Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
If you enjoyed the Camel Club you'll enjoy this, 5 Nov 2006
It was a pleasant surprise to pick up this book and discover some of the characters from the Camel Club. It's a fast paced story with a lot of sub-plots without getting too complicated. David Baldacci has written some books that weren't great, but on a whole I still consider him one of the best authors in this genre and the Collectors more than lived up to my expectations. You don't have to necessarily have read the Camel Club before this, but I'd recommend it as it's an excellent introduction to the characters that appear in this book. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that the way this book finishes promises a lot for his next offering, if he chooses to live up to it!
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
The Camel Club Adds a New Ally, 5 Nov 2006
If you liked David Baldacci's The Camel Club, don't miss The Collectors! The wackiest group of Minutemen in history is back with an unexpected ally, Annabelle Conroy, who brings her extraordinary skill in running million-dollar frauds to the Camel Club's traitor fighting. It's a brilliant development for a series concept that is already one of the most successful variations on the thriller genre in many years.
As before, the Republic is in danger by sinister people who are selling off secrets to the highest bidders to feather their own nests. The evidence of this danger is found in frequent deaths of spies and prominent people. In this case, a rogue assassin has gone into business for himself. In addition to earning a fortune, he is also thrilled to keep souvenirs of those he dispatches.
One of these deaths, that of Jonathan DeHaven, is a quite mysterious one at the Library of Congress that seems on the surface to be from natural causes. But the Camel Club wants to know more and develops an intriguing theory. As a result of the death, Caleb Shaw becomes the literary collection's executor of his former boss's estate. In the process of reviewing the books, Caleb stumbles onto an unexpected volume that raises astonishing questions that are not easily answered. One mystery leads to another when a visit to Jonathan DeHaven's home turns up a telescope trained at an unexpected scene. There's also a photograph of DeHaven with a most attractive young woman. Who could she be?
Separately, we meet the brilliant and energetic con-woman, Annabelle Conroy, who wants millions from . . . and revenge against a casino operator, Jerry Bagger, who once murdered her mother. The book develops that story line until the two stories begin to intertwine. The result is dynamite for adding spice, danger and adventure to the book.
By the end of the book, you'll be excited about the many possibilities that this book opens up for what should be an excellent and ever-improving series.
Mr. Baldacci does an excellent job of developing characters, tossing out intriguing plot developments, mixing in lots of action, and challenging your assumptions about what an intelligent thriller can be like.
It's refreshing, fun and rewarding for those who like original stories with a heart and a strong plot.
Well done, Mr. Baldacci!
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Mediocre, 23 April 2007
David Baldacci's The Collector is an eminently put-downable book that fails to develop characters, build tension, or contain credible surprises. This is not a book for readers with an eye for detail or who are pedants for accuracy. At various times while reading this book the same two questions kept recurring to me. Firstly is this book the result of a bet about how many cliches you can pack into some 400 pages ? Secondly, does Baldacci write the storylines for the scooby-doo cartoons ? All that this book requires was for one of the bad guys to say "I would have gotten away with it had it not been for you pesky old folk" for my suspicions to be confirmed.
As a holiday read, or something light and fluffy to pass a commute then I suppose it works. But don't expect a top-notch thriller or any elegant writing. Baldacci must have written much better than this to have built his reputation.
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