King and Maxwell Author: Visit Amazon's David Baldacci Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1455521310 | Format: PDF
King and Maxwell Description
Review
"Baldacci has crafted another terrific tale with two great protagonists. Just when the story line seems to veer into familiar areas, Baldacci steers it into another shocking direction. This is the best book yet in the series."—
Associated Press"David Baldacci's latest thriller is not only highly relevant, it is also well timed. And the details seem so real that it's hard not to wonder if the author is an insider; the tone is that authentic. An absolute page-turner, KING AND MAXWELL is Baldacci at the pinnacle of his game."—
BookReporter.com"King and Maxwell is a great starting place if you haven't read this Baldacci series. Once you're done with this one, you'll be so curious...that you probably will read them all."—
Omaha World-Herald"King and Maxwell continues to push the plot envelope, raising the stakes both structurally and emotionally . . . Nobody gets you turning the pages better than Baldacci and he's at the height of his powers here. A wondrously constructed and rivetingly told tale."—
Providence Sunday JournalAbout the Author
David Baldacci lives with his family in Virginia. He and his wife have founded the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. He invites you to visit him at www.david-baldacci.com and his foundation at www.wishyouwellfoundation.org.
- Series: King & Maxwell
- Hardcover: 432 pages
- Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1st Printing edition (November 19, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1455521310
- ISBN-13: 978-1455521319
- Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Once again David Baldacci shows that he is a consummate author of popular thrillers in a page-turning adventure featuring two of his most popular characters, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell - former Secret Service agents turned private investigators. This book will undoubtedly become a pre-Christmas bestseller.
King and Maxwell are driving through a storm when they nearly hit a teenage boy, Tyler Wingo, wandering the highway in the dark. They find that he has fled his nearby home after hearing that his father has been killed in Afghanistan. When they take him home it is clear that Tyler is on his own as there is no love lost with his stepmother.
Next day Tyler contacts them directly and hires them to find out more about his father's death. He tells them he is concerned because he has been told by the Army that there will be no casket as his father's remains are not recognisable. What Tyler doesn't tell them is that he has received a carefully worded email with a coded message from his father - sent after the time he was said to have been killed.
King and Maxwell start to uncover an international incident that begins with the loss of an unknown cargo of 4,800 lbs (what could this be?) in a remote part of Afghanistan and the disappearance of Tyler's father. They discover a cover-up that implicates the Pentagon and even higher and become part of a chase to find Tyler's father, uncover the truth and the conspirators. The chase will put their lives at risk many times and claim many lives before it ends in a deadly showdown .
In this book Baldacci explores the special relationship between Sean and Michelle, and Sean's reaction when she was in hospital with serious gunshot wounds from their last adventure.
I've read a few reviews here, and I'd like to respond to the people who say you should read the earlier books, as well. This is the first of this series I've read, and I think he did a good job of referencing the backstory, but not making anything dependent upon it.
There are four main things I really disliked about this book.
The first is the author's technique of being too cute. Instead of letting the mystery unfold in a natural way, he would do things like have the narrator deliberately withhold information. "Somebody texted something". The narrator would say that someone was doing something, but pointedly not say what it was. I consider that really sloppy writing, and very irritating, and it put me in a bad mood, to the point that I was looking for faults after that had occurred three or four times.
The second thing that I found really dismaying was how the whole crux of the story revolved around being friends with a computer genius that in a few minutes or hours could crack into anything anywhere, and who is available at the drop of a hat for however long they want to use him. That is completely unrealistic. It's up there with having superman come in and bend the Bad Guys gun barrels into a U. [Reference to 1950s TV, if it's before your time.]
The third thing I disliked was the dialogue. It was the kind of dialog you would see inked into an adventure comic book.
The fourth thing is how very unlikely it is that the opening scene would really happen - that any official agency would send that kind of cargo across hostile territory in the care of one person, armed as poorly as this was purported to be.
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