The Whole Truth
Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Synopsis
“Dick, I need a war.” Nicolas Creel is a man on a mission. He heads up the world's largest defense contractor, The Ares Corporation. Dick Pender is the man Creel retains to “perception manage” his company to even more riches by manipulating international conflicts. But Creel may have an even grander plan in mind.
Shaw, a man with no first name and a truly unique past, has a different agenda. Reluctantly doing the bidding of a secret multi-national intelligence agency, he travels the globe to keep it safe and at peace. Willing to do anything to get back to the top of her profession, Katie James is a journalist who has just gotten the break of a lifetime: the chance to interview the sole survivor of a massacre that has left every nation stunned. In this terrifying global thriller, these characters’ lives will collide head-on as a series of events is set in motion that could change the world as we know it.
Review
Baldacci excels in creating thrillers, and not just well-conceived ones but also those which have a terrifying power to become a reality or in this case, may already have. This story is as stylish as his previous books and has a central concept that's at once scary and unhappily all too real in today's world. Image is everything and everything is image - that's the mantra of the perception management firms who not just fabricate the truth but sell the fabrication as the truth. Using this simple yet powerful concept, David Baldacci sets loose a series of events that could bring the world to an end in this book.
I liked the story, the concept behind it and even the villains - especially the villains who seem all too real because they're not the cartoonish, mustache-twirling bad guys, but because they do the bad things believing it to be for the good. And while the left hand is doing bad things, their right hand is doing extremely good things. That kinds of perversity smacks to me of absolute villainousness. The only thing I had a problem with, surprisingly, was the good guy(s). He's supposed to be dangerous, with a mysterious past, clever and ruthless. I found Shaw to be anything but. Same goes for the leading ladies, a borderline side hero and basically everyone on the good side. All appear very cliched and so it is with the finale as well.
In Short
This story has a great concept but the execution isn't up to par.
Here's the GIVEAWAY!
- Two lucky winners will each win a copy of this book.
- Open to US & Canada.
- Ends 5 am, June 15th.
Let's have fun with this one too. We're all bookworms here and I know I'm always looking for some good book blogs to visit. All YOU have to do is :
- Leave a comment with the link to a book blog. Only condition is, you may not name a blog that is yours (or for that matter, mine), that you write for, not even if you co-write it with a bunch of other people. (But you can always get your friend or sister or dog to pop over here and recommend your blog, nothing wrong with that :-) And the blog must be a book blog. It can be a review blog, a promo blog, anything, as long as it has everything to do with books.
Not necessary, but I do hope you'll leave a comment to let the blog owner know you're recommending them here at A Book Blogger's Diary! As you probably know, bloggers live and die by comments. Yes, total stranger's opinions do mean that much to us :)
- Comment as many times as you like. But you can only comment again AFTER at least one other person has commented. So, keep checking back. The more you comment, the more your chances of winning!
- DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDY WITH at least one of your comments.
It's not necessary, but I'd love it if you spread the word about this giveaway. My heartfelt thanks will be yours!
When I announce the winners, I'll also collect all the recommended book blog links and put them up as well, for all of us to visit.
As always, if you've reviewed this book, leave the link in the comments and I'll add it to this post.
Good luck!
..................................................................................................................
Join other readers who're having a blast with the Tasha Alexander Books giveaway. Ends June 15.
Treat me to a Starbucks, so I can stay up late blogging my heart out!
Have new posts sent directly to your inbox. Subscribe by Email.
Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Synopsis
“Dick, I need a war.” Nicolas Creel is a man on a mission. He heads up the world's largest defense contractor, The Ares Corporation. Dick Pender is the man Creel retains to “perception manage” his company to even more riches by manipulating international conflicts. But Creel may have an even grander plan in mind.
