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First Family (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell #4)
by David Baldacci - 2/5
Completing this book made me reluctant to write a comprehensive review here. This shows my disenchantment with what is only the third failure of a book from David Baldacci. It's not really a flop as it gave pleasure to many fans and readers alike. But it could be that the things that worked in the book made people ready to overlook the snags.
I think that the author, because of his experience and intelligence, did all the little things right and bungled the supra stuff. The large details. That can mean the premise. It can also mean the pacing, which though depending on the little things that Baldacci got right, is not so reliant and has a life of its own.
The last few chapters were the book's best. They shifted the villainy from Quarry to an unlikely character. The sympathetic villain is a familiar and favorite trope of Baldacci. Unfortunately, Quarry's openly divulged motives is one of the major beefs I've got with the book. I went in thinking that this thriller would be a proper mystery, because of its predecessors and if it ain't broke, why fix it right? But no. Quarry is the villain. There'll be no pleasant curveball thrown at the reader, no twist. So fine. I decide to be neutral and judge the book on its merits. Then I start to get frustrated because the chapters dedicated to Quarry frankly sucked. Therefore I decided to skip Quarry's chapters and read only Sean and Maxwell's parts.
After a while, even during the revealing of the plot, I was not enjoying the book. That's when I thought the book would score a measly one star. Which it nearly did. Except for the last few chapters, this book would have been a dud. Curious and funny thing is that if you decide to ignore Maxwell's mother's case, you'll be missing nothing if you read the first five and last five chapters. That's how the plot worked. Like I said the small details were fine, but IMHO, Baldacci wasn't on top of his game.
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