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A review by topdragon
King and Maxwell by David Baldacci
3.0
This sixth book in the King and Maxwell series was a bit of a letdown for me. I realize its publication, timed for the launch of the now-failed TV show of the same name, required some compromises but the final result was less than ideal.
Former secret service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have long since overcome their disgraced careers but they remain struggling private investigators with apparently few clients. The plot of this book comes about by pure chance when they happen to nearly run over a terrified teenager with a gun and a wild look in his eye. Michelle insists on trying to help the kid who decides on the spur of the moment to hire them as PIs to look into the death of his father in Afghanistan. To me it was a clumsy start to a clumsy plot that would ultimately reach into the Oval Office and uncover an Iran-Contra style controversial government action and an over-the-top villain who, somehow, never seemed all that threatening. Honestly, this reads like a TV episode, complete with product placement.
However, it’s not all bad. Both King and Maxwell remain true to their root characterization from previous novels (as aggravating as that can sometimes be given their personalities) and there are some nice action sequences but overall the introspective moments seemed like they were being directed by a network TV executive rather than an experienced author with the high skills that Baldacci has shown many times before. A lot of short choppy dialogue was also included…which made me think this was an adapted script. Finally, the mere idea that the President of the US, with all of the resources at his disposal, would turn to two PIs to stop a major international terrorist operation as well as his own explosive political scandal is simply ludicrous. And the shocker ending was, frankly, telegraphed from miles away.
Despite all of that, I still found myself enjoying much of this book. I credit Baldacci's base writing skills with that phenomenon. While I had hoped for more from this one, plot-wise, I expect I will get more and better with other Baldacci novels.
Former secret service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have long since overcome their disgraced careers but they remain struggling private investigators with apparently few clients. The plot of this book comes about by pure chance when they happen to nearly run over a terrified teenager with a gun and a wild look in his eye. Michelle insists on trying to help the kid who decides on the spur of the moment to hire them as PIs to look into the death of his father in Afghanistan. To me it was a clumsy start to a clumsy plot that would ultimately reach into the Oval Office and uncover an Iran-Contra style controversial government action and an over-the-top villain who, somehow, never seemed all that threatening. Honestly, this reads like a TV episode, complete with product placement.
However, it’s not all bad. Both King and Maxwell remain true to their root characterization from previous novels (as aggravating as that can sometimes be given their personalities) and there are some nice action sequences but overall the introspective moments seemed like they were being directed by a network TV executive rather than an experienced author with the high skills that Baldacci has shown many times before. A lot of short choppy dialogue was also included…which made me think this was an adapted script. Finally, the mere idea that the President of the US, with all of the resources at his disposal, would turn to two PIs to stop a major international terrorist operation as well as his own explosive political scandal is simply ludicrous. And the shocker ending was, frankly, telegraphed from miles away.
Despite all of that, I still found myself enjoying much of this book. I credit Baldacci's base writing skills with that phenomenon. While I had hoped for more from this one, plot-wise, I expect I will get more and better with other Baldacci novels.