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STONE COLD
by David Baldacci
Grand Central Publishing, November 2007
400 pages
$26.99
ISBN: 0446577391


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Wow! After reading STONE COLD, I was left stunned and speechless. Baldacci doesn’t give the reader a chance to catch their breath. Events are planned and executed with the speed of countryside from a train window. Only now and then does the author drop his focus and have a particular weapon or mode of transportation “just happen” to be at hand.

Baldacci, a former trial and corporate lawyer, knows his way around Washington. At a time when the country is supposed to be on alert for terrorists, there are newspaper articles regarding breaches of security at airports, or individuals jumping the fence, or flying a plane into the side of the White House. If we are so secure, how can this happen? Baldacci also shows how we sometimes can unwittingly give our identity to someone else.

STONE COLD is the third novel featuring the unusual but delightful members of the Camel Club. Annabelle Conroy, an honorary member, and her irascible father Patty Conroy, two of the best cons around, are back and adding more than a little twist to the plot.

Someone is killing former members of an elite strike team of which Oliver Stone had been a member. Those killed, or targeted, go back to a specific horrific mission during the Cold War. Officially, Oliver is dead. But someone has discovered he is very much alive.

Annabelle is also on the run from Jerry Bagger, the owner of a casino whom she had successfully conned. Oliver wonders if he can protect her from Bagger who wants her dead, while protecting himself and his friends on what could very well be their last mission together. Just when the reader and Oliver think they have everything figured out, a new twist from the past presents itself and puts everyone in mortal danger.

Alex Ford, the very likable Secret Service agent, proves he not only has a kind heart, but is also a true friend when you are in need. His friendship is tested to the fullest when Oliver asks Alex to protect Annabelle. Alex puts his career in jeopardy when he calls on local police, the Secret Service, CIA, and the FBI to come to their rescue more than once.

What makes the story even more intriguing is the character of Harry Finn, a former Navy SEAL. He is a loving husband and devoted father whose job is to test places for vulnerability to terrorist attacks. The plans that his group develop and execute are exciting and worthy of inclusion in the story, but it is what Harry does after the job that is truly riveting and integral to the main plot. News stories about Blackwater, and increasing mention of high tech equipment, make events and materials in STONE COLD believable.

The story has characters hiding or meeting in underground bunkers, taking swan dives into the sea, and racing over land from Washington, DC, to Virginia, to Maine, and back again. The stakes are high and not every character will make it through the ordeal.

Reviewed by Ginger K. W. Stratton, October 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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