True Blue

David Baldacci quickly became one of my favorite authors. I'm not the biggest fan of his Camel Club series but all of his novels are typically good reads. He definitely took a step backwards with this one. It's not a bad story but you have to suspend all sense of reality to enjoy it. You have to believe that a police chief would invite her disgraced ex-con, ex-cop sister to a crime scene investigation. You have to believe that an ex-cop and a corporate lawyer with no investigative experience can out maneuver the police. And you have to believe that the just out of prison ex-cop would willingly break the law - while on parole - in the belief that an ex-cop just out of prison could get her job back through such tactics. This plot is more suited for a short-lived TV series than for a Baldacci book. That being said it's not badly written but also definitely not worthy of the praise that Baldacci fans will give it just because it's a Baldacci book. This is the juncture where Baldacci can buckle down and bring back riveting stories or he can go the way of other massively successful authors (Grisham and Patterson are good examples) who realize anything they write, regardless of quality, will be an instant best-seller and they seem to put in the effort lately to prove that point.

I've never felt inclined to write a review before but this book was so bad that I had to. The plot is bad, the characters are poorly written and the ending is unbelievably bad. Too many situations make you almost laugh out loud at how ridiculous they are. The tough gang leader Psycho deciding to play one on one basketball to decide the heroes fates. The Russian assassin who rather than simply finishing her job and killing them decides it would be more interesting to have a knife fight with Mace. The police chief is a joke, not to mention the entire police department.

However the worst part is the dialogue. It is unbelievably bad, you cannot believe real people would talk like this at all. Baldacci learned some new lingo and is so proud of it that he bashes you over the head with it. I get it, police in D.C. are called "blues" and bad guys are "bandits" that doesn't meant that every single character must nonstop say blues and bandits. That annoyed me even more than the unbelievable plot.

As a fan of David Baldacci, I was terribly disappointed in his latest work. The characters are unbelievable and the plot even more so. And then what seemed to be a main plot line (who framed Mace Perry) is never resolved. Frankly, I think Baldacci should should slow down the pace of his publishing.

I have enjoyed all of Baldacci's books and eagerly wait for each new one. What a disappointment this was. This was not an all night read as his others have been These characters had so much potential, but it was never fulfilled. The plot was mediocre and poorly developed. A writer of this quality may have to meet contractual obligations, but this just seemed to be just that. A contract fulfilled. When so much talent is wasted, it makes me wonder if he's decided to just go the way so many other fine writers have when they decided to just turn out books after finding success. Boring, insubstantial, waste of potentially good ideas. Very disappointing.

What a disappointment! I felt as though I'd been dropped into book three of a Mace Perry series and missed the first two. Poor character development, mundane dialog, reality suspension needed. I'll stick to the Camel Club books.

Wow!! What a horrible book.

I have been disappointed in the last few of David Baldacci books but he finally hits bottom with this garbage. Did he write this or was it ghost written by a sixth grader? The story is so ridiculous that I hated buying the book after thirty pages. It seems that that he has followed the example of other "Best Selling" authors and just started turning out trash for bucks.

Everything about this book is terrible. It is so bad, that in spots you actually bust out laughing it is so ridiculous. Mace Perry gets out of jail and gets a job paying six figures and races around D.C. on a motorcycle solving crime by night. All the while her sister, the D.C. Police Chief covers for her so she can get her job back. GEEEEEEEZZZZZZZ!!!

This will be my last Baldacci book

OK so, there's this guy at work who has been after me for years to read David Baldacci. He swears by him and I would call him a `groupie' if it wasn't for the fact that he's 70-years old! He told me that I needed to start with `The Camel Club', but I wasn't in the mood to start a series. So when I heard that Mr. Baldacci had a new book coming out that was NOT part of a series, I figured I'd give it a shot. Turns out this book gave ME a shot!

I immensely enjoyed this read! Like I said, this was my first book by David but if this is how he normally writes, I can see why my friend at work was so persistent. To grab AND keep my attention a book must have blistering fast action, loathsome, captivating, notorious characters, a driving non-cheesy storyline, and a hint of bravado. `True Blue' has that times ten.

Mace, a former cop, just got out of jail after spending two years for a crime she did not commit. She's hell bent on proving her innocence and will do pretty much anything to clear her name. These "anything's" include severely ticking off her Chief-of-Police sister, getting on the wrong side of a brutal street thug, and getting into a cat-fight with the battle-axe Mona. Speaking of Mona, the cast of evil-bad characters in this book was phenomenal. I got a real thrill reading about Psycho, Mary Bard scares me, and Mona... Mona, Mona, Mona. If I called her a snobby, arrogant, bitchy, hellcat it wouldn't come close to describing to you what she really is. That being said, her parts in this book were very entertaining.

I don't know if this will become a series, but I hope it does because I sincerely enjoyed this book. Nothing would make me happier than to be a voyeur into the lives of Mace, Beth, Roy, Psycho, and Mona once more. If this was a one shot deal, then what a romp it was!

It seems to me that Mr Baldacci has increased the speed of his writing. There have been only 7 months between "First Family" and "True Blue". And I can only say: It shows - on the negative side.
The plot of this Book is very simple and has been a subject of countless books before. The characters aren't characters at all, there is no depth. The end of the story leaves room for the assumption that this won't be the last what we have heart from Mace, Roy, the flawless 4-star police chief and - of course - Mona.
Mr Baldicci, it's time to get back to the basics of writing good book, otherwise you'll have one reader less in future - one at least.
I am very disappointed.

If you are a Baldacci lover, like I am, you will be sorely disappointed with this book. I keep looking to see if it was written by David Baldacci with someone else because it's not like any of his other books. The writing is corny, cheesy and I keep cringing at the prose...It's just bad...If it wasn't David Baldacci, I don't even think I would have finished it.

I cannot agree more with all the reviewers who said this was an unbelievably bad, poorly written book. I have read and loved all Baldacci's other books so maybe this one was actually written by someone other than Baldacci. If he did write it, I hope he takes a long vacation before writing another one. I was sorry to hear that this book will be the first in a series involving these characters. If that's the case, I won't be reading Baldacci any more. I had to force myself to finish this one, kept hoping it would get better -- it didn't.