Absolute Power [Hardcover]

David Baldacci (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0446519960 | ISBN-13: 978-0446519960 | Publication Date: January 18, 1996 | Edition: 1ST

In a heavily guarded mansion in a posh Virginia suburb, a man and a woman start to make love, trapping Luther Whitney, a career break-in artist, behind a secret wall. Then the passion turns deadly, and Luther is running into the night. Because what he has just seen is a brutal murder involving Alan Richmond, the president of the United States, the man with...Absolute Power.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Can the President get away with murder? The fictional answer to this question results in a fast-paced page turner that combines political intrigue with gritty, hard-boiled suspense

From Publishers Weekly

Casting the president of the United States as a crazed villain isn't a new idea?Fletcher Knebel worked it 30 years ago, in Night of Camp David?but in this sizzler of a first novel, Baldacci, a D.C. attorney, proves that the premise still has long legs. The action begins when a grizzled professional cat burglar gets trapped inside the bedroom closet of one of the world's richest men, only to witness, through a one-way mirror, two Secret Service agents kill the billionaire's trampy young wife as she tries to fight off the drunken sexual advances of the nation's chief executive. Running for his life, but not before he picks up a bloodstained letter opener that puts the president at the scene of the crime, the burglar becomes the target of a clandestine manhunt orchestrated by leading members of the executive branch. Meanwhile, Jack Graham, once a public defender and now a high-powered corporate attorney, gets drawn into the case because the on-the-lam burglar just happens to be the father of his former financee, a crusading Virginia prosecutor. Embroidering the narrative through assorted plot whorls are the hero's broken romance; his conflict over selling out for financial success; the prosecutor's confused love-hate for her burglar father; the relentless investigation by a northern Virginia career cop; the dilemma of government agents trapped in a moral catch-22; the amoral ambitions of a sexy White House Chief of Staff; and the old burglar's determination to bring down the ruthless president. Meanwhile, lurking at the novel's center like a venomous spider is the sociopathic president. Baldacci doesn't peer too deeply into his characters' souls, and his prose is merely functional?in both respects, he's much closer to Grisham than to, say, Forsyth; but he's also a first-rate storyteller who grabs readers by their lapels right away and won't let go until they've finished his enthralling yarn. Major ad/promo; BOMC alternate; film rights sold to Castle Rock; simultaneous Time Warner AudioBook.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1ST edition (January 18, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446519960
• ISBN-13: 978-0446519960
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (194 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great book for a summer vacation, July 27, 2000

By 

Timothy J. Kindler (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Absolute Power (Mass Market Paperback)

A David Baldacci novel is a great companion for a summer vacation, and Absolute Power is no exception. At the end of each chapter, I would convince myself that I could read "just one more chapter." It cost me some sleep but I was able to go through large chunks of the book in a sitting. Although not as good as Total Control, which I think was Baldacci's best effort, Absolute Power was still a page turner. Having seen the movie years ago, I was a bit skeptical to pick up the book but I am glad that I did. Although Baldacci has obviously tightened up his writing skills with his subsequent novels, Absolute Power is still packed with action, suspense, plot twists and good character development. I quickly found myself rooting for Luther Whitney, who although a career thief also has an abundance of courage, integrity and personal fortitude. If you are a Baldacci fan but have not yet read his first work, I strongly recommend picking up Absolute Power.

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good page turner but a bit unbelievable at times, January 15, 2001

By 

David J. Chmiel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Absolute Power (Mass Market Paperback)

I bought this book primarily on the basis of reviews that I read here. Every year I try to stock up on mindless fiction that can keep me occupied on a flight or my commute and the reviews of David Baldacci's first novel seemed to fit that bill.

Baldacci has definitely crafted a page-turner here. I plowed through this book and was gripped by the plot and an interest in finding how the author would bring it all to a conclusion. The novel centres around Luther Whitney, a sophisticated but aging burglar who stumbles across an incident involving the President of the United States. Whitney is torn between fearing for the influence and power which the President can use against those he loves versus trying to do good.

Nevertheless, the plot almost goes too far at times and borders on the verge of incredulity. Baldacci has a very good knack of making a plot more complicated - finding a way to dispose of evidence or making life difficult for one of the book's numerous protagonists and yet still letting the good guys win in the end by some stroke of luck. This turns the book from a fairly taut political thriller into something a little too fantastical for my tastes (i.e. a Secret Service Agent turning into some crazed homicidal maniac).

Nevertheless, Baldacci's first novel shows a potential to weave a good, complex tale and I fully intend to read some of his later books to see if he can tone down the plots while maintaining the suspense.

If I had the choice, I would give the book 3 1/2 stars but for the time being, have to make do with a middle-of-the-road 3.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive plot for first novel, much better than Eastwood movie !, July 4, 2005

By 

Gerald M. Bull "Jerry Bull" (Fairview, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Absolute Power (Mass Market Paperback)

We enjoyed the author's later work, "Simple Truth", so decided to catch up on this his first novel based on his lawyer-turned-writer's ability to craft a good plot and keep us in suspense. We were not to be disappointed! Baldacci has spun another fine tale, starting off hot with a rich man's trophy wife murdered by the Secret Service as her bedmate, U.S. President(!) Alan Richmond, was in danger of being stabbed to death during a kinky sex scene gone bad. Amazingly, a cat burglar is watching all this from a closet through a one-way mirror; and he escapes with a bloody letter opener as well as the money and other prizes for which he came originally! From there, it's a suspenseful cover-up as the thief's lawyer, Jack Graham (a young stud super-star attorney reminiscent of the hero in Grisham's "The Firm") and the G-agents race to find or eliminate the clues which will bring the truth to light.

Many rightly complain that the Clint Eastwood movie, not all that bad itself, made too many changes by eliminating the lawyer and having the burglar do all the detective work. We agree the book is better, and if you're in the mood for a legal/crime thriller, then we feel confident you'll find "Absolute Power" an entertaining page turner, with some ruthless politics thrown in for good measure!