5 Great Books by David Baldacci
So many books, so little time—it’s a stark truth for any book lover to face. With a “to-read” list several spreadsheets deep, there are hundreds of authors I can’t wait to try, and I’m sure you’re in the same boat. Some of mine are even highly prolific bestsellers that everyone else has read (cough James Patterson cough).
If David Baldacci is one such author on your list, you really owe it to yourself to give him a try. Since his debut in 1996 with the political thriller Absolute Power (later turned into a film by Clint Eastwood), Baldacci has penned an astonishing 28 novels, and specializes in the kind of tense cat-and-mouse suspense yarns that will keep you reading late into the night. His latest, The Target, was released last month.
If you’re looking for a good place to start with the author, check out the 5 suggestions below.
The Innocent
This 2012 release was the first starring Baldacci’s newest character, a hardened hit man named Will Robie who takes contracts from the U.S. government. After refusing his latest assignment, he becomes a target himself, and his story quickly gets mixed up with the fate of an orphaned teenage girl.
Split Second
In the first of a six-book run, Baldacci introduces Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, two former Secret Service agents. King struggles to overcome the past, having failed to save the life of the president, while Maxwell’s career has recently imploded thanks to a few less dire mistakes. When King comes under suspicion for a series of bizarre murders, Maxwell becomes obsessed with proving his innocence, uncovering a conspiracy in the process.
The Camel Club
If you like conspiracy theories, try this book on for size: the titular club, existing on the fringe of Washington, D.C. politics, tasks itself with looking behind the news reports and stump speeches to discover what really motivates the government to act—and it isn’t what you’re reading in the papers. When its four secretive members are witnesses to a shocking murder, they must team up with the Secret Service, providing them with a closer look behind the curtain than they ever bargained for.
True Blue
Moving slightly outside the realm of government insiders, this novel stars Mason Perry, disgraced former D.C. cop who spent two years in prison after being framed. Finally free, she is determined to repair her reputation, and she decides the only way to do it is to crack a major case while steering clear of the D.A. who wants her back behind bars. A murder mystery involving a prominent attorney might be just the thing…
Wish You Well
Proving he can write a book without a single sneering, corrupt politician, this heartfelt coming-of-age tale pulls from Baldacci’s own family history. It follows the lives of two young children in the aftermath of their father’s death in an auto accident. Used to the bustle of New York, they must adjust to a new way of life when they are sent to live with relatives living in Virginia coal mining country, where “The Mountain” exerts an almost supernatural control over everyone in the community.