It should not be so hard to write both poetry and fiction. Both arts, after all, make use of the same materials, words and punctuation. Poems...
Continue »
A three-hour drive from Washington, D.C., two clandestine institutions face each other across a heavily guarded river. One is the world's most unusual laboratory, whose goals and funding are a mystery. The other is an elite CIA training camp shrouded in secrecy. Now a man and a woman are about to run a gauntlet between these two puzzle factories, straight into a furious struggle to exploit a potentially world-shattering discovery — and keep some other secrets under wraps forever...
Former Secret Service agents turned private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have seen their lives splinter around them. Michelle lies unconscious in a hospital bed after a night of suicidal violence. And Sean is forced to take on a thankless investigation into the murder of a scientist just inside the CIA's razor-wire fence near Williamsburg, Virginia.
Soon he is uncovering layer after layer of disinformation that shields a stunning world filled with elite mathematicians, physicists, war heroes, spies, and deadly field agents. Amid more murder, a seemingly autistic girl's extraordinary genius, and a powerful breakthrough in the realm of classified codes, Sean soon learns enough to put his life at risk. Now more than ever, he needs Michelle — at her best — to help stop a conspiracy of traitors operating in the shadow of the White House itself.
From Michelle's courageous struggle to defeat her long-buried personal demons to a centuries-old secret that surfaces in the heat of the action, Simple Genius pulses with stunning, high-intensity suspense. The heroes of Split Second and Hour Game, David Baldacci's #1 New York Times bestsellers, are back — as you've never seen them before.
Review:
"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." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"David Baldacci writes in thriller shorthand. In 'Simple Genius,' a novel that involves mathematical factoring, he seems to have reduced his style to short paragraphs, terse dialogue and brief chapters. Details such as a therapist's goatee, a CIA honcho's six-pack abs and a woman's prosthetic leg do little more than peg characters. As for description, the author sketches in settings, then lets action... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) predominate. In a story involving code-breaking, protagonist Sean King, a former Secret Service agent, emerges as the biggest cipher of all. Who is this man? What does he like, other than women in skimpy clothes? Does he bear a psychic wound, a conflict with his father, perhaps? Does he drink too much or owe a lot of money? Is he on a low-carb diet? One trait seems clear: King drags at picking up clues planted under his nose until he virtually shouts 'Eureka!' and the case lurches on. A psychic wound clearly drives King's partner, Michelle Maxwell, who, like King, appeared earlier in Baldacci's 'Hour Game' and 'Split Second.' She kicks the story into gear, literally, driving her feet, elbows and fists into a stranger she singles out at a bar. Psychologist Horatio Barnes perceives beneath her rage a self-destructive streak related to childhood trauma, which becomes her character peg. Michelle heads to a psychiatric treatment facility where, in a largely predictable — and disposable — subplot, she sniffs out clandestine activities in the pharmacy room. The main event gets going when King and later Michelle arrive at Babbage Town, a think tank near Williamsburg. Hired by a former lover as a private investigator, King goes to Babbage to find out what caused the death of physicist Monk Turing. Turing's body was found at adjacent Camp Peary, a CIA fortress. The CIA ruled the death a suicide, but Sean suspects murder. Because Turing's background connects him to WWII code-breaking, he may have been a spy the CIA wanted to eliminate. King's investigation raises enough questions to keep a reader turning pages. King spots a transcontinental jet, its wing lights doused, landing in the middle of the night. Turing's withdrawn daughter, Viggie, pounds out melodies on the piano, then stomps from the room screaming, 'Codes and blood.' The head of security at Babbage Town offers to help King in his investigation, then drowns in a bathtub. The morgue where his body was taken for autopsy burns down. Is a CIA coverup at the bottom of all this? Or is it the decoding project at Babbage that will 'make E equals MC squared look like a blueprint for a set of Tinkertoys'? King and Maxwell track answers in an investigation that Baldacci renders with little atmosphere. The author's flat, stripped-down prose never mines the Gothic potential of Babbage Town with its 'enormous brick and stone mansion' or the dark forests at Camp Peary. There's no frisson when King and Maxwell go snooping, because we learn little about how they feel. If the hairs on the backs of their necks stood up, perhaps a reader's would as well. Convinced that Turing was murdered because he'd discovered something secret at Camp Peary, King and Maxwell head there for evidence. You don't trespass on CIA territory without an invitation, of course, so the two are soon running for their lives in the book's climactic set piece. Michelle's Mercedes peels rubber, boats slice through the York River as a rocket blazes in the night sky, and Sean faces torture and imprisonment. Ensuing scenes tick off explanations for what happened at Babbage Town and Camp Peary. This brisk wrap-up leaves a reader with little more than sated curiosity, proving that less does not always add up to more." Reviewed by Gerald Bartell, an arts and travel writer who lives in Manhattan, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
(hide most of this review)
Review:
"Compulsively readable....As always, the two leads work well together. Baldacci...finds his voice here. The best entry in the series." Booklist
Review:
"With links to foreign countries, clandestine meetings and post-9/11 jitters all wrapped up into a blockbuster plot, David Baldacci's Simple Genius is no simple read. Just a great one." Bookreporter.com
Review:
"[S]hallow, predictable...doesn't take a genius to figure out." Entertainment Weekly
Review:
"It's a lot to fathom in 400-some pages, but Baldacci pulls it off, keeping things tight and exciting, even while explaining the physics and mathematics involved." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Synopsis:
In his newest thriller, Baldacci brings back brilliant ex-Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, the protagonists of his previous novel Hour Game. Cast aside by their government, King and Maxwell are forced to prevent the country's demise at the hands of those who would corrupt it to the core.
