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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
I didn't love this. I really enjoy Baldacci, but this was 1) not believable as a story when it comes to the behavior of the president/first lady/secret service and 2) the two parallel stories were very awkward to read. To be honest, I kinda just wanted this one to end.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was very suspensful. It took a long time to unravel the mystery, but all the loose ends were wrapped up.
Great thriller. Fantastic plot twists. And well developed, interesting characters. Even the bad ones are three-dimensional.
The storytelling and editing were cranked up a notch compared to the earlier books in the series. Excellent plot and chacterization.
Very good read.
Very good read.
Sam Quarry is one of the most sympathetic antagonists I've come across in mystery/crime/thriller/suspense literature. Such a worthy opponent for the First Family as well as King and Maxwell. Hard to root against him once the reader finds out the reasons for his attempted revenge.
The plot drags occasionally, but probably by necessity due to needing to understand every character's role in it. I'm not a big fan of Maxwell as a hero, but maybe after this book she'll get her act together and not be so "loose cannonish."
Without a doubt, Baldacci's a master.
The plot drags occasionally, but probably by necessity due to needing to understand every character's role in it. I'm not a big fan of Maxwell as a hero, but maybe after this book she'll get her act together and not be so "loose cannonish."
Without a doubt, Baldacci's a master.
Once I started reading the King and Maxwell series I just couldn't stop myself from completing it. just finished the fourth in the series. 2 more to go. My understanding of the book can be found at https://thoughtsofvenus.wordpress.com/2021/01/27/king-and-maxwell-series-by-david-baldacci-iv/
4.5 stars
I continue to really enjoy this series - it may be replacing Will Robie as my favorite David Bladacci series with this book! First Family was unexpected in a lot of ways and left me eager for more.
The primary mystery of this book revolved around the kidnapping of the first lady's eldest niece. We actually get the point of view of the kidnapper, so the question isn't who did it (although Sean and Michelle are working to solve that mystery) but for us the question is why. And I was stumped until pretty much the reveal. It also really had me confused on who exactly I was rooting for and left me with conflicted feelings about one character (although not on the bad guys... which who that is was a bit more complex than initially appeared).
Secondarily, Michelle's past is catching up to her along with a mystery to solve with a family tragedy that occurs in the middle of the investigation. I was hoping she would face this past sooner than later and I was really happy with how it was handled. I was even happier with how moving forward finally seems to have opened space for the relationship between Michelle and Sean to grow from friendship and partners to a romantic one. We'll have to see how that develops in future books, but I'm excited!
I listened to First Family, narrated by Ron McLarty. His narration and delivery of voices works really well for me. He does solid female voices, which isn't always the case with male narrators. And I've found that all David Baldacci's audio books have a really great sound production in general (at least all I've read so far), so I always enjoy listening to them at my normal 2x speed.
I continue to really enjoy this series - it may be replacing Will Robie as my favorite David Bladacci series with this book! First Family was unexpected in a lot of ways and left me eager for more.
The primary mystery of this book revolved around the kidnapping of the first lady's eldest niece. We actually get the point of view of the kidnapper, so the question isn't who did it (although Sean and Michelle are working to solve that mystery) but for us the question is why. And I was stumped until pretty much the reveal. It also really had me confused on who exactly I was rooting for and left me with conflicted feelings about one character (although not on the bad guys... which who that is was a bit more complex than initially appeared).
Secondarily, Michelle's past is catching up to her along with a mystery to solve with a family tragedy that occurs in the middle of the investigation. I was hoping she would face this past sooner than later and I was really happy with how it was handled. I was even happier with how moving forward finally seems to have opened space for the relationship between Michelle and Sean to grow from friendship and partners to a romantic one. We'll have to see how that develops in future books, but I'm excited!
I listened to First Family, narrated by Ron McLarty. His narration and delivery of voices works really well for me. He does solid female voices, which isn't always the case with male narrators. And I've found that all David Baldacci's audio books have a really great sound production in general (at least all I've read so far), so I always enjoy listening to them at my normal 2x speed.