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Divine Justice (2008)

by David Baldacci(Favorite Author)
4.13 of 5 Votes: 4
ISBN
0446195502 (ISBN13: 9780446195508)
languge
English
publisher
Grand Central Publishing
series
Camel Club
review 1: It won't disappoint you if you have some expectations knowing this author, a great book, action packed, very entertaining, if you enjoy this stylePros- as usual interesting and complex main plot, with even a secondary plot developing on the side, just to keep you on your toes trying to learn more or to attempt to solve it on your end if you feel you're up to the task- we learn a bit more about the history of the main protagonist of this series and this is great, the author is spending a bit more time revealing a bit more about his main character- I can fell there is a bit more humor - compared with other books in the series - and this is great IMHO - as I for one, I prefer a smart mouth character- the scenes are well described and in contrast the dialog is also catching an... mored I'm pleased to see more humor in the character's remarksCons- maybe the fact that is so much emphasis on "catching the bad guy" and less on what he actually feels and his own reasons or justifications for doing what he does - and don't get me wrong, it's not like I promote going out and doing "bad" things, just because one feels like, but trying to understand the deeps of the reasons why one may do some "bad" things is the key to a more profound resolution IMHO- also, maybe the fact that so many things, so much action is happening in a very small coal mining town located in the middle of nowhere lands and yes, I know it's fiction, but c'mon in the name of some kind of realism, it's too much going on for just a small townBottom line- despite my comments in the Cons section, nevertheless this is a great book, a very pleasant experience, super action, twisted plots, funny characters, everything will keep you on the edge wanting more, so don't hesitate to go over this one too
review 2: This is the first of Baldacci's novels I've read. There are a bunch of reader reviews in GoodReads that give reasonably good synopses of the plot, so I'll not go into detail here. I was a little disappointed by the novel, though I also enjoyed it quite a bit.I enjoyed it because Baldacci is a terrific storyteller. He is very good at sucking in the reader in this case with an opening that is suspenseful, unusual, and promises a high-stakes story about the CIA and someone who used to be in the CIA who has just assassinated two high-profile people.What was disappointing to me was the payoff. There were a lot of red herrings here in terms of what the story was really about. Some of the suspense paid off . . . but some of it seemed, in retrospect, to leave this reader wishing there had been more substance involved inb the final solution of the mystery at the core of the story. The author was pretty fair with clues, but he also took what seemed to be shortcuts--there is a love story that starts around a fifth of the way into the novel, but it seems to be "love-story light"--the characters are nicely portrayed, but their attraction seems to develop so quickly that I felt the woman involved really didn't get a fair shake. This was a woman who is portrayed as very strong, but who has suffered a lot of disappointment in her life, and a fair amount of trouble. I thought she fell into bed with the hero of the story more quickly than someone in her situation would, realistically, have done. Obviously, this is my subjective opinion, but she's a Southern woman from a small town, he's a CIA agent who seems to be around twenty years older than her. He comes to her town with her wayward son, shows himself to be secretive, and at the same time does good things, saving the lives of both her son and of his best friend. At the same time, by the end of the book, both young men have died, and one could argue that he didn't ultimately deserve her trust. Moreover, both characters seem to be too protective of their emotions to be able to have a satisfying relationship at the end of the book.The other thing that disappointed me was the fact that the hero, while we're told that he's an enormously skilled agent, can't manage to get the son to say anything at all about what kind of trouble he's in, despite the fact that the agent keeps having to save him from beatings and othe, even more serious trouble. It felt as if the agent could have learned more if he'd tried harder . . . but it wouldn't have suited the author's plan for the story, so he didn't try hard enough to ferret out information that could have ultimately saved the life of the young man.This is the fourth book in the Camel Club series, and I realize that it's hard for an author to make continuing characters seem fresh to new readers, when it is so much easier to rely on what the author has revealed about them in previous books in the series. But for the new reader, it makes the characters frustratingly opaque. It's to Baldacci's credit that even with this frustrations, the characters were appealing and intriguing. But it would have been helpful to have seen some little bits of background about the supporting cast. The writing was serviceable, but not wonderful--but the storytelling made up for that. Even though the story didn't pay off as well as I had hoped, it was nonetheless exciting and gripping. I only wish that some of the characters--like the sheriff who apparently had a crush on the woman who eventually falls into bed with our hero--had been given more complex roles in the overall story. I kept on wondering what was going to happen with the sheriff . . . but he turned out to be simply a good guy (with a very bad-acting brother, who turned out to be the villain of the piece. The core idea was a rather unusual and intriguing one, but it felt, when it was over, as if there might have been more done with it, and that would have made this a really outstanding novel. I am curious to read the first Camel Club novel, to see if it has the same merits but perhaps not the same problems. less