Synopsis:
Bestselling author Baldacci returns with another heart-pounding thriller. Secret Service agent Sean King agrees to investigate a murder at an exclusive scientific retreat. Suddenly, he and his partner Michelle Maxwell find themselves in a race against time to expose those who would tip the entire global power structure and destroy what's left of their lives.
Synopsis:
Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are back, and struggling in the emotional aftermath of the events that brought them to the brink in Hour Game. Dogged by personal demons, Maxwell is agrees to treatment in a psychiatric institution, after barely surviving a violent barroom brawl. And King, to right their partnership, accepts an offer to investigate a murder in a scientific think tank named Babbage Town. Feeling cured, Michelle joins him on the case, and they penetrate this secret enclave of geniuses working to surpass the capabilities of the most sophisticated microprocessor in the world. Suddenly, the pair find themselves in a race against time to expose those who would tip the entire global power structure...and destroy what's
David Baldacci is the author of twelve consecutive New York Times bestsellers, including Absolute Power, The Winner, Last Man Standing, Split Second, Hour Game, The Camel Club, and The Collectors, as well as his Freddy and the French Fries children's series. He's also the cofounder, with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at www.davidbaldacci.com, and his foundation at www.wishyouwellfoundation.org.
LuAnn, November 15, 2007 (view all comments by LuAnn)
Every time I read one of David Baldacci's books, I become more and more impressed with his writing and "Simple Genius" is no exception. Crooked CIA agents, murder, kidnapping, foreign connections, interesting good guys and a main character who is suffering from repressed memories from when she was a child. Bring in a hip psychologist to help her find out why she is doing some strange things and get him involved in the case, too.
Wow!
Just one thing after another that keeps you reading the book long after you should have turned out the light!
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (5 of 6 readers found this comment helpful)
Product details
420 pages
Warner Books -
English9780446580342
Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review"
by 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." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review"
by Booklist,
"Compulsively readable....As always, the two leads work well together. Baldacci...finds his voice here. The best entry in the series."
"Review"
by Bookreporter.com,
"With links to foreign countries, clandestine meetings and post-9/11 jitters all wrapped up into a blockbuster plot, David Baldacci's Simple Genius is no simple read. Just a great one."
"Review"
by Entertainment Weekly,
"[S]hallow, predictable...doesn't take a genius to figure out."
"Review"
by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
"It's a lot to fathom in 400-some pages, but Baldacci pulls it off, keeping things tight and exciting, even while explaining the physics and mathematics involved."
"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
In his newest thriller, Baldacci brings back brilliant ex-Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, the protagonists of his previous novel Hour Game. Cast aside by their government, King and Maxwell are forced to prevent the country's demise at the hands of those who would corrupt it to the core.
"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
Bestselling author Baldacci returns with another heart-pounding thriller. Secret Service agent Sean King agrees to investigate a murder at an exclusive scientific retreat. Suddenly, he and his partner Michelle Maxwell find themselves in a race against time to expose those who would tip the entire global power structure and destroy what's left of their lives.
"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are back, and struggling in the emotional aftermath of the events that brought them to the brink in Hour Game. Dogged by personal demons, Maxwell is agrees to treatment in a psychiatric institution, after barely surviving a violent barroom brawl. And King, to right their partnership, accepts an offer to investigate a murder in a scientific think tank named Babbage Town. Feeling cured, Michelle joins him on the case, and they penetrate this secret enclave of geniuses working to surpass the capabilities of the most sophisticated microprocessor in the world. Suddenly, the pair find themselves in a race against time to expose those who would tip the entire global power structure...and destroy what's
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
