On the night of the State Dinner honouring the British Prime Minister, Oliver Stone witnesses an explosion as the motorcade leaves the White House. A bomb has been detonated in what looks like a terrorist plot directed at the President and the Prime Minister.
In the aftermath, British MI5 agent Mary Chapman, an experienced, lethal operative with an agenda of her own, is sent to help and coordinate the investigation alongside American authorities.
Stone, together with Harry Finn, Alex Ford and the rest of the Camel Club, is drawn into the inquiry. But everything is not what it seems, and what happened in the park may not have been the actual plan. It seems the mysterious attackers had another target in their sights, and it’s up to the Camel Club to stop them, or face the catastrophic results.
– Synopsis from goodreads
This is the fifth book in David Baldacci’s The Camel Club crime series. I haven’t read the other Camel Club books but I found this thriller very interesting and I may even pick up the earlier books in the series to find out the back story of the people in this book.
The book does start off wooden. I think it’s a Baldacci trademark. Most of his books are boring for the first 50-200 pages, they then sometimes take off and make a really enjoyable thriller, and sometimes they don’t.
This one works though. It’s a truly thrilling book with something happening almost on each page. There are red herrings galore to fool us and the lead investigating pair.
The plot gets more and more ludicrous as the story lurches from one manufactured crisis to the other. I think this book might have actually done a lot better with maybe one or two fewer plot twists and a less contrived climax at a place called Murder Mountain, no joke. The name actually reminded me of Enid Blyton’s adventure books I read as a child :D.
In spite of these drawbacks though, I liked the book. I enjoyed reading it and it is enjoyable whether read standalone or as part of a series. It probably works because of the very likable members of the Camel Club and the relationships they share with each other.
All in all, it’s a good, solid thriller and worked very well as a filler between the more serious (and tougher) books that I am reading currently.
I started to write an essay about this book and it seems it’s harder than I expected. And I feel I need help to write it. But overall the book is interesting and thrilling.
It sounds like – after the first 50-200 pages *gasp* – Baldacci’s books head off in all kinds of crazy directions, and the many plot twists won’t give the reader a moment of boredom. Have you read any other books by David Baldacci? (I haven’t) Is there anyone else you would compare him too, aside of the author of the Enid Blyton books?
@Chinoiseries: If I have to compare, I would say his books are better quality James Patterson. They are both in the bestseller thriller space.
When he makes an effort with his books, he is really good, but sometimes, he tends to sleepwalk through them, and those are just bad. So, yeah, he is very hit or miss.