Jeffrey

Being a Baldacci fan I anxiously awaited the release of his new book. Unfortunately, both the story line and the narration were huge let downs.

The first thing that struck me was the use of two narrators (male and female). I agree with the several previous reviews criticizing this. As the speaking character would move between male and female, so does the narrator, causing the normal "flow" to be constantly interrupted.

The second thing that struck me was the frequent use of sound effects. For me, a book allows your imagination to manufacture the sights, sounds and smells according to how they're described by the author. Not only does it take away from the readers experience by littering these sounds effects throughout the story, but the sounds themselves are lame. They sound as if they were pulled from a Tom & Jerry cartoon episode.

The book itself was a huge disappointment. I've read all of Baldacci's books and had high expectations for this one. The characters are flat and boring, and not at all reminiscent of camel club characters in past novels. The story line is convoluted, with contrasting twists and turns that seem to be forced into the plot.

I don't know what went wrong with this one, but don't waste your time or money. Hopefully Baldacci can redeem himself as a "Vince Flynn" caliber author with the next one.