shreya2695's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
carmelreads19's review against another edition
5.0
Very exciting, interesting characters, political tension. I look forward to reading the next in the series!
emp1234's review against another edition
2.0
Boo! I am fairly new to Baldacci and have enjoyed reading his John Puller and Will Robie series since the beginning of the year. This book sort of blows. The others are much better. Maybe it's just that none of the characters really held my interest but I won't be reading any more Camel books.
chaudharykapil's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
shelfreflectionofficial's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite but I’ve liked other Baldacci books. I think I’ll still give book two a chance. This book got a bit bogged down in details that weren’t really necessary. I don’t really need to know what routes everyone takes home or the history of random things. I liked the complexity of the plot but I think I took too long to read it and kept forgetting who everyone was. The series has potential so I’ll continue reading his books.
llkendrick's review against another edition
4.0
This book started out really confusing for me....there were too many story lines and I was getting lost as to what was going on. Once the stories began to converge into one and characters were further developed, the book sucked me in. The last half of the book was intense and I became really attached to some of the characters. I definitely will read more of this series.
wxdam's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.75
The Camel Club is the quintessential political thriller. Baldacci did a fantastic job weaving multiple storylines into one heartpounding conclusion.
Some of the dialogue felt stilted and unnatural, and many of the exchanges between Djamilla and her employer were gaggingly preachy, but I had the benefit of reading this in 2023 and not in the jingoistic political culture the book published into in 2005.
I'm hooked for the rest of the series. I'm sure I'll reread this one day with no less interest and no fewer beats per minute.
Some of the dialogue felt stilted and unnatural, and many of the exchanges between Djamilla and her employer were gaggingly preachy, but I had the benefit of reading this in 2023 and not in the jingoistic political culture the book published into in 2005.
I'm hooked for the rest of the series. I'm sure I'll reread this one day with no less interest and no fewer beats per minute.
weaselweader's review against another edition
3.0
A good, but not great lightweight thriller!
Caleb Shaw, Library of Congress employee and antiquarian book expert, Milton Farb, ex-Jeopardy champion and computer whiz suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, Reuben Rhodes, former NIS operative, and Oliver Stone, a cemetery groundskeeper with no apparent past, are an unlikely collection of eccentric, oddball misfits. They've formed The Camel Club - a small secretive group that holds regular meetings in the middle of the night to discuss their conspiracy theories and their darkest fears about Washington government operations! When, in the course of one of their midnight gatherings on Theodore Roosevelt Island, they inadvertently witness a murder, they find themselves up to their collective backsides in a plot that reaches to the highest levels of the government. The killers - a couple of rogue federal agents whose actions are being directed by a hidden mastermind - discover that their actions did not go unobserved and will now do anything to cover their tracks! But, we also quickly discover that they're bit players in an extraordinary, complex plan to kidnap the president and hold him ransom to Islamic terrorist demands. The US has its finger on THE button and the imminent launch of a warhead to Damascus threatens to push the world over the brink into a nuclear war.
My initial reaction to The Camel Club was disappointment! The plot was interesting enough alright and the discussions of the world's geo-political situation were solidly informative but the characters were cartoonish and the dialogue was downright stilted. At the mid-way point of the book, I knew I was going to finish the book but had mentally relegated my rating to "below average". The Camel Club was certainly not up to the standard I wanted to impose on Baldacci as a result of my enjoyment of past successes like The Simple Truth.
Then came the second half of the book! The plot heated up dramatically and escalated into the page turner that I had been anticipating when I cracked the cover in the first place - overwrought and somewhat over that Hollywood top, to be sure - but compellingly enjoyable nonetheless with a suitably large suspension of belief! Sadly, the dialogue never did approach credible reality but the character development was exceptionally well done. The four club members evolved from weakly drawn oddballs into real men with skills, aspirations, interesting quirks and warm personalities that most readers will want to see more of. Alex Ford, a Secret Service agent on the outs in the twilight of his career, and his romantic interest, Kate Adams, a Department of Justice attorney and part-time bartender, were wonderfully crafted. Lucille Whitney-Houseman, Kate's feisty octogenarian landlady was a knee-slapping, brilliant comic masterpiece!
