Publisher's Weekly Review
At the outset of Baldacci's routine fifth thriller featuring ex-Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell (after First Family), the pair, who now work together as private investigators, fly to Maine to meet Ted Bergin, King's old law professor. Bergin has hired King and Maxwell to assist in his defense of Edgar Roy, a U.S. government employee who's been indicted for murdering six people found buried on Roy's Virginia farm. Because for some reason it's a federal case, Roy is incarcerated at a Maine prison. Near their destination, the PIs stop to investigate a broken-down car on the side of the road. Inside is Bergin, who's been shot between the eyes. King and Maxwell probe deeper into the charges against Roy to find the professor's killer, with no help from Roy, who hasn't been talking since his arrest. A fast pace compensates only in part for a cartoonish villain-a venal politician-and a familiar Washington conspiracy plot. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
Something is rotten in the state of U.S. intelligence. Baldacci's fifth Sean King and Michelle Maxwell novel (after First Family) opens with the investigative duo headed to a federal prison for the criminally insane. Jailed there is Edgar Roy, an IRS employee, accused of killing six men and burying their bodies in his barn. Called in by Ted Bergin, King's old professor and Roy's lawyer, the two find their case quickly becoming personal when they discover Bergin shot to death in his car. Was Bergin killed because he was defending Roy? Did Roy murder those six men? The more questions King and Maxwell ask, the more lethal obstacles they face. Their questions begin to lead them into the most deadly places of all-the highest echelons of U.S. intelligence organizations. Baldacci builds a suspenseful story with appealing characters that will have the reader guessing their loyalties right to the very end. Verdict Highly recommended for all fans of Baldacci and similar authors like James Patterson and John Grisham. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/10.]-Susan O. Moritz, Montgomery Cty. P.L., MD (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.