The Whole Truth
by David Baldacci
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Book Reviews of The Whole Truth
Book Review: James Bond meets Jason Bourne
Summary: 3 Stars
In, The Whole Truth, Nicolas Creel, an international arms dealer slash world philanthropist, creates conflicts to fuel the demand for his products: weapons of mass destruction. When Creel targets Russia with a smear campaign, things start to get ugly.
On the flip side of the coin, to keep out of prison, Baldacci's hero, Shaw, a man with a shady past and a reluctant future, does the bidding of a multinational intelligence agency. When Shaw's fiancé is murdered by Creel's henchmen Shaw vows to get even.
Likeable yet recycled characters that lacked consistency and a familiar plot - megalomaniac wanting to control the world - almost ruined this story for me. In addition, portions of the book are stricken with the Talking Head Syndrome with information filtering through the point of view of no perceivable character, coming only from the author.
In spite of all of this, I found myself wanting to continue reading the book to see how it all turned out. And in the end that's what it's all about... I think.
-- Bob Avey, author of Twisted PerceptionThe Whole Truth
Book Review: Warning to Fellow Readers
Summary: 1 Stars
I normally read 2 to 3 books a month for relaxation, accumulated post college for the past 45 years. This is the first time I have ever submitted written comments on a book. This is not a review, however I feel it is my duty to write a warning to fellow readers not to waste your time or money on this novel.
The action scenes in "The Whole Truth" might appeal to a sub adolescent comic book reader, but they are are so ridiculously contrived and implausible that they are insulting to the average reader. They get worse with each chapter, right through to the end. I believe in some degree of writer's license for entertainment sake, but this book takes it to a childish level, repeatedly.
The topic of perception management is definitely a valid subject which needs exposure, however the plot of this book is sadly very weak in believability, and the organizations and characters in the story have little or no foundation, and the dialog is downright silly. I cannot believe this book was actually published.
I enjoyed Baldacci's first novel "Absolute Power", but the following Camel Club series became very repetitive, so it has been all downhill, now seemingly arriving at the bottom.
Book Review: A Partially Good Book
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoyed "The Whole Truth" despite its many shortcomings. The villain is your typical flat James Bond movie bad guy who has unlimited resources and wants to shape the world into something he believes will be more stable and lucrative.
To make this world a reality he creates an internet hoax dubbed The Red Menace that brings the activities of Russia and China into question and he watches the media hoard whip everyone into a frenzy.
The best element of "The Whole Truth" is the protagonist, Shaw, who is essentially a human weapon being used by a covert U.S. agency to do the dirty work that needs to be done internationally. Shaw has fallen in love and wants to get out of the special ops business. Of course Shaw ends up battling the people behind The Red Menace.
Though this novel was good enough that it reminded me a little of "The Bourne Identity" I can't wholeheartedly recommend "The Whole Truth" because of the giant leaps of intuition, the fortunate coincidences, and so many situations that strain credibility. If the reader has problems with that kind of schlock then "The Whole Truth" should probably be skipped.
Book Review: A James Bond look alike
Summary: 4 Stars
Another reviewer suggested that this book is akin to a James Bond story and, yes, I agree, but it's such a fast, good read that it's fun. Set the scene with a multi billionaire on his own luxury yacht, down in the bowels of which is his private submarine in which he may come and go unseen. The central character is named Shaw and is a secret operative for a government agency, fighting crime. When Shaw becomes engaged to marry a brilliant and beautiful woman who works for a Hong Kong based company which employs only exceptionally clever people to act as a think tank for world problems, he tries to leave his very dangerous occupation to lead a normal life with her. His employer refuses to allow him to leave until he has carried out another mission to prevent the possibility of WW3. Multi billionaire, Nicholas Creel, head of the armament company, Ares Corporation, is planning to create suspicion between China and Russia, in order to sell massive amounts of arms and to keep the world in a state of Cold War. Yes, it's quite a Bond story but one which I found to be a good, exciting read with danger, murder, spectacular fights, beautiful girls and hunky heroes!Book Review: David's finest work
Summary: 5 Stars
This book gets several five stars ratings though I have to only give it four stars in the international aspect. I never really felt like I was Dublin or London or on the Mediterranean. It gets ten stars for timing, and five stars for importance and entertainment.
It is usually hard to be highly entertaining and important at the same time. Clive Cussler is the master of entertainment but he hardly tries to educate or sound alarms. "House of War" and "The Creature from Jekyll Island" are extremely important but hardly entertaining.
This book is easily worth several hundred dollars but I can't hardly do it justice right now because the Bushbarians and the perception managers drove me to drink.
While the author laments on the fact that bloggers often don't double check facts, he overlooks the fact that the Pentagon did the same thing until Reagan gave them the desired budget. The USSR had four ICBMs during the 50's 'missile gap'. There was a missile gap alright. Kennedy went on the air encouraging Americans to dig a nuclear bomb shelter in their back yards. Administrations running with unconfirmed information is hardly new.