The Camel Club - Hardcover

Baldacci, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446577383 ISBN 13: 9780446577380

Publisher: Grand Central Pub, 2005

Synopsis

It exists at the fringes of Washington, D.C., has no power, and consists solely of four eccentric and downtrodden members whom society has forgotten. Their simple goal is to find the "truth" behind their country's actions.
One man leads this aging, ragtag crew. He has no known past and has taken the name "Oliver Stone." Day and night, Stone and his friends study wild conspiracy theories, current events, and the machinations of government, hoping to discover some truth that will hold America's leaders accountable to its citizens. Yet never in Stone's wildest nightmares could he imagine the conspiracy the Camel Club is about to uncover.
After witnessing a shocking murder, the Club is slammed headfirst into a plot that threatens the very security of the nation, full of stunning twists, high-stakes intrigue, and global gamesmanship rocketing to the Oval Office and beyond. Soon the Club must join forces with veteran Secret Service agent Alex Ford, who becomes an unwilling participant in one of the most chilling spectacles to ever take place on American soil. It's an event that may well be the catalyst for the long-threatened Armageddon between two different worlds, and all that stands in the way of this apocalypse are five unexpected heroes.

About this title

Review

Few crime novelists have been as successful as David Baldacci, and The Camel Club joins an illustrious collection. In such books as Absolute Power and Saving Faith, he forged a reputation as an adroit and imaginative writer, while with Wish You Well, he enriched his already accomplished characterisation. Baldacci is particularly good at the dynamics of conflict within a family as much as external threat, and without ever trying to manipulate the reader’s emotions, he had us involved in a dramatic and affecting narrative that dealt with issues of personal choice quite as cogently as with the large-scale emotions of the plot.

Subsequently, Hour Game was an innovative spin on a familiar theme, featuring Baldacci's series characters: the tall, athletic Michelle Maxwell and the brilliant aesthete Sean King, both ex-Secret Service personnel who were obliged to leave their jobs under a cloud. The duo encountered some pretty nasty things in Hour Game, which added new levels of gruesomeness, with the decomposed body of a young woman found arranged in a bizarre position, while two teenagers are bloodily slaughtered having sex in a car.

The Camel Club, however, is both similar to and different from Baldacci’s other books. We meet an enigmatic figure, Oliver Stone (one wonders why Baldacci chose the name of a well-known film director for this character), a man with no past. His occupation appears to be permanent protestor outside the White House, member of a cabal of believers in all available conspiracy theories, who are, collectively, The Camel Club. But (as in the author's signature book, Absolute Power) the group stumbles across a murder that they're not supposed to see--a murder rigged to appear as suicide. And, as in the earlier book, Stone and his friends find themselves involved in a very dangerous plot, reaching to the upper echelons of Washington society.

While Baldacci may be ploughing a field he’s worked before, he remains a master of the complex, character-driven thriller.

--Barry Forshaw

Review

"Enjoyable." ""New York Daily News"""

"Exciting." ""San Francisco Chronicle"""

"A terrific read." ""Toronto Sun"""

"Enjoyable." New York Daily News"

"Exciting." San Francisco Chronicle"

"A terrific read." Toronto Sun"

"Features Baldacci's trademark plot twists and cat-and-mouse chases, as well as a superbly tense grand finale."--Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Baldacci is a master at building suspense . . . will leave readers breathless."--Booklist

"An original, effervescent thriller . . . page-turning fiction that grips and scares, and offers plenty to think about later."--Toledo Blade (OH)

"Baldacci knows exactly what his readers want-just enough high-tech suspense to while away a few hours in front of a warm winter fire."--Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"Fascinating . . . Baldacci is an author who promises a good story and then delivers it."--Publishers Weekly

"Cleverly constructed . . . If you pick this book up, you'll stick with it all the way."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Enjoyable."--New York Daily News

"Utterly relentless . . . with more twists and turns than a good autocross circuit. This is one scary book."--BookReporter.com


"Exciting."--San Francisco Chronicle

"A terrific read."--Toronto Sun

Edition details

• Publisher: Grand Central Pub
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0446577383
• ISBN 13: 9780446577380
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 438