By: David Baldacci Publisher: Vision Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 544 Publication Date: August 26, 2008 Studio: Vision
Product Description: The #1 bestselling author of The Collectors and Simple Genius returns with STONE COLD...an unforgetable novel of revenge, conspiracy, and murder that brings a band of unlikely heroes face-to-face with their greatest threat.
Oliver Stone, the leader of the mysterious group that calls itself the Camel Club, is both feared and respected by those who've crossed his path. Keeping a vigilant watch over our leaders in Washington D.C., the Camel Club has won over some allies, but it has also earned formidable enemies-including those in power who will do anything to prevent Stone and his friends from uncovering the hidden, secret work of the government.
Annabelle Conroy, an honorary member of the Camel Club, is also the greatest con artist of her generation. She has swindled forty million dollars from casino king Jerry Bagger, the man who murdered her mother. Now he's hot on her trail with only one goal in mind: Annabelle's death. But as Stone and the Camel Club circle the wagons to protect Annabelle, a new opponent, who makes Bagger's menace pale by comparison, suddenly arises.
One by one, men from Stone's shadowy past are turning up dead. Behind this slaughter stands one man: Harry Finn. To almost all who know him, Finn is a doting father and loving husband who uses his skills behind the scenes to keep our nation safe. But the other face of Harry Finn is that of an unstoppable killer who inevitably sets his lethal bull's-eye on Oliver Stone. And with Finn, Stone may well have met his match.
As Annabelle and the Camel Club fight for their lives, the twists and turns whipsaw, leading to a finale that is as explosive as it is shattering. And when buried secrets are at last violently resurrected, the members of the Camel Club left standing will be changed forever.
With unrelenting pacing, stunning reversals, and two of the most compelling characters in modern fiction, STONE COLD is David Baldacci writing at his breathtaking best.
"Stone Cold" ... Overcomplimentary? ^ "Stone Cold" is my first visit with David Baldacci, and will probably also be my last. As others have mentioned, this book forms part of a loosely continuing series about the Camel Club, a group of disparate individuals who nonetheless have specific skills to add to the group's success in variously odd undertakings. Had I known that "Stone Cold" was NOT an effective stand-alone story, I would've attempted to read its predecessors, as I had no idea of what the Camel Club was, who were its members, what their back-stories were, or even what their personality traits, strengths and weaknesses were.
I particular, the Conroy/Bagger interplay and its ongoing subplot needed much more recapping for a new reader. It seemed (to me) ludicrous that someone as insecure as Annabelle could've ripped off a cold-blooded thug like Bagger to the tune of 40 million dollars, and still be standing upright. Indeed, as the story developed, Bagger seemed to be ordering the termination of people who stood in his way with gay abandon! And yet here's Annabelle apparently surviving in the same city as Bagger, and right under his nose! And Paddy's involvement was totally obscure; why was he included in this story at all, other than as a convenient foil to justify Annabelle's ongoing (and annoying to the reader) bitterness at the whole world -- seemingly in general.
In fact, all the interpersonal relationships of the main cast were so lightly drawn as to be almost incomprehensible to a first-time Stone reader. I was actually having problems remembering who was whom, whether they were good guys or baddies, how their pasts interlocked, and even whether I was meant to like them or not. All the characterisations were on the light side; I felt no empathy for any of them.
It was also unwise of Baldacci to unwittingly create two major story protagonists whose backstories turned out to be too similar in nature. Although I'm guessing that Oliver Stone was intended as the hero, I found myself cheering for Harry Finn -- whom I'm guessing was meant to be the bad guy? Weak (lazy?) character development again. Both these guys seemed to have bits and pieces of Jack Reacher, but it was as though each had a somehow incomplete set of super-hero abilities, whereas we needed at least one guy of that ilk to believe in.
And, as others before me have mentioned, Baldacci was somewhat lazy in his research. In many cases we read of "a device" being used for some high-tech purpose, without even a passing explanation of its inner workings. At one stage, Finn deactivates a vehicle's alarm by just pressing a device against its fender. Baldacci doesn't even pretend to offer some sort of explanation as to how this would work -- even something technically implausible. That's just lazy writing. In another scene we have Finn "using a support device not available to the public" to ride on the hull of a ship. Apparently we're meant to accept that Finn smuggled this "device" -- and himself -- into a top-security Naval base using only some forged paperwork and a disguise. Please!