Reviews (see all)
Anani
This is the first of Baldacci's novels I've read. There are a bunch of reader reviews in GoodReads that give reasonably good synopses of the plot, so I'll not go into detail here. I was a little disappointed by the novel, though I also enjoyed it quite a bit.I enjoyed it because Baldacci is a terrific storyteller. He is very good at sucking in the reader in this case with an opening that is suspenseful, unusual, and promises a high-stakes story about the CIA and someone who used to be in the CIA who has just assassinated two high-profile people.What was disappointing to me was the payoff. There were a lot of red herrings here in terms of what the story was really about. Some of the suspense paid off . . . but some of it seemed, in retrospect, to leave this reader wishing there had been more substance involved inb the final solution of the mystery at the core of the story. The author was pretty fair with clues, but he also took what seemed to be shortcuts--there is a love story that starts around a fifth of the way into the novel, but it seems to be "love-story light"--the characters are nicely portrayed, but their attraction seems to develop so quickly that I felt the woman involved really didn't get a fair shake. This was a woman who is portrayed as very strong, but who has suffered a lot of disappointment in her life, and a fair amount of trouble. I thought she fell into bed with the hero of the story more quickly than someone in her situation would, realistically, have done. Obviously, this is my subjective opinion, but she's a Southern woman from a small town, he's a CIA agent who seems to be around twenty years older than her. He comes to her town with her wayward son, shows himself to be secretive, and at the same time does good things, saving the lives of both her son and of his best friend. At the same time, by the end of the book, both young men have died, and one could argue that he didn't ultimately deserve her trust. Moreover, both characters seem to be too protective of their emotions to be able to have a satisfying relationship at the end of the book.The other thing that disappointed me was the fact that the hero, while we're told that he's an enormously skilled agent, can't manage to get the son to say anything at all about what kind of trouble he's in, despite the fact that the agent keeps having to save him from beatings and othe, even more serious trouble. It felt as if the agent could have learned more if he'd tried harder . . . but it wouldn't have suited the author's plan for the story, so he didn't try hard enough to ferret out information that could have ultimately saved the life of the young man.This is the fourth book in the Camel Club series, and I realize that it's hard for an author to make continuing characters seem fresh to new readers, when it is so much easier to rely on what the author has revealed about them in previous books in the series. But for the new reader, it makes the characters frustratingly opaque. It's to Baldacci's credit that even with this frustrations, the characters were appealing and intriguing. But it would have been helpful to have seen some little bits of background about the supporting cast. The writing was serviceable, but not wonderful--but the storytelling made up for that. Even though the story didn't pay off as well as I had hoped, it was nonetheless exciting and gripping. I only wish that some of the characters--like the sheriff who apparently had a crush on the woman who eventually falls into bed with our hero--had been given more complex roles in the overall story. I kept on wondering what was going to happen with the sheriff . . . but he turned out to be simply a good guy (with a very bad-acting brother, who turned out to be the villain of the piece. The core idea was a rather unusual and intriguing one, but it felt, when it was over, as if there might have been more done with it, and that would have made this a really outstanding novel. I am curious to read the first Camel Club novel, to see if it has the same merits but perhaps not the same problems.
demetramb
I wasn't sure if I was going to like the Camel Club on audio. Oftentimes, if I've started a series by reading the book, the audio doesn't always grab me (Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs is a case in point--I couldn't finish the audio, but am looking forward to reading the rest of the book). The narrator for this book is decent; I especially like Ruben's voice. I don't know if I'll listen to the next Camel Club or read it--probably depends on whether the paper/ebook or audiobook is available.
tete88
I think this was my favorite Camel Club story!
Cenker
Camel Club always a good read.
iluvvu2
Interesting. Kept me glued
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