David Baldacci has done it again! As good as The Camel Club was The Collectors, the second novel in this series, is a better and more mature work. The Camel Club is an eclectic group of current and former federal workers, including an ex-CIA operative who is officially "dead." He has taken the unlikely name of Oliver Stone.
We know that Oliver Stone, the filmmaker, has been accused of finding conspiracy theories everywhere. Oliver Stone, the character, knows that conspiracies are nearly everywhere.
We know that Oliver Stone, the filmmaker, has been accused of finding conspiracy theories everywhere. Oliver Stone, the character, knows that conspiracies are nearly everywhere.
Two stories run simultaneously here. First, the director of the rare books room at the Library of Congress dies of a "heart attack." He is the colleague of Caleb one of The Camel Club. In the second instance, Annabelle Conroy is running a con against the man who killed her father. There seems to be no connection, and it is not until well into this intriguing novel that we learn the connection, although the hints are there if we had just been astute enough to recognize them.
It is appropriate that Baldacci juxtaposes a mysterious murder and spy story investigated by The Camel Club along with a con. It is an elaborate con with layers of difficulty and complexity. After all, the spy business is certainly an elaborate con played on unsuspecting citizens. The methods of passing along information are not the ways we learned in le Carré or other spy genre writers; they are more sophisticated yet somehow simpler.
It is appropriate that Baldacci juxtaposes a mysterious murder and spy story investigated by The Camel Club along with a con. It is an elaborate con with layers of difficulty and complexity. After all, the spy business is certainly an elaborate con played on unsuspecting citizens. The methods of passing along information are not the ways we learned in le Carré or other spy genre writers; they are more sophisticated yet somehow simpler.
Baldacci leads us up many blind alleys - sometimes literally. Yet, every alley reveals another clue to the ultimate resolution. The eternal motivators, greed, money, and sex propel the bad guys along their paths. Baldacci writes so well that we cannot always recognize who the bad guys are.
The very best thing about this novel is that one of the stories is not resolved. That leads the reader to hope there will be a third installment featuring The Camel Club characters. Again, we know that the good guys will win. But, it is the journey we take to learn how things eventuatethat captures our attention and keeps us turning the pages. I was sorry to see this one end.
The very best thing about this novel is that one of the stories is not resolved. That leads the reader to hope there will be a third installment featuring The Camel Club characters. Again, we know that the good guys will win. But, it is the journey we take to learn how things eventuatethat captures our attention and keeps us turning the pages. I was sorry to see this one end.
