Description
"Compulsively readable...Baldacci, always strong on suspense...finds his voice here. The best entry in the series."― Booklist (starred review) "Exciting...good fun and fast-paced."― Midwest Book Review "Keeps a reader turning pages."― Washington Post Book World "Simply entertaining."― Pittsburg Post-Gazette --This text refers to the paperback edition. From Publishers Weekly Last seen in Split Second (2003), former Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have reached a crisis in their relationship in this less than compelling Washington political thriller from bestseller Baldacci. When Maxwell instigates a fight with the most intimidating bruiser she could find at a local bar and lets herself be beaten unconscious, despite her superior fighting skills, her partner suggests she voluntarily commit herself to a psychiatric facility. While Maxwell reluctantly undergoes treatment to find the childhood roots of her death wish, King probes the suicide of a scientist found on the grounds of Virginia's Camp Peary, a mysterious CIA facility. Both mysteries are fairly run of the mill, lacking the sharp twists and expert pacing that characterize Baldacci's fiction at its best. (Apr. 24) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. There's nothing simple about SIMPLE GENIUS, a complicated novel involving murder, geniuses, and the CIA. The story marks the return of former Secret Service Agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, now in business for themselves. Scott Brick captures the excitement of this thriller with his unique pacing and style, which are perfect here. Brick even manages to sound somewhat feminine when he needs to be, and his voice for the Southern black gentleman is classic. The beginning of the novel is a story within a story, as Maxwell ends up institutionalized after inexplicably attacking a man in a sleazy bar. Everything comes together in a mysterious settlement for geniuses, where people are being murdered. There's a lot of heart in this work. M.S. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 07] --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From Booklist This follow-up to 2004's Hour Game begins with Michelle Maxwell, the former Secret Service agent turned private investigator, scraping the bottom of the emotional barrel. When she wanders into a seedy bar and picks a fight with the biggest guy she can find, she knows someone is about to die . . and she hopes it's not him. Soon Michelle is sidelined at a mental hospital, and Sean King, her partner, is trying to find a case to keep their business afloat. He finds one--a murder at a high-tech think tank--and it's not long before Michelle checks herself out of the hospital and joins Sean. But can they piece together this intricate puzzle in time to save a girl's life and blow the lid off a top-level government conspiracy? The most intriguing element of this compulsively readable novel is its setting: Babbage Town, the think tank, is modeled after World War II's Bletchley Park, where some of the world's top thinkers joined forces to break the top-secret German communications code. Baldacci's twenty-first-century version of Bletchley brings together a community of scientists working on a new kind of computer, but readers familiar with the Bletchley story will note how carefully Baldacci draws the parallels. As always, the two leads work well together, their strengths and weaknesses complementing each other. Baldacci, always strong on suspense but occasionally clunky stylistically, finds his voice here. The best entry in the series. David Pitt Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From AudioFile Theres nothing simple about SIMPLE GENIUS, a complicated novel involving murder, geniuses, and the CIA. The story marks the return of former Secret Service Agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, now in business for themselves. Scott Brick captures the excitement of this thriller with his unique pacing and style, which are perfect here. Brick even manages to sound somewhat feminine when he needs to be, and his voice for the Southern black gentleman is classic. The beginning of the novel is a story within a story, as Maxwell ends up institutionalized after inexplicably attacking a man in a sleazy bar. Everything comes together in a mysterious settlement for geniuses, where people are being murdered. Theres a lot of heart in this work. M.S. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. David Baldacci was born in Virginia, in 1960, where he currently resides. He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and a law degree from the University of Virginia. Mr. Baldacci practiced law for nine years in Washington, D.C., as both a trial and corporate attorney. David Baldacci has published 14 novels and a young adult series, Freddy and the French Fries. He has also published a novella for the Dutch entitled Office Hours , written for Holland's Year 2000 "Month of the Thriller." Baldacci authored a short story, The Mighty Johns, as part of a mystery anthology published in 2002. His works have been in numerous worldwide magazines, newspapers, journals, and publications. Baldacci has authored seven original screenplays. His books have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold in more than 80 countries. All of his books have been national and international bestsellers. Over 50 million copies of Mr. Baldacci's books are in print worldwide. Castle Rock entertainment made Absolute Power (Warner Books, 1996) into a major motion picture starring Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman. The novel Absolute Power won Britain's W.H. Smith's Thumping Good Read award for fiction in 1997, and was nominated for a literary award in Italy. Absolute Power was selected for People Magazine's "Page Turner of the Week." Absolute Power won the 1996 Gold Medal Award for Best Mystery/Thriller from the Southern Writers Guild. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Read more
Features & Highlights
- Two ex-Secret Service agents must face a dark world of violence, codes, and spies at a secret CIA training camp in this #1
- New York Times
- bestseller about a mystery that could destroy the nation.
- Near Washington, D.C., there are two clandestine institutions: the world's most unusual laboratory and a secret CIA training camp. Drawn to these sites by a murder, ex-Secret Service agent Sean King encounters a dark world of mathematicians, codes, and spies. His search for answers soon leads him to more shocking violence-and an autistic girl with an extraordinary genius.Now, only by working with his partner, Michelle Maxwell, who is battling her own personal demons, can he catch a killer...and stop a national threat.
