The Camel Club, by David Baldacci

The plot on the surface isn't deep: four political crackpots accidentally witness a murder by rogue government operatives and spend the next 600 pages being chased by a powerful conspiracy with far-reaching goals. Of course, all four witnesses have unique skills and make a few well-placed friends along the way to a climactic showdown inside a secret CIA training facility. After a few predictably ridiculous coincidences, other than the one tragic death of a minor character the heroes all end up "happily ever after." Not the most original story, but it was entertaining and a guilty pleasure.

The undercurrent of politics in The Camel Club shows that the American government has morphed into Big Brother, with all the main intelligence gathering agencies combined under a single command. Considering the recent scandals with government spying this looks at first blush as if Baldacci is prescient (this was written in 2005), but we quickly see that the author is simply writing from a liberal point-of-view when radical Islamists kidnap the President using tranquilizer darts rather than live ammunition against the Secret Service—remember that America is evil here and not the misunderstood terrorists! Interestingly, at the close of the book the governmental espionage organizational apparatus remains in place and all the crimes of the novel are blamed solely on the responsible individuals; the lesson seems to be America isn't evil after all but needs to keep a closer eye on its people: Big Brother is justified!

First Sentence:

The Chevy Suburban sped down the road, enveloped by the hushed darkness of the Virginia countryside.

Stone Cold, by David Baldacci

Not the best thriller I’ve read lately. Two intertwined plots, one about a con artist escaping her recent mark and the other about a son trying to avenge his father’s death. It wasn’t terrible, but it was terribly predictable. Coupled with some ridiculous technology I found this difficult to finish. The highlight of silliness was a “bomb” with no explosive materials but instead ignites a chemical reaction inside the components of a CPU. Yeah, right. Not the worst book I’ve ever read, but far from the best.

First Sentence:

Harry Finn rose as usual at six-thirty, made coffee, let the dog out into the fenced backyard for its morning constitutional, showered, shaved, woke the kids for school and oversaw that complicated operation for the next half hour as breakfasts were gulped, backpacks and shoes grabbed and arguments started and settled.