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Description
Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:Two ex-Secret Service agents must face a dark world of violence, codes, and spies at a secret CIA training camp in this #1 New York Times bestseller about a mystery that could destroy the nation.Near Washington, D.C., there are two clandestine institutions: the world's most unusual laboratory and a secret CIA training camp. Drawn to these sites by a murder, ex-Secret Service agent Sean King encounters a dark world of mathematicians, codes, and spies. His search for answers soon leads him to more shocking violence-and an autistic girl with an extraordinary genius. Now, only by working with his partner, Michelle Maxwell, who is battling her own personal demons, can he catch a killer...and stop a national threat.… (more)
User reviews
Baldacci does a good job of keeping the plot moving along. While the ultimate cause of the conspiracies traced in the book may be a little far-fetched, Baldacci sets up the books' events in such a way that everything makes sense. His characters are a bit more in-depth and realistic than many in this genre. We learn a lot about many of the characters and their motivations, especially Michelle. Overall, a quick and enjoyable read.
David Baldacci weaves a complex story of intrigue with likable characters, to pull the reader though the intrigue of Washington back door politics, the CIA, questionable interrogation tactics, quantum computers, the history of Camp Peary; an unacknowledged CIA property, and psychological mysteries of the personal kind.
While the book is fiction, David Baldacci uses some interesting references to real people. Charles Babbage (a name also popping up in the movies “Rain Man” and “National Treasure”) is considered the father of the programmable computer. Alan Turing was a code breaker working in Bletchley Park and a genetic predecessor of the fictional Monk Turing. David Baldacci creates Champ Pollion, director of Babbage Town from real life Jean-Francois Champollion, a French linguist who worked on deciphering Egyptian codes. The Beale Cipher is an unsolved code believed to reveal an 1800’s buried treasure. The idea for Simple Genius originated from the Beale Cipher mystery.
reads like run of the mill popular fiction
light summer reading
I
The book follows Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, two former
Overall, a pretty good book for a pulp fiction mystery. I'll admit that the twist ending (and there always is a twist) took me by surprise. Not an intellectually stimulating book or one that will win any awards, but a good read none the less.
The bottom line of this novel is that it is ridiculous in so many ways. There are government conspiracies out the wazoo, each one more nonsensical that the previous one. I didn't find either of the main characters to be remotely compelling. There is a certain level of dramatic tension involved in the novel, which worked fairly well. I also liked the concept behind Babbage Town, the high tech think tank. But so much of the execution of the novel was flawed. This is one that I would recommend skipping.
Carl Alves - author of Blood Street
The very talented author has come through again.
Highly recommended.
Maxwell & King series Book #3
4★’s
From The Book:
In a world of secrets, human genius is power.
And sometimes it is simply deadly . . .
Near Washington, D.C., there are two clandestine institutions: the world's most unusual laboratory and a secret CIA training camp.
Now, only by working with his embattled partner, Michelle Maxwell, can he catch a killer...and solve a stunning mystery that threatens the entire nation.
My Thoughts:
I am probably one of David’s Baldacci’s top fans…especially of his John Puller, Will Robie and the newest…Amos Decker series… but Maxwell and King will always hold a favorite place in my heart. I was so sorry to see this series end. I was overjoyed when the Mystery & Suspense group voted to read this series as a book discussion. That being said…I had an issue with this book…not too serious but it did lose it half a star…at least for me.
In this… the 3rd book… we find Michelle Maxwell hitting an all time mental low as she nearly kills a total stranger for no other reason that he was dressed in military gear and he was simple there. The events after that incident offered some very good storyline and some very exciting moments. However…nothing is as it seems, in this tortuous tale.
As Michelle struggles with her emotional problems, Sean nearly bankrupts himself and their company paying for Michelle’s much needed help which brings us to his taking a job from his former lover, Joan, to investigate a compound of geniuses that have super computers and complicated codes at their finger tips. Here is where the majority of the remainder of the book takes place. Be warned…unless you have a degree in physics and computer sciences…you will want to skip over some parts of this or your head will implode. From here on it reminded me of the old adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely ". It is hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys and involves every spook agency in the government. I did find the look into code breaking and Alan Turing's work cracking the Enigma Code during WWII fascinating and very much enlightening..
The ending of the book…while diffidently being a wild ride of twists and turns was what lost it the extra half star that I had originally awarded it. David Baldacci is a superb writer…one of my favorites… who keeps the reader turning pages, and there is plenty of suspense, mystery and action….character development galore. You really get to know much more about King and Maxwell. It was exciting, fun, with an excellent plot. Those were the good points that got it the 4 stars to start with. What I had the main issue with was that Baldacci turned all the good people into bad people, the bad people into good people, and in one case back into a good person saying he was “just following orders”. Now where and how many times have we heard that excuse for bad manners, behavior and judgments? That defense failed at Nuremberg and it fails here.