The Winner

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But when she gets home to the trailer she shares with the no-good father of her child, she walks into the middle of a drug deal gone wrong. In self-defense she ends up killing a man who has just fatally stabbed her boyfriend. At least she David Baldacci gets catchy ideas for thriller plots. In his first novel, "Absolute Power," a cat burglar robbing a mansion inadvertently witnesses a murder, committed by the president of the United States no less. In his second novel, The group eventually witnesses a murder and decide to go after the party themselves rather than risk not being believed. Joining with Veteran Secret Service Agent Alex Ford, the group gets caught up in a complicated game of intrigue and conspiracy that goes all the way to the top. The books go deeper into the real identity of Oliver Stone and his history as a legendary assassin. In the follow up book The Collectors, the Camel Club once again must go to work when the Speaker of the House is assassinated. The Winner is a surprisingly interesting and good book. The characters seem very real and you choose your sides very early on. The plot is something else. Even though I'm a writer, I can't imagine coming up with something that intricately planned. It just baffles the mind the twists and turns in this book. Just when you think you've got something figured out, it takes another direction and you're left scratching your head. Total Control," a woman loses her beloved husband in a plane crash, only to be told by the FBI that her husband caused the crash and is actually still alive.

To let readers know where I'm coming from, my preferred genre is romance novels. The fact that I liked this should mean something since it is off genre for me. Throughout the book there was the underlying frustration of how can anyone ever stop this bad guy, but he gets it eventually. The story was excellent mechanically with good showing not telling. I would have liked more emotional draw to the characters. Not necessary, but I also would have liked more witty or thought provoking dialogue. I liked the LuAnn character a lot. She was physically very strong. Her strength of mind and body actually scared some men. A single mother is offered a guarantee to win the lottery and after initial hesitation, accepts. Circumstances force her to leave the country but her eventual return is not welcomed by everyone. While his stories hinge on the complex machinations behind the presidency, the FBI, the Supreme Court and other spheres of influence, Baldacci (a former Washington, D.C.-based attorney) finds his way into a mystery through the eyes of the innocents. Semi-innocents, at least: small players who often don't realize they're players at all end up hunting down answers, and their hunt becomes the reader's. Fast forward ten years and our damsel-in-distress is a force of nature - wielding a gun whenever possible and chopping wood faster than her groundskeeper as well as being indescribably beautiful. In fact, her youthful beauty is so unbelievable that she is often mistaken to be her 10 year old daughter's sister. Of course, there are troubles to deal with [tax-evasion has never been so thrilling] and a man who may or may not be an FBI agent steps in to rescue her. This lottery scam even involves the president! Mercy! I had seen the name many times, but had never read anything by David Baldacci until last week. That Baldacci is a prolific writer is evinced in any airport book store. I was expecting something light and easy like Grisham, but it was a whole lot worse.

Publication Order of Amos Decker Books

Until the last number: "Ever so slowly, even as LuAnn's heart threatened to cease beating, the two balls, as though carefully choreographed, again swapped places with each other in the swirling spray of hot air, even ricocheting

A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural whose heroine, a deft mix of compassion and attitude, would be welcome to return and tie up the gaping loose end Box leaves. The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read. I started reading The Winner based on a recommendation from my eye doctor, of all people. Frankly I'd never heard of the author before, but decided to give it a shot. And I'm glad I did. I'm even more glad I gave up on the hardcover library book and, instead, got the Kindle version (it's much lighter!). She is stunningly beautiful and unbelievably strong. To prove the point she is able to outrun an ex-FBI and cut logs competing with a seasoned farmer/ carpenter?! Why !? What do you want to prove here. Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.David Baldacci has been writing since childhood, when his mother gave him a lined notebook in which to write down his stories. (Much later, when David thanked her for being the spark that ignited his writing career, she revealed that she’d given him the notebook to keep him quiet, "because every mom needs a break now and then.”) And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out that Baldacci also wanted to make a political statement about lotteries being an irresponsible regressive form of taxation that prey upon the weak represented in their totality by LuAnn and her daughter. I think Baldacci was talking about the very story that he had his reporter Donovan attempting to chase down. You know ... he could be right! Most of the supporting characters are cliché. Some of that I can forgive, even from a best-selling author, but that was not the worst of it. There is something about the mystery genre that allows for the forgiveness of god-awful, terrible writing. Provided that the plot is there, a simple whodunit could, ostensibly, be written by a person with no more than a fifth-grade vocabulary and still be engaging. At least, that's my opinion. And that's why Grisham had to share nightstand space with my eighth grade graduation invitations. It's also why I'm conflicted on how to review David Baldacci's The Winner.

My main problem with this book is that I could see the pieces, parts and elements of this book while reading it rather than ever reading it as a whole work. The protagonist needs to look sympathetic, so there will be an element added…here. The villain needs to escape from this situation, so he will have this skill revealed…here. There needs to be some tension introduced, so Matthew Riggs and his mysterious past will be introduced…here. Matthew Riggs needs to have a skill that will help at this exact moment, so one will be revealed just…here. I have read a few David Baldacci novels, and found them average and I don't remember much after finishing those books. This one is so bad, i will surely remember it for a long time. No more Baldacci novels for me.

Publication Order of Freddy and the French Fries Books

This is a plot-driven suspense story. Does it live up to its reputation as a "thriller"? In other words, does the story keep you on the edge of your seat? How so?