Jeff

Not the strongest work, but it was an enjoyable read and a worthwhile continuation of the series.Unfortunately, compared to the brilliance demonstrated in his other books, [a:David Baldacci 9291 David Baldacci https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1383944009p2/9291.jpg] seems to write himself in corners repeatedly with this book, at which point he usually has to conjure up a solution to the problem then and there, with no previous setup. Basically, there are no chekhov's guns to be found in this book.Also, the sense of discovery, all the clues being presented to the reader, aren't as present as they are in his previous books. Many times the character just comes up with the idea, and then the reader has to read ahead to figure out how said claim was reached.When compared to the other Camel Club books, there was very little focus on the other members of the Camel Club. They were mentioned in name, and had small roles here and there, but, were it a TV show, they would be guest stars. The book really felt more like an Oliver Stone book than a Camel club bookFinally, and this was the biggest sticking point for me, the use of technology as a crutch was a bit out of place for a series that has, at least traditionally, grounded itself. Nanobots to alter the chemical smell of bombs? A pocket-sized door opening laser? I thought I was reading a Camel Club book, not a James Bond or Dick Tracy novel.All in all, it was a good, entertaining read, but doesn't hold muster to the quality of the other books in the series.

A good book; a nice end to the Duberman story arc, with a few unfortunate caveats.As always, Berenson's characters, writing style, and locations are rich and colorful, without being too wordy or over the top. And this book was no exception.Unfortunately, his pacing reeks of publisher-itis, and its not just this book, but the whole Duberman story arch. Duberman, who we've spent 3 books getting to know as the big bad guy, gets a rather short ending; a quick shot to the body, after far too much lead up. And thats not the only example of such pacing irregularities. A substantial portion of the book has Wells doing nothing but simple surveillance, and then the Russians are suddenly brought in and the pace almost doubles. Then Wells is kidnapped by MI6, stuffed aboard an aircraft carrier, and the pacing slows way down again.The whole story could have easily fit in a book the size of [b:The Midnight House 6999817 The Midnight House (John Wells, #4) Alex Berenson https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1436659058s/6999817.jpg 7243391], and it seems like there was far too much filler for 3 books worth.But publishers demand their pound of flesh and I guess they got it here.

Not Baldacci's best work, but not his worst either.

I came away finding few, if any, of the characters likable. I found most of them to be either mopey or sociopathic, with few “normal” characters. I suppose this is a product of the era this novel was written in, as it was common, but it is offputting.

The plot was a tad pedestrian, and while entertaining, at about the 60% mark, I was hoping the book would wrap up. There was too much prose devoted to ultimately unimportant factors in the book.

And thats really the biggest problem with this book. Its got way too much purple prose. No one ever simply drives to a place, they “Floor their black Mercedes down the rainslick road.”* Nothing is ever just a cold day. I found myself skipping paragraphs, even whole pages, and not losing any of the plot. Couple that with way too much description of law, law practice, and the book just was full of way too much tedium. While this may have been excusable in a Melville book, it isn't here.

I ultimately finished the book, and it did keep me entertained, but it could have been pared down quite a bit and come out a better book

* not an actual quote

Fun to revisit these characters again, although the book felt too “easy.” Other than some conflict in the first part of the book, our heroes blow through any and all obstacles with minimal challenge.

While an entertaining read, [a:Orson Scott Card 589 Orson Scott Card https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1294099952p2/589.jpg] clearly has fallen into a formula for his book series.Book 1 was a wonderful book, and a great start to what looked like it would be an interesting series. It had good pacing and wove an intricate and involved universe. Similar, in some aspects, to [a:Larry Niven 12534 Larry Niven https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1182720933p2/12534.jpg]'s [b:The Burning City 100368 The Burning City Larry Niven https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1171467265s/100368.jpg 1455095] stories.Book 2 felt sort of like it was rushed, with a rather abrupt and harsh ending. But still, the pacing and overall story development felt real.Book 3 (this book), however, seemed to be where Card realized he had all these loose threads to tie up. The pacing is all over the place, going from spending several chapters about nothing to wrapping up the major antagonistic plot device in a few pages. The power structures, outlined so meticulously in the first book, are run roughshod over, with a tremendous amount of power and ability creep taking place in just a few passages. Furthermore, the characters seem to become weak vessels for philosophical discussion. Any back stories, intrigue, or development they may have had is squashed, under a relentless parade of righteousness.Card also loses touch with some of the aspects of his older young adult novels. His understanding of teenagers, particularly highschool students, proved to be lacking in some places.He wasn't going to have sex with anybody until he actually made a lifelong commitment and married someone. Period. No exceptions, not even for true love.This, and the related attempts of the various girls to throw themselves at Danny are completely unlike and distant from any realistic teenage character. Card attempts to cover his ass later in the book, by saying its the Sutathites who caused this, but that feels like a weak plot device. It feels like, once again, Card was exerting some of his more conservative beliefs onto his characters. While thats his right as an author, it doesn't help in the realism of his books.And that sort of gets to the heart of what I was saying earlier. It reads like an adult fantasy novel, with occasional obnoxious interjections of fellow-kids, that is to say, the chapters where the group of children bantered with each other felt out of place, like they were put there to ensure the book appeared as a young-adult book.