And the recurring "CPU" was really, really tragically slack writing. Nobody I know would ever call a personal computer box or case a CPU. If you're going to use IT terminology, at least make it accurate. I too dislike the single-page chapters. What a waste of trees. Or did Baldacci's publishers demand precisely 388 pages, so he achieved that by adding lots of superfluous white space? I didn't notice this at the time, but this book would've stayed on the shelf had I noticed, as I'm one who prefers at least a dozen pages per chapter.
All up, a disappointing book. I'm surprised that the blurb describes Baldacci as "a #1 bestselling author" considering the lightweight predictable plot, sketchily drawn and generally unlikable characters, the often implausible dialogue, and the unconvincing or non-existent technicalities of all the "devices" used conveniently just as they're needed. Almost a deus ex machina?
Love the Camel Club Series ^ I always find "series" books to be hit or miss. Some series are great, some last too long (how is Lucas Davenport still going strong?), and some are just plain BAD (love Harlan Coben, but abhor the Myron Bolitar series)! Having said that - for now I put the Camel Club books in the GREAT category. Sure the action and twists and turns can be a little hard to believe, but the characters are deep and varied. Some are stereotypical and others are totally real and believable. Baldacci blends them so well in these books. This one has so many intertwining plots it was very difficult to not finish in one night. Sooner or later we're going to have to see a Camel Club movie from one of these books. Go get the book and enjoy!
Thrilling, Political Undertones and Secrets. ^ A most interesting piece of fiction that every reader will enjoy. The work contains different suprises at every turn of the page. I would strongly suggest the reader get a copy of the "Camel Club" first by the same author before reading this work. The characters are vivid, the action exciting, and the ending somewhat unexpected.
Better Characterization Improves this Baldacci Thriller ^ STONE COLD takes up again the characters introduced in THE CAMEL CLUB and continued in THE COLLECTORS. "Oliver Stone" is the pseudonym of John Carr, an ex-CIA "666" assassin, now war protestor. He and his conspiracy theorist odd fellows--Reuben Rhodes, Caleb Shaw and Milton Farb--form The Camel Club," which had previously helped to prevent a nuclear war by defeating a couple of rogue elements in U.S. intelligence, including the head of intelligence himself, Carter Gray, and then later wrapped up ("skewered" might be more accurate) a spy who had been colluding with terrorists.
This novel follows two plot lines that are only loosely intertwined:
(1) a con played against a Jersey casino gambler by Annabelle Conroy (first introduced in THE COLLECTORS) and her washed-up father, Paddy Conroy, and
(2) John Carr's teaming with Harry Finn, the assassin son of a Russian spy, to defeat the murderous scheme of his former boss and now nemesis, Carter Gray.
The tight, fast-moving plot of STONE COLD fulfills the expectations of a Baldacci reader, although the climactic gun battle is wrapped up a bit too hastily, as if the author got a little bored with the scene and wanted to move on. What follows the gun battle then feels a little melodramatic; it almost (but not quite) works because Baldacci has given the characters a degree of depth. One can feel some empathy for characters like Harry Finn, whose killings, done at the behest of his mother, are to avenge the death of his father, and yet undermine the integrity of his other life as a loving father and husband. As a result of the more rounded characterization, STONE COLD is a more satisfying read than the series debut. On the other hand, John Carr, a.k.a. Oliver Stone, still seems removed from the reader, so when he has an emotional breakdown, it's less moving than weird--especially since the catalyst was so totally gratuitous a plot device.
Baldacci introduces religion in the lives of his characters (for instance, Carter Grey, we learn, is Presbyterian), but it's unclear why since religion never really seems to inform the conduct of his characters. Maybe that's the author's point. I think it would be more effective, though, if the religious and moral lives of these characters actually meant something, even if it was struggling with their faith convictions in the face of a cold realpolitik.
The reader on the audio CD version, Ron McLarty, is the best reader I've yet had the pleasure to listen to. He differentiates the characters through the skilled use of different voices, and does so without going over the top (notwithstanding Paddy's Irish brogue). It's enough to seek out McLarty's other work on Amazon.
Awful ^ OK, I read a lot of mysteries and Baldacci kept popping up as an Amazon recommendation. I chose this one because it was the highest rated. If this is the best this writer can do he needs to consider a new career.
It's filled with descriptions such as "he attached a special device." I enjoy Lawrence Block, Stewart Woods, Elmore Leonard, Vince Flynn and more, but this guy is awful.
I foolishly bought the Kindle edition without first downloading a sample. With a sample I would have quit. As it was, I wasted a lot of time on the road reading this whole book, waiting for it to get better. Never happened.
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