapped up in all this is a master CIA spy who has an old score to settle with Stone, and an evil local super-max prison warden who is dealing in drugs. It all comes together in a climatic conclusion with the good guys winning despite taking some sad losses.
Simply a good story with intersecting plots and dynamic characters. This is undoubtedly the best Camel Club story to date as the characters grow into their individual parts.
Character development is good as Mr. Baldacci continues to expand on each main character. With each Camel Club story we learn more and more about this eclectic band of self-styled investigators. With the introduction of some new characters, it will be very interesting to see if and/or where Mr. Baldacci goes next. There are many possibilities and they all seem good.
No gratuitous sex, language, or violence.
Recommended. Simply a good, solid story with 2 interesting plots. I am looking forward to the next Camel Club adventure.
Book Review: "He'd become the most wanted man in America."
Summary: 3 Stars
Baldacci pulls out all the stops in fictional Oliver Stone's continuing contretemps with his nemesis Macklin Hayes, a powerful man who balances between military and civilian intelligence. Stone (aka John Carr), a former member of the Vietnam-era secret killing arm of the Triple Sixes, an elite force, has been on the run for thirty years. Only Stone's closest friends and comrades-in-arms, the Camel Club are aware of his activities. Stone has finally avenged a great injustice, but in so doing has become a marked man. After removing two critical targets in his own government, Stone is on the run, the CIA not far behind. Deftly maneuvering behind the scenes, the ubiquitous Hayes calls on uber-agent Joe Knox to track his quarry, leaving Hayes to deliver the final blow once Stone is brought to ground.
Meanwhile, Stone goes into overdrive, adapting to his environment as he flees the government agents, seeking a place to disappear for a while. His original plan short-circuited by random violence, Stone makes the acquaintance of a young man, Danny Riker, whom he impulsively accompanies into the heart of a small Appalachian mining town, Divine, Virginia. It is in Divine that Stone is confronted by a whole new set of problems, drug-addicted miners, a series of suspicious murders, a high-security prison with a sadistic warden, brother to the town's sheriff and an elaborate criminal operation that will resort to any means to protect its profit.
The plot moves back and forth geographically, from the clandestine operations of the intricate WA spy network to the increasing violence of an insular town whose men are enslaved to the coal mines. The Camel Club's latest adventure to rescue Oliver Stone from certain death requires considerable suspension of belief. But Baldacci writes with his usual brisk pace, bullies and heroes in a never-ending competition for the soul of the free world. Luan Gaines/ 2008.
Book Review: Another good Camel Club thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
The fourth installment of the Camel Club series is a fast paced thriller that shows Baldacci's winning style. If you are a Baldacci fan, I can recommend this novel. If you are not a fan, you will be one after finishing Divine Justice. It is not the best novel of the series, but it is a high quality mystery nonetheless.
The heroes of The Camel Club return their latest adventure, one which may be their last. The action puts all of them into jeopardy, and they find themselves in a series of desperate situations. There is a nation wide manhunt for Oliver Stone, who flees to a small town, only to find himself immersed in anther dangerous mystery there.
The main characters, Oliver Stone and Joe Knox, are flawed but understandable characters, men who don't always do the right thing, but try to act according to their principles. You get to hear their thoughts as one hunts the other, and I found myself caring about both of them, even though they were headed for an inevitable show-down. This element heightens the tension in the story, and made it hard to put the book down. Making Stone seem sympathetic to new readers was a considerable feat for Baldacci, after his main character executes a US senator and the "Head of Intelligence" in the first chapter. Both men admit to themselves that they have broken laws along the way, and they are troubled individuals. The fact that they are often more threatened by their own people than by the bad guys makes the story difficult to put down.
In a rare moment of agreement with Publisher's Weekly, I must admit that this is not Balducci's best effort. Nevertheless, his characters are believable and sympathetic, the action never slows, and the book will hold your interest to the last page. Balducci's lesser novels are better than many author's best.
Book Review: Oliver Stone/John Carr on the Lam
Summary: 3 Stars
If you haven't read the earlier books in this series (The Camel Club, The Collectors, and Stone Cold), stop right here. You will like all of those books much more than this one . . . and you will like this one less than you otherwise would if you start with The Camel Club.
So what's it all about? Oliver Stone (John Carr) has just finished assassinating intelligence chieftain Carter Gray and Senator Roger Simpson as repayment for old and recent wrongs (including the death of Milton Farb, Camel Club member). He knows that he must escape quickly and completely . . . and that the Camel Club will be at risk while he runs. Stone's trail is soon picked up by Joe Knox, with more than a little help (and some stonewalling from shadowy Gray protégé Macklin Hayes).
Stone has paid more attention to getting revenge than he has to his escape. There's a vague plan to head towards New Orleans and to fade into the post-Katrina construction industry. All those plans are changed when Stone interrupts a beating on a train and is threatened with arrest. Quickly leaving the train with the beating victim, Stone decides to follow the man home to Divine, Virginia. Once there, more violence flares and Stone finds himself drawn into the middle of someone else's fight. Much of the rest of the story alternates between the manhunt and Stone's investigation into what's going on in Divine, Virginia. A lot of the suspense in the book involves decisions that the Camel Club members need to make.
Unlike the earlier books in the series, the story line and the characters aren't nearly as compelling. If you plan to stay with the Camel Club series, you'll need to read this book . . . but I doubt if you will like it nearly as much as the others in the series.
Book Review: More of a mystery than a political thriller
Summary: 3 Stars
Characters keep saying he (Oliver Stone) saved my life I owe him everything and with that the reader who has picked this book up without reading the previous books in the series can be left wondering what happened?. It might make you want to read the previous books, but I feel there might be a gap in understanding for those who read this as their first Balducci or `Camel Club' book, they must keep asking themselves what??? What is the camel club and what are the specifics of the glue that holds these characters together.
For much of the novel it seems as if the plot line has split in two - there are the murders of a Senator and a CIA chief ... and then there is the hunt for their killer, who is soon identified as Oliver Stone. Questions crop up in the investigator's mind of the motives and the reasons for the urgency of the hunt for Oliver Stone - this also creates an attention-grabbing air of mystery in the plotline. Then there is the mystery of the strange happenings in the town of Divine. I must admit that I appreciated it when ... Oliver Stone, using the alias of Ben is asked "why are you always there when something happens". When a plotline has this consistently taking place it can... without better reasoning seem so artificial... yes the omnipotent hero Oliver Stone is there to save the day or to witness the unfolding tragedy.
The two plot lines converge together, of course at the end of the book and all is solved with the exception of some questions you still might have, unless you have read the previous books in the series. You might find yourself questioning the why of loyalties or the what is the camel club but that shouldn't deter you from enjoying this as a good `read'