Shaw, a man with no first name and a truly unique past, has a different agenda. Reluctantly doing the bidding of a secret multi-national intelligence agency, he travels the globe to keep it safe and at peace. Willing to do anything to get back to the top of her profession, Katie James is a journalist who has just gotten the break of a lifetime: the chance to interview the sole survivor of a massacre that has left every nation stunned. In this terrifying global thriller, these characters’ lives will collide head-on as a series of events is set in motion that could change the world as we know it.
Review
Baldacci excels in creating thrillers, and not just well-conceived ones but also those which have a terrifying power to become a reality or in this case, may already have. This story is as stylish as his previous books and has a central concept that's at once scary and unhappily all too real in today's world. Image is everything and everything is image - that's the mantra of the perception management firms who not just fabricate the truth but sell the fabrication as the truth. Using this simple yet powerful concept, David Baldacci sets loose a series of events that could bring the world to an end in this book.
I liked the story, the concept behind it and even the villains - especially the villains who seem all too real because they're not the cartoonish, mustache-twirling bad guys, but because they do the bad things believing it to be for the good. And while the left hand is doing bad things, their right hand is doing extremely good things. That kinds of perversity smacks to me of absolute villainousness. The only thing I had a problem with, surprisingly, was the good guy(s). He's supposed to be dangerous, with a mysterious past, clever and ruthless. I found Shaw to be anything but. Same goes for the leading ladies, a borderline side hero and basically everyone on the good side. All appear very cliched and so it is with the finale as well.
In Short
This story has a great concept but the execution isn't up to par.
Here's the GIVEAWAY!
- Two lucky winners will each win a copy of this book.
- Open to US & Canada.
- Ends 5 am, June 15th.
Let's have fun with this one too. We're all bookworms here and I know I'm always looking for some good book blogs to visit. All YOU have to do is :
- Leave a comment with the link to a book blog. Only condition is, you may not name a blog that is yours (or for that matter, mine), that you write for, not even if you co-write it with a bunch of other people. (But you can always get your friend or sister or dog to pop over here and recommend your blog, nothing wrong with that :-) And the blog must be a book blog. It can be a review blog, a promo blog, anything, as long as it has everything to do with books.
Not necessary, but I do hope you'll leave a comment to let the blog owner know you're recommending them here at A Book Blogger's Diary! As you probably know, bloggers live and die by comments. Yes, total stranger's opinions do mean that much to us :)
- Comment as many times as you like. But you can only comment again AFTER at least one other person has commented. So, keep checking back. The more you comment, the more your chances of winning!
- DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDY WITH at least one of your comments.
It's not necessary, but I'd love it if you spread the word about this giveaway. My heartfelt thanks will be yours!
When I announce the winners, I'll also collect all the recommended book blog links and put them up as well, for all of us to visit.
As always, if you've reviewed this book, leave the link in the comments and I'll add it to this post.
Good luck!
..................................................................................................................
Join other readers who're having a blast with the Tasha Alexander Books giveaway. Ends June 15.
Treat me to a Starbucks, so I can stay up late blogging my heart out!
Have new posts sent directly to your inbox. Subscribe by Email.
:http://www.publishersweekly.com/blogger/2670.html
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Dina
dlsmilad@at(yahoo(dot)com
Hi, I really like this site: j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com.
ReplyDeletePlease enter me in your book drawing. Many thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
What a great contest idea. Here is my blog: http://proudbookworm.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThanks
~ Popin
proudbookworm[@]gmail[dot]com
Here is a link to neat blog
ReplyDeletehttp://dearauthor.com/wordpress/
Please enter me..
thanks,
Joy
jhoorm01@yahoodotcom
I was going to name J.Kaye's blog, but see that has already been listed, so I will post another of my favorites:
ReplyDeletehttp://literaryfeline.blogspot.com/
Thanks!
April
ajpohren@iowatelecom.net
Great recommendations!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget, you can comment as many times as you like. The more you comment, the more your chances of winning.
