Joyfully Retired

True Blue

David Baldacci

Grand Central Publishing, 2009

Rating: A

Many of you will remember that my husband Jay and I are big fans of David Baldacci. So far this year we’ve read and reviewed Divine Justice and First Family. And, now here is the new one, True Blue. I’ll tell you right up front that we both liked it a lot. It’s big (492 pages) and full of mystery and action and all the twists and turns that make up a good thriller.

One of the main characters is a young woman named Mace. She’s a former cop who’s just spent two years in prison on an elaborate scheme of false charges. All of this is complicated by the fact that Mace’s older sister, Beth, is the Chief of Police. The story takes place in Washington, D.C. so, of course, there are plenty of powerful  and ambitious characters as well.

The other main character is Roy, a likeable and smart attorney. As the plot opens Roy has just caught the dead body of another attorney that was stuffed into the refrigerator in the office kitchen.  Mace and Roy meet when Mace tags along with her sister to check out this homicide. Mace decides to solve the murder on her own and teams up with Roy to gain a few more clues. Mace has one goal in mind: Be reinstated to her old job on the D.C. police force.  She believes that if she can solve this crime it will give her the leverage she needs to once again be true blue.

Solving this murder is not that easy. It’s complex and there’s more involved than just this one murder. Beth (the police chief) has an interesting role in the story. I can see how difficult it would be to try to protect the citizens of a community where many of the citizens want special favors or to play by their own rules.

The author did an excellent job of drawing us into the environment of the story. I felt the confinement of the prison scenes and the hopelessness evident in the dangerous and poorer parts of the town.  I think the author did a lot of research on police lingo, weapons and procedures. It felt very real. He also took his time building the story and adding different characters and plenty of tense moments. Try this one if you are a thriller fan and definitely if you are a David Baldacci fan.

Thanks to Miriam at Hachette Book Group for our review copy. The book will be released October 27^th.

You can pre-order True Blue at Amazon