Bad guy Robert Thornhill, a deputy director of the CIA, hates the FBI because they have more money and clout than his own agency. So he comes up with a scheme to blackmail various members of Congress into supporting bills that will increase the CIA's power and, not incidentally, give his already considerable ego a major boost. Thornhill has a cadre of supportive CIA colleagues (including some nasty robo killers) to help carry out the scheme. And he's blackmailed lobbyist Danny Buchanan (a good guy) into helping him. Danny's longtime partner Faith Lockhart (another good "guy") suspects Danny is in over his head, so she tries to cut a deal with the FBI to save his skin. Meantime, Danny has enlisted the aid of Lee Adams (good guy number three) to keep Faith from squealing. Then Faith and Lee witness the murder of an FBI agent and become targets themselves. Of course, the danger stimulates the inevitable mutual-attraction hormones between Faith and Lee. Also part of the plot are two dogged FBI agents who get involved in lots of knife fights, stakeouts, and shoot-'em-ups trying to save the trio of good guys. Yes, the plot is too busy and more than a little improbable, but Baldacci makes it work with solid suspense, pithy dialogue, and plenty of hot but tender sex scenes. A must for action fans and a guilty pleasure for everyone else. --Emily Melton

Wayward politicos, bickering alphabet agencies, conspiracies rampant, gore galore'it must be time for another of Baldacci's ponderous potboilers (The Simple Truth, 1998, etc.). Beltway insiders know that as lobbyists go, Faith Lockhart is top of the line. Attractive, smart, energetic, she can charm with the best of them. It's true, of course, that lobbyists, even winsome ones, are not universally adored. Even so, the position adopted by Bob Thornhill, the CIA's ``most distinguished cold war soldier'' and current director of operations, seems extreme. He wants Faith killed. It seems she interferes with something he calls his grand plan, which apparently has to do with keeping America safe, though exactly how Faith qualifies as a threat isn't all that easy to grasp. At any rate, Thornhill sets a nasty trap for her, which Faith escapes thanks to the derring-do of p.i. Lee Adams. At first an accidental savior, Lee gets more invested in his new assignment when he falls in love. The two go on the lam, with Thornhill's spooks a hot breath behind them. The FBI is also on their trail, since one of its agents was gunned down in the trap meant to finish Faith, and the feebies can't decide just where it is that Faith fits in. But quick-thinking Lee rises to all challenges to keep saving Faith. Though representatives of both agencies blanket the airport, he spirits her out of D.C., and they flee to the safe house provident Faith bought years ago against a rainy day. There they consummate their love. But it's there too that the chase will end, setting the stage for a tableau of spooks vs. feebies blasting away in an updated version of the OK Corral. Graceless prose and shaky plotting don't help, but it's those tacky, comic-strip villains that really do in the suspense.

Baldacci's fifth high-concept premise in as many novels (The Simple Truth; Absolute Power; etc.) propels his hard-working new thriller: a renegade CIA faction attempts to reassert the agency's primacy over the FBI by manipulating members of Congress who fund both outfits. To do so, the CIA conspirators aim to take over a bribery scheme they've discovered. The scam was concocted by legendary lobbyist Danny Buchanan, who has been greasing the palms of lawmakers to gain their support of bills aiding the poor and hungry overseas. The spooks plan to assassinate Buchanan and his prot‚g‚, the lovely Faith Lockhart, and force the legislators, under threat of exposure, to support the CIA over the FBI. First, however, they'll have to kill the FBI person guarding Faith, for she has confessed everything to the bureau in hopes of working a deal for herself and Buchanan. But the CIA villains haven't reckoned on the resilience of the two lobbyists, nor on the grit of FBI agent Brooke Reynolds, nor on the skill of PI Lee Adams, who gets caught up in the attempted hit on Faith and her guardianÄ and who then goes on the run with the lobbyist. The novel evolves into a frantic, exciting chase, FBI after CIA after Lee/Faith, with a few nifty twists. Baldacci's characters continue to grow in complexityÄthere's an exceptionally fine scene in which Lee, drunk, nearly rapes FaithÄbut, alas, so does his plotting. This novel is overdone, with too many heroes and subplots and enough data withheld from readers to generate confusion. Baldacci's prose can still break the jaws of subvocalizers, too. The novel moves fast, though, and its players and suspense are strongÄas should be sales. Main selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club; simultaneous audiobook. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

In this thriller, complicated circumstances lead private investigator Lee Adams and Washington lobbyist Faith Lockhart to run for their lives from mysterious killers. Danny Buchanan, Faith's boss, has been bribing members of Congress for their support of bills aiding the poor in other countries, but ruthless Robert Thornhill of the CIA finds out and wants to blackmail the politicians into supporting his dirty operations. When Faith goes to the FBI, the agent protecting her is killed, and Thornhill's thugs are after her with Lee as her accidental protector. As with his other political novels, Baldacci is concerned with corruption in high places, but this convoluted plot is not imaginative enough and takes too long to become focused, being more than halfway through before Faith, Lee, and the reader have any idea why these events have transpired. Characters disappear for long stretches, and a romantic interlude lingers a bit too long. Despite the considerable skill of reader Michael Kramer, Balducci's tale comes to life at the violent end. Recommended only for collections where his work is popular.--Michael Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.