The Whole Truth
by David Baldacci
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Book Reviews of The Whole Truth
Book Review: A Powerful Global Adventure!
Summary: 5 Stars
Nicholas Creel wants to control the world and if all goes according to plan, he just might. Creel owns the world's largest defense contractor, Ares Corporation, and he will do anything to protect the future of his company. Creel hires perception manager Dick Pender to pull off the largest media, political, and international conflict scam imaginable. With careful manipulation of internet blogs, news feeds, and viral online videos, Pender sets in motion a series of events that will end with two of the world's superpowers on the brink of all out war. As both sides respond in acquiring more firepower, Creel moves in to make the sale ensuring long-term stability for his company.
Meanwhile, a man named Shaw finds himself smack in the middle of Creel's deadly game when he loses a loved one in the crossfire of this fabricated global conflict. Fueled by rage, Shaw embarks on a quest for truth using his black-ops training to hunt down those responsible. Along the way, he befriends American reporter Katie James who helps him realize that all is not as it seems. Together they will uncover a shocking truth with staggering global implications.
David Baldacci graces us with a powerful global adventure that is as frightening as it is compelling. The story unfolds at a brisk pace as Baldacci weaves a multitude of characters and locations together giving us all sides of this brilliant tale. The action is relentless and the suspense steadily builds in intensity as we are reminded of a very possible reality that is alarming to say the least. Baldacci reveals just how easy it is to manipulate the media and the internet to cause the public to believe a lie. I really hope Baldacci is way off on this one, but something tells me he's not. What a fantastic story! What an unsettling truth! This is another intriguing offering from Baldacci that cannot be missed.
Book Review: Another tautly plotted page-turner
Summary: 5 Stars
Suppose you have just learned that a terrible massacre has taken place in, say, a remote region of the former Soviet Union. Chaos has ensued, and citizens the world over feverishly speculate on the forces behind it - Al Queda? The CIA? Mossad? Would you question the veracity of the news? What if the event was fabricated by forces unknown? How would you know?
If managing the public's perception of events seems farfetched, consider this: In April 2008, the Pentagon was forced to admit that since 2002, it had engaged in a campaign to generate favorable media coverage of the administration's wartime performance by cultivating retired senior military officers to serve as analysts. In thousands of t.v. and radio appearances, many of these analysts - armed with talking points from the Pentagon - spouted the Administration's views on Iraq, Afghanistan, detainee issues and terrorism, even when the analysts suspected the information was false or inflated. (Internal Pentagon documents called the analysts "message force multipliers" who could be counted on to deliver the administration's messages.) In return, these analysts - most of whom have ties to military contractors - were given access to classified information. How many among us questioned their statements? To what extent does the Pentagon "manage" our perceptions about the war on terrorism?
In his latest tautly plotted page-turner, rife with well-formed characters and non-stop action, David Baldacci forces us to think about perception versus reality, and to consider the consequences of failing to distinguish between the two. Given that news of the Pentagon's perception management efforts came to light just as The Whole Truth was published, you have to wonder if maybe Baldacci knows something that the rest of us don't.
Book Review: Perception vs. Reality- A Post-Modern Story
Summary: 5 Stars
"Every country in the world today faces the danger of being terrorized by technology..." Albert Speer Inside the Third Reich (1970)
Hitler's architect and Minister of Armaments could not have foreseen in 1970 how quickly the technology of mass communications would evolve from radio, television and telephone into instant world wide personal and mass communications. The "Perception Manager," a postmodern craftsman whose tools are cutting edge information technologies, keeps his true identity lurking deeply behind strings of code. The mission of this manipulator is clear-make make perception reality and earn erroneous sums in the process.
If the created perceptions get instilled deep enough into the consciousness of the intended audience, it will make little difference if they represent a partial truth or a whole lie. What matters are the results.
Even Albert Speer would have recoiled from the megalomaniacal technological ambitions that David Baldacci reveals in The Whole Truth. To drum up profits, an arms merchant commissions a virtual gambit, an Internet scam whose ambition is to rekindle the Cold War.
Against this evil array we have Shaw. We don't know much about Shaw except he is a stone cold killer and his work for the good guys is mostly involuntary, at least until it becomes personal. Shaw is as much a man of mystery as Baldacci's other great protagonist Oliver Stone. Yet he is younger, and thus more physical and less cerebral than the Camel Club leader.
This is an incredible and chilling tale. It is one you will not easily put down or forget. With any luck, you may never look at information the same way again.
Book Review: Four and a half stars...
Summary: 4 Stars
I was reluctant to purchase David Baldacci's The Whole Truth as some of his most recent books have been lacking in quality. Fortunately, this latest book reminds me of his earlier and better works.
Nicholas Creel owns a defense contracting business called Ares. In an effort to bolster sales, he hires Dick Pender whose specialty is perception management. Perception managers fabricate facts and then pass them off to the public as truth. "Why waste time trying to discover the truth, when you can so easily create it?" Pender hatches a scheme to create an international incident that will result in a number of superpowers on the verge of war. These countries will then increase their defense spending and order weapons and equipment from Ares.
Part of the scheme is called "The Red Menace." Pender and staff are planting false stories about the Russians in the news and over the internet. Several people suspect that these stories are false, including journalist Kate James, consultant Anna Fischer and operative A. Shaw. In usual thriller fashion, the closer they get to the truth, the more dangerous their lives become. How The Whole Truth unfolds will have you turning pages at breakneck speed.
Baldacci is good in that he incorporates many present day current events to make The Whole Truth very realistic. While almost all thrillers have an element of disbelief, you can actually imagine many of these situations taking place.
I am happy that Baldacci took a break from his Camel Club series and has given us something totally new. The Whole Truth is the kind of book that I have come to expect from Baldacci. Overall, I'd rate it four and a half stars.
Book Review: The Whole Truth will leave readers gasping...
Summary: 5 Stars
I admit I have read rumors on the internet and rushed to email the comments or link to acquaintances, only to later find out it was a hoax. By then it was too late; I had unknowingly assisted in a smear campaign. I had contacted 10 or more who had contacted 10 or more yada, yada, yada. Suddenly millions have false information. The internet can be a person's best friend or worse enemy. The Presidential Candidates can attest to the inaccuracy of the information on the web. It is impossible to discern truth from fiction.
David Baldacci uses this premise for his latest novel The Whole Truth. A video surfaces on the internet. A Russian male, "He warned that while the world had focused on the Osama bin Ladens of the world for so long, the old evil, with a destructive force a million times greater than the combined Islamic renegades, was clearly back, and deadlier than ever." A mushroom cloud followed the audio warning. The Russian president rushed to issue a denial, but the world would not listen. The largest defense contractor in the world needed orders. A war was the answer to their problems.
There is a frightening hint of reality to this plot. I keep asking myself, "What if?" It is easy to imagine this actually happening. The plot could have been ripped from the headlines. David Baldacci has another winner! His fans have come to expect a high standard, and once again, he has raised the bar. The Whole Truth is a deep action-packed thriller. The characters are well-developed. The plot builds to a crescendo that will leave readers gasping. Intrigue, action, and drama, The Whole Truth, takes readers on the ride of their life.