True Blue [Hardcover]

David Baldacci (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2009

A mysterious high-profile homicide in the nation's capital collides with the dark side of national security in David Baldacci's new, heart-stopping thriller.

TRUE BLUE

Mason "Mace" Perry was a firebrand cop on the D.C. police force until she was kidnapped and framed for a crime. She lost everything-her badge, her career, her freedom-and spent two years in prison. Now she's back on the outside and focused on one mission: to be a cop once more. Her only shot to be a true blue again is to solve a major case on her own, and prove she has the right to wear the uniform. But even with her police chief sister on her side, she has to work in the shadows: A vindictive U.S. attorney is looking for any reason to send Mace back behind bars. Then Roy Kingman enters her life.

Roy is a young lawyer who aided the poor until he took a high-paying job at a law firm in Washington. Mace and Roy meet after he discovers the dead body of a female partner at the firm. As they investigate the death, they start uncovering surprising secrets from both the private and public world of the nation's capital.

Soon, what began as a fairly routine homicide takes a terrifying and unexpected turn-into something complex, diabolical, and possibly lethal.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This promising first in a new series from bestseller Baldacci (First Family) introduces Beth Perry, chief of the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police, and Beth's younger sister, Mace Perry, a former police officer dubbed the Patty Hearst of the twenty-first century after she was seized by bandits, drugged and taken along on a series of armed robberies around Washington. Mace, who's just getting out of prison after serving a two-year sentence, is willing to risk everything to clear her name and reclaim her life as a cop by cracking a big case on her own. The rape-murder of a powerful lawyer as well as the killing of a prominent U.S. attorney provide Mace an opportunity to vindicate herself. While Baldacci draws his characters in bright primary colors, and some of the action reaches comic book proportions, he delivers his usual intricate plotting and sets the stage nicely for highly competent Beth and impulsive, streetwise Mace to take on more bad guys. (Oct. 27)
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Review

"Fast-paced and entertaining." (Kirkus on TRUE BLUE )

"[Baldacci] delivers his usual intricate plotting and sets the stage nicely for highly competent Beth and impulsive, streetwise Mace to take on more bad guys."

(Publishers Weekly on TRUE BLUE )

"Baldacci has proven his ability to write well-paced thrillers that combine crime and politics in locations ranging from mean streets to opulent mansions."

(Booklist on TRUE BLUE ) --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (October 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446195510
• ISBN-13: 978-0446195515
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (222 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,239 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

77 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing, November 18, 2009

By 

Jim Morrison (Las Vegas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: True Blue (Hardcover)

I've never felt inclined to write a review before but this book was so bad that I had to. The plot is bad, the characters are poorly written and the ending is unbelievably bad. Too many situations make you almost laugh out loud at how ridiculous they are. The tough gang leader Psycho deciding to play one on one basketball to decide the heroes fates. The Russian assassin who rather than simply finishing her job and killing them decides it would be more interesting to have a knife fight with Mace. The police chief is a joke, not to mention the entire police department.

However the worst part is the dialogue. It is unbelievably bad, you cannot believe real people would talk like this at all. Baldacci learned some new lingo and is so proud of it that he bashes you over the head with it. I get it, police in D.C. are called "blues" and bad guys are "bandits" that doesn't meant that every single character must nonstop say blues and bandits. That annoyed me even more than the unbelievable plot.

117 of 126 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad but not vintage Baldacci either, November 1, 2009

By 

10Ker (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: True Blue (Hardcover)

David Baldacci quickly became one of my favorite authors. I'm not the biggest fan of his Camel Club series but all of his novels are typically good reads. He definitely took a step backwards with this one. It's not a bad story but you have to suspend all sense of reality to enjoy it. You have to believe that a police chief would invite her disgraced ex-con, ex-cop sister to a crime scene investigation. You have to believe that an ex-cop and a corporate lawyer with no investigative experience can out maneuver the police. And you have to believe that the just out of prison ex-cop would willingly break the law - while on parole - in the belief that an ex-cop just out of prison could get her job back through such tactics. This plot is more suited for a short-lived TV series than for a Baldacci book. That being said it's not badly written but also definitely not worthy of the praise that Baldacci fans will give it just because it's a Baldacci book. This is the juncture where Baldacci can buckle down and bring back riveting stories or he can go the way of other massively successful authors (Grisham and Patterson are good examples) who realize anything they write, regardless of quality, will be an instant best-seller and they seem to put in the effort lately to prove that point.

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Baldacci should slow down, December 13, 2009

By 

Gene (OHIO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: True Blue (Hardcover)

As a fan of David Baldacci, I was terribly disappointed in his latest work. The characters are unbelievable and the plot even more so. And then what seemed to be a main plot line (who framed Mace Perry) is never resolved. Frankly, I think Baldacci should should slow down the pace of his publishing.