I have read two other books with Sean and Michelle and love their chemistry and the research that Baldacci puts into these novels. However, this story..Show More » was not one I would recommend. It was okay if you want to keep up with the progression of the series; it had some details that might be good to know that carry over to the next book. However,the story-line was all over the place. Even after the EXTREMELY convoluted summation at the end of the book it still didn't make for a believable story. I thought the ending was very far-fetched. However, the biggest criticism I have about this book is the way Baldacci treated the Michelle character. Michelle was a strong female protagonist in Split Second and First Family (both very enjoyable.) But, here the author portrays poor Michelle as a weak sidekick to Sean King. When we are introduced to her as a top-notch Secret Service agent in Split Second, she had amazing skills in marksmanship, self-defense, investigation, and reasoning. She really was a force with which to be reckoned. In this book, she never takes a shot until it's too late, (and then she misses,) she can't fend off an attacker when her life is endangered, and her investigative skills are almost useless. She makes only small contributions along the way, usually as a follow-up revelation to something that King has already figured out. At one point, one of the characters in the book refers to the team as "Batman and Robin" and that's about right, except that Michelle doesn't even come off as being as helpful as Robin! In my opinion, the team works best when they come off as Batman and Superman with each possessing slightly different, but nevertheless, exceptionally cool skills that allow both of them to make equal contributions to the team. This book missed that mark.

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I was somewhat dissssapointed with this book. I expected a book about the CIA's Camp Peary operation. Other than paint the CIA as evil, there is very ..Show More »little of interest about the training facility. The plot was somewhat disjointed and difficult to buy into. Most of it was a reach that didn't convince me it could happen. The sub-plot at the mental hospital seemed to be there to add length and had very little to do with anything else in the book. Likewise, the revolutionary war connection was just filler and very hard to accept. He has done better in the past and hopefully will do better in the future, but not this time.

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If you're looking for a good thriller, don't bother with this. Poorly written and researched, and mediocre narrator. Instead spend your credits on a..Show More » Barry Eisler book.

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I'm not even 20 minutes into the book and I'm already fighting to continue. What on earth was wrong with Ron McLarty's solo work on David Baldacci's p..Show More »revious novels? Why ruin it with the horribly executed female character narration and not even mention said failed attempt before I paid for the audio book? I am disappointed. The only reason this gets three stars is because the story has me intrigued, however it looks like I'm going to have to wait to see if the local library's CD set is also ruined by this... this "experiment."

As far as the book goes, it is quite intriguing and worth a read... just not with this narration.

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