OH NOW I DON'T QUITE BELIEVE THIS ONE AND NEED TO READ IT FOR MYSELF AS IT SOUNDS AWESOME, BUT THEN I'VE READ TOMES THAT COULD HAVE BEEN WRITTEN WITH ONLY 10 CHAPTERS INSTEAD OF 38! LOL
ReplyDeleteONLY BLOGGERS I KNOW IS READINGISSOMUCHFUN@YAHOO.COM AND AMY98BLOG@YAHOO.COM
HOTCHA1
linda_bass@sbcglobal.net
Here is a blog that I visit very often
ReplyDeletehttp://tezmilleroz.wordpress.com/
Thanks
~ Popin
proudbookworm[@]gmail[dot]com
http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Geri
zagorianosg@yahoo.com
My favorite book blog - http://www.caribousmom.com/. Great book reviews.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Archana.
archuprabhu[at]hotmail[dot]com
Hello! relzreviewz.blogspot.com is a good source. Thanks, Cindi
ReplyDeletejchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
Great giveaway! Count me in. bebemiqui82(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteGOOD LUCK ALL YOU BOOKWORMS WHO POSTED!! LOL can i use shelfari and goodreads?
ReplyDeletehotcha1
linda_bass@sbcglobal.net
Evening, zype.blogspot.com. Cindi
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite book blogs is A Peek At My Bookshelf
ReplyDeletenisethusfar(at)yahoo(dot)com
http://mainlymystery.blogspot.com/ is another blog I like.
ReplyDeletemittens0831 AT aol DOT com
TGIF! tdlough.blogspot.com. Thanks,Cindi
ReplyDeletejchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
Rel has my endorsement....
ReplyDeleterelzreviewz.blogspot.com
Thanks,
cmrobin at bellsouth dot net
Hi, I enjoy this site: myreadablefeast.com. Cindi
ReplyDeletejchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
Another good one is the amazing Bookgasm.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bookgasm.com/
Again you can reach me at darkpartyreview(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Baby Got Books is excellent, too:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.babygotbooks.com/
Oh, and you can reach me at darkpartyreview(AT)gmail(DOT)com.
Hello! I enjoy this book site:
ReplyDeletelynnaesbookshelf.com. Thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
http://www.writersatplay.com/wordpress/
ReplyDeleteGood Evening! I misspelled the site I wrote on 6/6 at 12:15 am. It is ~
ReplyDeletezyphe.blogspot.com. Sorry, Cindi
Another one I enjoy is: thefriendlybooknook.com
Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
Readers, I don't mean to cast a damper, but let's try not to post repeats. A simple CTRL+F will help ensure that. Thanks and Keep posting!
ReplyDeleteHi! Another book site that I visit is called bittenbybooks.com. Cindi
ReplyDeletejchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
http://judgeabook.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThis is kind of a neat book blog I visit.
doot65[at]comcast[dot]net
Hello, scrollsquirrel.com is a great site. Thanks, Cindi
ReplyDeletejchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI enjoy my daily stop at J-kayes she's awesome! Please enter me in your contest, thanks, Lori
photoquest@bellsouth.net
www.authorisland.com
ReplyDeleteI need to post a different blogspot J-kayes is of coarse already taken-she's loved.
photoquest@bellsouth.net
http://ausjenny.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThis is a book blog by my friend from Australia. It's where I found the link to your blog :)
Wyndy
wyndyc AT gmail.com
Hi, bookroomreviews.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
I'm a mystery fan so I check here often: http://mainlymystery.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteEvening, lorisreadingcorner. blogspot.com. Cindi
ReplyDeletejchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/buzzwords/
ReplyDeleteHere is one blog I go to.
Happy Saturday! Here is another book site that I visit! It is shereadsbooks.wordpress.com. Thanks, Cindi
ReplyDeletejchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
http://www.mybooktherapy.com/ is a good place to visit.
ReplyDeletemittens0831 AT aol DOT com
http://thebookgirl.wordpress.com/
ReplyDeletemittens0831 AT aol DOT com
Hello! "Fatal Decisions" written by Edmund Blandford!" Cindi
ReplyDeletejchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com