Deliver Us from Evil

By: David Baldacci

Narrated by: Ron McLarty

Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

In South America, a 96-year-old man of great wealth reads a book late one night and an hour later he lies dead in his bed, the secrets of his past starkly revealed. Six months later, another mystery man lies dead at the bottom of his pool in a villa in Provence. This time, however, there's a witness at the scene: Shaw, the shadowy operative from The Whole Truth who barely escapes with his life.

Meanwhile, a half a world away, photojournalist Katie James is working on a story of international importance. But shortly after her meeting with a potential inside source, she is smuggled unconscious onto an airplane headed to an undisclosed destination. In the days to come, Katie and Shaw will be reunited in a deadly duel of nerve and wits against a surprising, secretive enemy and led around the world at a breakneck pace.

Filled with the kind of breathtaking plot turns and remarkable characters that only David Baldacci can deliver, it will be the most explosive thriller of the year.

©2010 David Baldacci (P)2010 Columbus Rose, Ltd

Why Not Five Stars?

Baldacci is back with a taut thriller, a welcome return to his usual style, unlike his last book. The plot is tight, and you want to keep reading. Shaw is developed further as a character, as is his relationship with Frank. The narration is top notch.

Why, then, didn't I give it a five star rating?

Because there's too much graphic description of the gruesome torture Waller enjoys inflicting. There's a lot of it, and some of it is stomach turning. It felt more than just a bit unnecessary. Those who are sensitive to graphic descriptions of the horrors that can be inflicted on the human body and the instruments by which it is done, should perhaps think twice about purchasing this book. Or, fast forward past those sections; nothing will be lost.

Despite that, it's a terrific book and I recommend it with the caveat.

46 of 47 people found this review helpful

deliver us from evil

Held my interest until the end -Author seemed to be in a hurry to get this book written and to print. As a reader, I want to be surprised by the outcome, but was rather disappointed in the ridiculous way in which a madman would kill his tormentors. My wife agreed with me, which did surprise me.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Gory Without Point

Hmmm. I usually love David Baldacci, but this one was just a bit too gory for seemingly no reason except justifying that the bad guys are really bad, beyond imagination bad, so the good guys are justified in doing morally ambiguous things. I liked Baldacci better when he stayed inside the DC power corridor.

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

Not Baldacci's best, but still pretty good

I agree with some of the other reviewers that "Deliver Us from Evil" may not quite rise to Baldacci's usual standard of excellence; but it still delivers plenty of thrills, excitement, and entertainment. If anybody else had written this novel, we would all probably be giving it high marks. We have just come to expect more from David Baldacci. All the same, he has come up with the intriguing plot device of having two highly secret black-ops organizations -- one American and one British -- closing in on the same bad guy, and, unknowingly, interfering with each other's operations. Ron McLarty -- one of my favorite readers -- has a wonderful voice -- or, rather, a wide range of wonderful voices -- and excellent acting chops. I recommend "Deliver Us from Evil" to all thriller lovers. Yes, it may sport slightly cartoonish characters -- especially the bad guys (ooh, so bad!) -- but it none-the-less also features Baldacci's good writing; and it will keep your attention and entertain you.

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

I am hooked...

I am glad that I took a chance on this series. I hope that the next book will be out soon. This book kept me wanting more... can't wait for the next book.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Disappointed

I couldn't put his other books down and looked forward to this one. I was really disappointed. The extreme violence was a big negative for me and I didn't think there was much suspense. It was a hard read (listen) for me. I am glad it is over.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

very formulaic

I accidentally started the 2nd section of the book first, but the plot was so formulaic, and predictable, I didn't notice until it cut off abruptly at the end of the section. I looked for the rest of the book and discovered the hanging ending of the section was really the end of the book, the first half ended up not adding much of anything to the storyline or the characters, I was hoping for more.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Dissappointing narration

I always enjoy Baldacci books and this one doesn't disappoint. Shaw first showed up in the Whole Truth but this book is a better told story. But Ron McLarty (who often does Baldacci's books and does them well)really missed the mark this time. His attempts at accents were pitiful and he flipped back and forth with the same character having an accent and then 2 minutes later not having an accent. He would have been much better off just reading it straight. It took something away from the book but its still an exciting read nevertheless.

11 of 13 people found this review helpful

Is this really a Baldacci book?

If someone gave me this book and asked me to id th author, never in a million years would I have picked David Baldacci. I am a huge fan. But he really phoned this one in. Cliche after tired cliche. "Tipping point" - really? I used to buy his books sight unseen. His books are usually more intelligent. This was a huge disappointment.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

entertaining but uninspired

This is the follow up to The Whole Truth featuring Shaw the mysterious man who works for a mysterious organization. In this sequel, you don't really learn much more about him - he and the organization he works for are still both mysteries.

This story starts (in my opinion) very slowly. The story doesn't really get going until you get 2-3 hours into the book. At that point, you get the excitement and interest that you expect from Baldacci. However, the details in the story are not very inspired. Shaw and the heroine Reggie work for two groups after the same man for different reasons. They combine forces to accomplish their goal. Much of the story suffers from the need of the heroes to kill their quarry in a certain way - rather than just shoot him...they miss numerous chances to just gun him down in favor of more complicated plots to lure him into underground chambers...

If you like Baldacci, you are likely to be entertained by this book but it is not as good as some of his other efforts.

8 of 10 people found this review helpful