About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

DELIVER US FROM EVIL
by David Baldacci
Grand Central Publishing, April 2010
407 pages
$27.99
ISBN: 0446564087


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Best-selling author David Baldacci's newest book (his 19th), DELIVER US FROM EVIL, has already risen in the charts just out of the gate, and there is a new twist for those book readers using electronic devices as well. The eBook version of the novel, which comes out simultaneously with the hardback, will have enhanced features, much like a movie DVD. In this case, there'll be plenty of background atmospherics, with the bulk of the story set in Provence, France, and along the eastern coast of Canada, as well as deleted scenes from the novel, and an alternate ending as just some of the added perks.

For those content to follow along with the hardcover, there are plenty of thrills to keep your attention, as Shaw (a returning character from THE WHOLE TRUTH) and his female counterpart Regina (Reggie) Campion both find themselves in hot pursuit of a ruthless Canadian businessman who's willing to buy and sell anything, including humans and the materiel for an atomic bomb. This Evan Waller, however, is really Fedir Kuchin, the "Butcher of the Ukraine" who once slaughtered endless numbers of citizens in the pursuit of the Soviet dream, KGB-style.

As a former KGB official, Kuchin (now Waller) misses the former "glories" and power of his old job, which he continues to pursue in this new, capitalist setting. With so much money and protection at his beck and call, it's even more difficult for those who seek to bring him to justice, although Shaw and Reggie have very different ideas of what that justice should be.

There's plenty of romantic tension between Shaw and Reggie, even though each suspects the other of more clandestine activity than each will own up to. Working for different organizations toward different ends, each has Kuchin in their sights as he pursues his working vacation in Provence, France.

The locations and descriptions in the novel are spot on, and there is just enough action to make the pages worth turning. Some may balk at the examples of torture assigned to Kuchin, but Baldacci is attempting to take his readers into the mind of a madman, and he succeeds. There are also two spots where the storyline requires some suspension of belief for the sake of continuing the storyline, but overall this is a engrossing novel with a good balance of characterization, plot, and atmospherics, all wrapped up with the usual thriller pace and action, which is exactly the reason Baldacci continues to ride the best seller list.

§ Christine Zibas is a freelance writer and former director of publications for a Chicago nonprofit.

Reviewed by Christine Zibas, May 2010

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]