The Whole Truth
by David Baldacci
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Book Summary Information
Author: David BaldacciEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-22
ISBN: 0446507989
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Reviews of The Whole Truth
Book Review: Waste of a good talent
Summary: 2 Stars
David Baldacci is a good writer but THE WHOLE TRUTH is not a good book. Baldacci made his reputation with books like ABSOLUTE POWER and others set in the Washington D. C./Virginia area, with THE WHOLE TRUTH he leaves his comfort zone far behind and the book suffers as a result.
The basic premise has promise, an international arms dealer wants to start a war enabling him to sell more weapons and reestablish what he views as the natural world order. Unfortunately the arms dealer character is neither original nor convincing and his motives are rather silly as is his life, especially his nearly always nude wife who is referred to almost exclusively as Miss Hottie. Naturally he has a deadly assassin at his beck and call as well as a master manipulator of public opinion neither of which is believable or well developed.
The good guys are no better. The hero is a hulking master of..., well, we don't really know what he's a master of except getting hurt in one way or another all the while remaining stoic, thinking deep thoughts and showing up in the nick of time. Along for the ride is a two time Pulitzer prize winning journalist turned alcoholic now working the obituary beat for a New York newspaper who manages to instantly find her inner Nancy Drew when needed. Oh, and let's not forget the super secret international spy agency run by another cliché, the mysterious manipulator who alternately threatens and supports our stalwart hero depending on which best serves the silly plot at the time.
One of the great clichés of thriller novels is the underdeveloped stereotype characters such as the master assassin and the mysterious spy chief. They serve their purpose I suppose but good thriller writers can make these throw away characters entertaining, scary or at least amusing for the reader but far too often, especially when a writer has a number of books already in print, they begin to all but disappear until it's time for the hero to thwart their latest nefarious act or to just get hit on the head and pass out for awhile. Look at Jack Higgins. He was once gave us great books like THE EAGLE HAS LANDED but has now devolved into the lame Sean Dillon series where every book is exactly the same as the last one down to the number of pages. A writer like Mr. Baldacci has more to offer his readers then that kind of nonsense.
As you can probably deduce by now I did not like this book. I am a great fan of Mr. Baldacci's early work but he started losing me with his Camel Club books and I'm afraid THE WHOLE TRUTH may have ended my interest in his work. It's a shame really as Mr. Baldacci is a good writer, his prose style has an easy flow to it and his pacing is quite good but lately he has tended to go a bit too far with his plots and his characters have been increasingly unbelievable and uninteresting. With the Camel Club it seems as if he signed a deal to produce a certain number of books and that's exactly what he's doing regardless of their quality. Thrillers with silly plots are nothing new and they can be quite entertaining if the other elements of the story (characters, actions scenes, local color, sex, etc.) divert the reader's attention so that the plot failings don't get in the way of the fun (think Clive Cussler, his plots couldn't be much sillier but his books are always entertaining). THE WHOLE TRUTH has nothing to take the reader's mind off the $26.99 cover price.
I would say to Mr. Baldacci that although his books sell well it does not mean that they are actually good. My advice is to sit back, take a deep breath and read his own early novels to see what he can do and get back to what he does well before he becomes another Jack Higgins. The rest will take care of itself.
As for THE WHOLE TRUTH, skip it; don't even let yourself be tempted at an airport bookstand where the only choices are Danielle Steel's latest, something about vampires and something with Donald Trump on the cover. Well, okay, if it's a choice between Danielle Steel, vampires, Donald Trump and THE WHOLE TRUTH, give it a try, it's not really THAT bad....
Summary of The Whole Truth
"Dick, I need a war."Nicolas Creel is a man on a mission. He heads up the world's largest defense contractor, The Ares Corporation. Dick Pender is the man Creel retains to "perception manage" his company to even more riches by manipulating international conflicts. But Creel may have an even grander plan in mind.
Shaw, a man with no first name and a truly unique past, has a different agenda. Reluctantly doing the bidding of a secret multi-national intelligence agency, he travels the globe to keep it safe and at peace.
Willing to do anything to get back to the top of her profession, Katie James is a journalist who has just gotten the break of a lifetime: the chance to interview the sole survivor of a massacre that has left every nation stunned.
In this terrifying, global thriller, these characters' lives will collide head-on as a series of events is set in motion that could change the world as we know it. An utterly spellbinding story that feels all too real, THE WHOLE TRUTH delivers all the twists and turns, emotional drama, unforgettable characters, and can't-put-it-down pacing that readers expect from David Baldacci-and still goes beyond anything he's written before.
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