For me, the highlight of the entire novel was the stomach churning, electrically charged scene in which Acting President, Ben Hamilton, wrestles with himself and his cabinet over the decision to launch a nuclear warhead which would flatten Damascus and instantly snuff out six million lives. While his military advisers press for a pre-emptive strike as revenge against the terrorist kidnapping plot, Andrea Mays, the Secretary of State, assumes the role of the more pacifist voice of reason.
The Camel Club will never be labeled literature, to be sure, but it did manage to achieve the status of an enjoyable read! Baldacci fans and thriller readers won't go amiss with it!
Paul Weiss
Caleb Shaw, Library of Congress employee and antiquarian book expert, Milton Farb, ex-Jeopardy champion and computer whiz suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, Reuben Rhodes, former NIS operative, and Oliver Stone, a cemetery groundskeeper with no apparent past, are an unlikely collection of eccentric, oddball misfits. They've formed The Camel Club - a small secretive group that holds regular meetings in the middle of the night to discuss their conspiracy theories and their darkest fears about Washington government operations! When, in the course of one of their midnight gatherings on Theodore Roosevelt Island, they inadvertently witness a murder, they find themselves up to their collective backsides in a plot that reaches to the highest levels of the government. The killers - a couple of rogue federal agents whose actions are being directed by a hidden mastermind - discover that their actions did not go unobserved and will now do anything to cover their tracks! But, we also quickly discover that they're bit players in an extraordinary, complex plan to kidnap the president and hold him ransom to Islamic terrorist demands. The US has its finger on THE button and the imminent launch of a warhead to Damascus threatens to push the world over the brink into a nuclear war.
My initial reaction to The Camel Club was disappointment! The plot was interesting enough alright and the discussions of the world's geo-political situation were solidly informative but the characters were cartoonish and the dialogue was downright stilted. At the mid-way point of the book, I knew I was going to finish the book but had mentally relegated my rating to "below average". The Camel Club was certainly not up to the standard I wanted to impose on Baldacci as a result of my enjoyment of past successes like The Simple Truth.
Then came the second half of the book! The plot heated up dramatically and escalated into the page turner that I had been anticipating when I cracked the cover in the first place - overwrought and somewhat over that Hollywood top, to be sure - but compellingly enjoyable nonetheless with a suitably large suspension of belief! Sadly, the dialogue never did approach credible reality but the character development was exceptionally well done. The four club members evolved from weakly drawn oddballs into real men with skills, aspirations, interesting quirks and warm personalities that most readers will want to see more of. Alex Ford, a Secret Service agent on the outs in the twilight of his career, and his romantic interest, Kate Adams, a Department of Justice attorney and part-time bartender, were wonderfully crafted. Lucille Whitney-Houseman, Kate's feisty octogenarian landlady was a knee-slapping, brilliant comic masterpiece!
For me, the highlight of the entire novel was the stomach churning, electrically charged scene in which Acting President, Ben Hamilton, wrestles with himself and his cabinet over the decision to launch a nuclear warhead which would flatten Damascus and instantly snuff out six million lives. While his military advisers press for a pre-emptive strike as revenge against the terrorist kidnapping plot, Andrea Mays, the Secretary of State, assumes the role of the more pacifist voice of reason.
The Camel Club will never be labeled literature, to be sure, but it did manage to achieve the status of an enjoyable read! Baldacci fans and thriller readers won't go amiss with it!
Paul Weiss
planetarypan's review against another edition
2.0
This book needed an editor to get rid of so much extraneous information. I ended up skipping whole chunks off text to avoid lectures on Islam and Muslim-American relations. After the first few examples, I felt like Baldacci was trying to show off how much research he had done. The overall plot was also not my cup of tea. I only kind of liked the characters in the Camel Club itself, but they might be worth giving the series a second try. I've heard better reviews of the second book from readers who read it first.