Divine Justice [Paperback]

David Baldacci (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Pan Books; First Edition edition (2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330456539
• ISBN-13: 978-0330456531
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #413,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Baldacci was born in Virginia, in 1960, where he currently resides. He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and a law degree from the University of Virginia. Mr. Baldacci practiced law for nine years in Washington, D.C., as both a trial and corporate attorney.
David Baldacci has published seventeen novels: Absolute Power, Total Control, The Winner, The Simple Truth, Saving Faith, Wish You Well, Last Man Standing, The Christmas Train, Split Second, Hour Game, The Camel Club, The Collectors, Simple Genius, Stone Cold, and The Whole Truth; and in his young adult series, Freddy and the French Fries: Fries Alive! and Freddy and the French Fries: The Adventures of Silas Finklebean. He has also published a novella for the Dutch entitled Office Hours, written for Holland's Year 2000 "Month of the Thriller." Baldacci authored a short story, "The Mighty Johns," as part of a mystery anthology published in 2002.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good Camel Club thriller, November 6, 2008

By 

BrianB (Northern California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Divine Justice (Camel Club) (Hardcover)

The fourth installment of the Camel Club series is a fast paced thriller that shows Baldacci's winning style. If you are a Baldacci fan, I can recommend this novel. If you are not a fan, you will be one after finishing Divine Justice. It is not the best novel of the series, but it is a high quality mystery nonetheless.

The heroes of The Camel Club return their latest adventure, one which may be their last. The action puts all of them into jeopardy, and they find themselves in a series of desperate situations. There is a nation wide manhunt for Oliver Stone, who flees to a small town, only to find himself immersed in anther dangerous mystery there.

The main characters, Oliver Stone and Joe Knox, are flawed but understandable characters, men who don't always do the right thing, but try to act according to their principles. You get to hear their thoughts as one hunts the other, and I found myself caring about both of them, even though they were headed for an inevitable show-down. This element heightens the tension in the story, and made it hard to put the book down. Making Stone seem sympathetic to new readers was a considerable feat for Baldacci, after his main character executes a US senator and the "Head of Intelligence" in the first chapter. Both men admit to themselves that they have broken laws along the way, and they are troubled individuals. The fact that they are often more threatened by their own people than by the bad guys makes the story difficult to put down.

In a rare moment of agreement with Publisher's Weekly, I must admit that this is not Balducci's best effort. Nevertheless, his characters are believable and sympathetic, the action never slows, and the book will hold your interest to the last page. Balducci's lesser novels are better than many author's best.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "With two early morning pulls of the trigger...", November 7, 2008

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Divine Justice (Camel Club) (Hardcover)

If you haven't already read a David Baldacci book, can't imagine how you missed him. He's penned fifteen bestsellers four of which feature affecting protagonist John Carr also known as Oliver Stone. Once a CIA assassin Stone now battles mightily to right wrongs. Through this character Baldacci has taken readers to Washington, more often than not shocking them with scenarios that may be too close to the truth.

Stone is back in this the fourth installment in the Camel Club series, and he's once again on the run. "With two early morning pulls of the trigger he'd become the most wanted man in America."

He's too smart to try to board a plane knowing the major airports are alive with those looking for him but instead buys a ticket on the Amtrack Crescent, headed for New Orleans. Once settled in his seat, ever alert, he takes note of his fellow passengers - a mother with a baby, a thin man eating a cheeseburger, and a kid a few years out of high school but still wearing his varsity jacket. "To Stone's eye the young man also had the look of someone who was certain that the world owed him everything and had never bothered paying its bill"

The young man is Danny Riker who is soon assaulted by a trio who accuse him of cheating at cards. Stone rescues Danny and the two leave the train at the next stop. When Stone finds out that Danny is from an Appalachian coal mining town, Divine, Virginia, he decides that might be the perfect place for him to hide out.

Divine might be a good place to take cover but it's also a place where corruption is rampant and most of the coal miners are methadone addicts due to the daily injections they take to pass inspections. Couple this with a suicide that in truth might have been murder, and you have an idea what Stone is up against.

In addition to being a masterful storyteller, an expert at creating riveting suspense, Baldacci is a native of Virginia and lives there today. Thus, he brings an added realism to his descriptions of this area and its people.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke

40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Baldacci meets Lee Child, November 21, 2008

By 

N. Brett (Wiltshire, England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Divine Justice (Camel Club) (Hardcover)

The fourth (and probably the last) in the Camel Club series.

The Camel Club was an interesting diversion for Baldacci, the books started off very light and then got darker as the series progressed. I would not recommend Divine Justice unless you have read the previous novels in the series.

This starts off with our hero John Carr (aka Oliver Stone) on the run having taken out two senior US officials (who were bad guys). A manhunt is underway and Carr is looking for somewhere to disappear when he gets involved in a fracas and ends up in Divine, a small town which is hiding a lot of secrets. Does he keep his head down or does he get involved?

Meanwhile tenacious CIA tracker Joe Knox is on his trail and getting closer, as are Carr's friends from the Camel Club who want to help their friend....

As other reviewers have mentioned much of this did remind me of Lee Child's latest (Nothing To Lose) where his hero Reacher ends up in a small town called Despair which also has many secrets.

This ends up as a hit and miss book, the Joe Knox and Camel Club elements are the most interesting but the stuff in Divine was so similar to Lee Child's latest that it really did jar and the scenario around the bad guys felt too contrived.