Saving Faith
by David Baldacci

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Book Reviews of Saving Faith

Book Review: Starts Slow, Stays there a While and Ends Hot
Summary: 4 Stars

Somewhere along the way, however, the story line just started to heat up and I really began to like, respect and admire the resourcefulness of Lee Adams. Faith started to come into her own as well. Much later, the true character and mettle of Danny Buchanan comes through, too and I found that I liked him much more by mid-book. By book's end, he had become more heroic and I realized he was truly a principled person.

The book was somewhat formulaic, but it did combine the best of police procedurals, techno-thrillers, spy novels and murder mysteries. Robert Thornhill, the CIA ADDO (assistant Deputy Director of Operations) was a thoroughly despicable character and while some reviewers here thought him too one-dimensional, I must say that I thought he was well-drawn. As a career CIA spy, he had lost sight of the fact that he worked for the U.S. Government and the the government is supposed to be working to protect ALL Americans. Thornhill felt he operated from a sacrosanct position and therefore, the normal rules did not apply to him or the CIA. In that regard, and after all of the truly evil actions he unleashes, he was a well drawn picture of a zealot run amok.

I would have to say that David Baldacci has for me, established a very noticeable pattern in the way he constructs his plotlines. It is my impression that he starts his books slowly, describes the situation, fleshes out his characters and then moves the story along at an ever increasing pace. He has shown considerable skill in building the level of tension while increasing his pacing toward the final denouement. He has shown this facility with all of his novels and yet, I would have to say he did it best with his first novel, ABSOLUTE POWER.

This is one of those books that a reader can pick up and put down. It is also one of those books that are best suited for someone snowed in with no place to go, the cable is out and the reader has few other choices. Don't get me wrong, by book's end, I realized I liked the overall package. It just took a while for that level of appreciation to be realized.

If you pick up this book, stick with it. By book's end, you won't regret it and you'll realize that David Baldacci has had you rooting for Lee Adams, Faith Lockhart and Danny Buchanan for the last 3/4 of the novel.

Summary of Saving Faith

The villain is a classic spy caricature: cold-war CIA super-patriot Robert Thornhill wants to reclaim the glory days of the Central Intelligence Agency--when money flowed like the Mississippi during a flood, and the FBI watched helplessly from the sidelines. Working from his secret underground bunker, he blackmails Danny Buchanan, one of the great Washington lobbyists, to front an enormous bribery scheme that will force Congress to bend to the CIA's whims. But Thornhill's plan springs a leak: Buchanan's assistant Faith Lockhart discovers her boss's dirty dealings, and she intends to expose the whole mess to Thornhill's nemesis, the FBI. Thornhill's associates attempt to assassinate Faith, but their bullet kills her FBI escort instead. Faith finds herself on the run with Lee Adams, a fit-and-trim PI who had been shadowing her at the behest of Buchanan.

If all this sounds a bit confusing, it is at times. Baldacci works hard to keep the tension steadily rising, but it is sometimes difficult to remember why Faith and Lee can't just stop running and go for help. Nevertheless, they are very likable heroes, and Baldacci's depiction of the world of lobbyists and the internecine warfare of the FBI and CIA (complete with state-of-the-art spy gadgets and transmission-proof chambers) elevates the novel with details that can come only from careful research. --Patrick O'Kelley

Political Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Political
• Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue