Most helpful customer reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"With two early morning pulls of the trigger...", Nov 7 2008
If you haven't already read a David Baldacci book, can't imagine how you missed him. He's penned fifteen bestsellers four of which feature affecting protagonist John Carr also known as Oliver Stone. Once a CIA assassin Stone now battles mightily to right wrongs. Through this character Baldacci has taken readers to Washington, more often than not shocking them with scenarios that may be too close to the truth.
Stone is back in this the fourth installment in the Camel Club series, and he's once again on the run. "With two early morning pulls of the trigger he'd become the most wanted man in America."
He's too smart to try to board a plane knowing the major airports are alive with those looking for him but instead buys a ticket on the Amtrack Crescent, headed for New Orleans. Once settled in his seat, ever alert, he takes note of his fellow passengers - a mother with a baby, a thin man eating a cheeseburger, and a kid a few years out of high school but still wearing his varsity jacket. "To Stone's eye the young man also had the look of someone who was certain that the world owed him everything and had never bothered paying its bill"
The young man is Danny Riker who is soon assaulted by a trio who accuse him of cheating at cards. Stone rescues Danny and the two leave the train at the next stop. When Stone finds out that Danny is from an Appalachian coal mining town, Divine, Virginia, he decides that might be the perfect place for him to hide out.
Divine might be a good place to take cover but it's also a place where corruption is rampant and most of the coal miners are methadone addicts due to the daily injections they take to pass inspections. Couple this with a suicide that in truth might have been murder, and you have an idea what Stone is up against.
In addition to being a masterful storyteller, an expert at creating riveting suspense, Baldacci is a native of Virginia and lives there today. Thus, he brings an added realism to his descriptions of this area and its people.
Highly recommended.
- Gail Cooke
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Oliver Stone/John Carr on the Lam, Nov 13 2008
If you haven't read the earlier books in this series (The Camel Club, The Collectors, and Stone Cold), stop right here. You will like all of those books much more than this one . . . and you will like this one less than you otherwise would if you start with The Camel Club.
So what's it all about? Oliver Stone (John Carr) has just finished assassinating intelligence chieftain Carter Gray and Senator Roger Simpson as repayment for old and recent wrongs (including the death of Milton Farb, Camel Club member). He knows that he must escape quickly and completely . . . and that the Camel Club will be at risk while he runs. Stone's trail is soon picked up by Joe Knox, with more than a little help (and some stonewalling from shadowy Gray protégé Macklin Hayes).
Stone has paid more attention to getting revenge than he has to his escape. There's a vague plan to head towards New Orleans and to fade into the post-Katrina construction industry. All those plans are changed when Stone interrupts a beating on a train and is threatened with arrest. Quickly leaving the train with the beating victim, Stone decides to follow the man home to Divine, Virginia. Once there, more violence flares and Stone finds himself drawn into the middle of someone else's fight. Much of the rest of the story alternates between the manhunt and Stone's investigation into what's going on in Divine, Virginia. A lot of the suspense in the book involves decisions that the Camel Club members need to make.
Unlike the earlier books in the series, the story line and the characters aren't nearly as compelling. If you plan to stay with the Camel Club series, you'll need to read this book . . . but I doubt if you will like it nearly as much as the others in the series.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4th in the Camel Club series, Nov 17 2008
I have read many of David Baldacci's earlier novels, but haven't read him in awhile. Big mistake - I forgot how good he is!
Divine Justice picks up the story of Oliver Stone, aka John Carr - one of the most deadly assasins the U.S. government ever produced. But when Carr wanted out and they killed his family, they made a terrible mistake. Stone retaliates and Macklin Hayes, a high ranking spy, is determined to find him and make him disappear for good. Stone ends up in the small mining town of Divine, Virgina hoping to lie low for awhile. But trouble seems to go hand in hand with Oliver Stone. All is not fine in Divine. Stone's sense of justice will not let him walk away. At the same time his friends from the Camel Club are trying to find him to help him.
As I had not read the Camel Club, The Collectors or Stone Cold, the other novels featuring these characters, I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't understand the plot in Divine Justice. But it wasn't a problem. A few pages in I was up to speed. Most of the action takes place in the Divine setting.
If you're looking for a fast paced, thrilling novel - this is it! The characters are larger than life and the action never stops. Good and evil are clearly defined and you'll find yourself rooting for John Carr.
If you have enjoyed the Jack Reacher character by Lee Child, then this is a series you would enjoy
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