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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Sean King & Michelle Maxwell are brought into a case where the first lady’s niece disappears. Turns out because the president is the child’s birth father, the kidnapping is an old man’s revenge for the president raping his daughter. I live these characters, and they finally have a real happy ending!
The great thing about David Baldacci's writing is that you don't even know you're hooked until you're so far in, you can't put it down until you KNOW. Camel Club series is still my favorite, but I love all of his books.
The story was interesting. The build up was okay, but like Simple Genius, the ending was sort of rushed and in my opinion wasn't fully developed. Thought the ending was too simple, especially after how long the build up took. Nevertheless, it was a good read. Interesting to see how events of the past come back to haunt one of the main characters.
It will be difficult to convey just how vile this book is without spoilers. However, it is important to do so if only so that this review can reach the largest possible audience and in turn, save some fans of Baldacci from reading this shockingly dreadful garbage.
It's hard to know where to even start. There is the fact that Sean King's character, which had already been retconned between books 1 and 2 in the series, has undergone yet another transformation and is virtually unrecognizable. Or that Michelle Maxwell's character is still underdeveloped. There is the ridiculous continuation of that will they/won't they that underpins the series, but makes no sense because there is zero sexual chemistry between these two very underdeveloped characters. Or that ridiculous Maxwell family backstory that was featured in Simple Genius and brought to its nonsensical conclusion. There is the side plot with Michelle's parents which has such an obvious conclusion that any reader with two brain cells to rub together could have seen it from a mile away.
And then there is the main story which is twice as long as needed to be because, rather than being a King and Maxwell story, we have to switch focus and learn the motivations/backstories/family histories/intimate thoughts of all the ancillary characters. I get that Baldacci likes to paint his villains as complex and sympathetic, but this strategy failed this time around. The story begins the main villain kidnapping a woman and a child. Emphasizing that he is not a racist or rapist is kind of like saying "but Hitler was a vegetarian."
Still, I think the single reason I viscerally hated this book rather than simply not liking the weak plot and bad characters boils down to misogyny. It is in the way the male main villain is treated as sympathetic because of his motivations (which we don't even find out until near the end) despite the real harm he caused to several women in the story (either directly or indirectly) and that the actions of all the other male characters are given a pass/treated as having mitigating circumstances. All the while, the women in the story were portrayed as "sluts" (not my word, thus the quotes) even if they are single or evil and/or they are implicitly simply for being female.
I have read enough Baldacci books that I won't give up on his work entirely, but I can't see myself continuing this series after enduring this steaming pile of hot excrement.
It's hard to know where to even start. There is the fact that Sean King's character, which had already been retconned between books 1 and 2 in the series, has undergone yet another transformation and is virtually unrecognizable. Or that Michelle Maxwell's character is still underdeveloped. There is the ridiculous continuation of that will they/won't they that underpins the series, but makes no sense because there is zero sexual chemistry between these two very underdeveloped characters. Or that ridiculous Maxwell family backstory that was featured in Simple Genius and brought to its nonsensical conclusion. There is the side plot with Michelle's parents which has such an obvious conclusion that any reader with two brain cells to rub together could have seen it from a mile away.
And then there is the main story which is twice as long as needed to be because, rather than being a King and Maxwell story, we have to switch focus and learn the motivations/backstories/family histories/intimate thoughts of all the ancillary characters. I get that Baldacci likes to paint his villains as complex and sympathetic, but this strategy failed this time around. The story begins the main villain kidnapping a woman and a child. Emphasizing that he is not a racist or rapist is kind of like saying "but Hitler was a vegetarian."
Still, I think the single reason I viscerally hated this book rather than simply not liking the weak plot and bad characters boils down to misogyny. It is in the way the male main villain is treated as sympathetic because of his motivations (which we don't even find out until near the end) despite the real harm he caused to several women in the story (either directly or indirectly) and that the actions of all the other male characters are given a pass/treated as having mitigating circumstances. All the while, the women in the story were portrayed as "sluts" (not my word, thus the quotes) even if they are single or evil and/or they are implicitly simply for being female.
I have read enough Baldacci books that I won't give up on his work entirely, but I can't see myself continuing this series after enduring this steaming pile of hot excrement.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes