Simple Genius | David Baldacci | Probably Better By Listening

Simple Genius | David Baldacci | Did Baldacci really write this?

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Simple Genius

	Simple Genius David Baldacci Vision, 2008 - 576 pages average customer review:based on 131 reviews view larger image
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In a world of secrets, human genius is power.

And sometimes it is simply deadly...

A three-hour drive from Washington, D.C., two clandestine institutions face each other across a heavily guarded river. One is the world's most unusual laboratory, whose goals and funding are a mystery. The other is an elite CIA training camp shrouded in secrecy. Now a man and a woman are about to run a gauntlet between these two puzzle factories, straight into a furious struggle to exploit a potentially world-shattering discovery--and keep some other secrets underwraps forever...

Former secret service agents turned private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have seen their lives splinter around them. Michelle lies unconscious ina hospital bed after a night of suicidal violence. And Sean is forced to take on a thankless investigation into the mutder of a scientist just inside the CIA's razor-wire fence near Williamsburg, Virginia.

Soon he is uncovering layer after layer of disinformation that shields a stunning world filled with elite mathematics, physicists, war heroes, spies, and deadly field agents. Amid more murder, a seemingly autistic girl's extraordinary genius, and a powerful breakthrough in the realm of classified codes, Sean soon learns enough to put his life at risk. Now more than ever, he needs Michelle--at her best--to help stop a conspiracy of traitors operating in the shadow of the White House itself.

From Michelle's courageous struggle to defeat her long-buried personal demons to a
centuries-old secret that surfaces in the heat of action, SIMPLE GENIUS pulses with stunning, high-intensity suspense. The heroes of Split Second and Hour Game, David Baldacci's #1 New York Times bestsellers, are back--as you've never seen them before.

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Probably Better By Listening

I really enjoyed the audio version of this book but I can tell that it might not have been an easy read. I found parts of it riveting, parts predicatable and parts incomprehensible but overall the characters kept the story from getting out of hand.

Did Baldacci really write this?

I am a big fan of Mr. Baldacci. While I wouldn't call him a "great" writer in a literary sense, I have always found his books to be exciting and believable in terms of dialog and character development. Simple Genius however is so bad in these areas that I can't believe David actually wrote it himself. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that it is actually the work of a ghost writer. Given the volume of work he has released lately I get the impression that Mr. Baldacci is "cashing in."

Simple Genius has an engaging story line, and some unexpected twists that could have made it one of Mr. Baldacci's better books. Cheesy dialog between shallow characters really ruined it for me though. Sorry David. You're one of my top-20 favorite authors, and I will continue buying your books (for now at least), but Simple Genius is a real stinker.

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