The Winner

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Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. The story, ultimately, is about the possibility of recreating one's identify, changing one's life, and leaving behind a less-than-happy past. For many, it might be wish fulfillment. Is it for you? If you could make yourself over again, what kind of life would you create? Who would you be, what would you do, where would you live? And what would you be getting away from? In fact, when handing my money to the cashier at the sale, the lady said that this was her favorite David Baldacci book. She had good taste. 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!

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. David Baldacci's authoritative legal thrillers operate on the irresistible notion that a sinister undercurrent threads through the country's most powerful institutions.The Club discovers a spy is selling secrets, and with the help of an unexpected ally, they may just be able to triumph. The Shaw and Katie James series consist of two books, The Whole Truth and Deliver Us From Evil. James is a journalist about to get her breakout story and Shaw is a mysterious man with a past and a plan. In Zero Day and Forgotten, John Puller is a combat veteran and a military investigator, searching for the truth in cases and in the sequel investigating the death of his own aunt. In addition to Absolute Power being made into a movie, Wish You Well. The film stars Ellen Burstyn and Josh Lucas, finished shooting in 2012. David Baldacci has been featured on real-life crime show “Murder By The Book”. “Hardcover Mysteries” aired on the Investigation Discovery network in which he hosted an episode revolving around the death of Mary Meyer, who was alleged to have been having an affair with President Kennedy. 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. It was not as strong as being emotionally manipulated and while I appreciate the need for story elements to fit together, here I found the book had merely the presence of suitable elements rather than being worked together into a cohesive whole. I found myself increasingly detached from the story as each part was all too conveniently placed/revealed. I eventually finished the book in frustration, the overly lengthy book only heightening my dislike of the book.

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival. In addition to being a prolific writer, David is a devoted philanthropist, and his greatest efforts are dedicated to his family’s Wish You Well Foundation®. Established by David and his wife, Michelle, the Wish You Well Foundation supports family and adult literacy programs in the United States. 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 ricochetingTotal 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.