Total Control (Hardcover)

~ (Other Contributor) "The apartment was small, unattractive and possessed of an unsettling musty odor that suggested long neglect..." (more)
Key Phrases: fed funds rate, Sidney Archer, Jason Archer, Nathan Gamble (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

released in February 1997.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Sidney Archer is devastated when she hears that the plane carrying her husband to Los Angeles has crashed. But her nightmare begins when she learns he'd traded identities and flown to Seattle instead. Evidence suggests that Jason Archer was selling corporate secrets to a high-tech rival. Soon Sidney herself is caught in a web of intrigue as wealthy men vie for more power and money. Fired from her law firm, pursued by hired killers eager to recover an encrypted computer disk Jason had mailed to himself, Sydney finally trusts only the FBI agent who believes her innocent. No one is immune here from high-tech snooping and violent death. Baldacci writes strictly for action, not wasting time developing characters or setting. Few books have higher heaps of dead millionaires at their conclusion. The scant literary value won't deter those who snatched up his first book, the best-selling Absolute Power (LJ 11/15/95), or keep them from standing in line to see the film version, due in February. Public libraries will need a copy or two to meet demand, especially with a major publicity blitz planned.
-?Kathy Piehl, Mankato State Univ. Minn.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Bausch & Lombard (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0681658193
• ISBN-13: 978-0681658196
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (187 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,538,279 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TOTAL ENJOYMENT, October 18, 2000

By	Nancy Martin (Pennsylvania (orig. NY)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Total Control (School & Library Binding)

My first introduction to David Baldacci was back in 1996 when People Magazine picked his first book, Absolute Power, as the "Page Turner of the Week". I thought the premise of that book was phenomenal and I became an immediate fan. For some reason, I skipped over Total Control and went on to read his third and fourth books, The Winner and The Simple Truth. Both were good reads but nothing compared to Absolute Power. I'm glad I went back and read Total Control because it's in true Baldacci form in my opinion.

In this offering, Baldacci takes the typical American family, Sidney and Jason Archer and their little daughter Amy, and pits them against corporate greed at its worst. Sidney (the wife with a man's name) is a corporate attorney. Jason, the husband, is an executive with a technology company. Since Sidney is working on a deal that will merge her husband's company with another major technology firm, she is privy to many things that could lead to trouble. Jason, on the other hand, is struggling to make more money so that his wife can become a stay-at-home mom to their daughter. While this concept is characteristic of many American families, sometimes this drive can lead to a downward spiral of events from which there is no return. When Jason disappears, it is up to Sidney to try to clear his name while trying to save her own job at the same time. This book is replete with all the scenarios that followers of the thriller genre have come to expect. There's a plane crash, a car chase, espionage, kidnapping, phone-tapping and the usual sinister characters you find in most of Baldacci's books.

I read most of this book on the plane traveling from Minnesota to Philadelphia. It never seems to fail that when I'm flying, I'm usually reading a book that involves a plane crash. The good thing about this book is that it is so fast-paced that I arrived at my destination without even realizing I had been in the air over three hours. If you're looking for something that is suspenseful and believable, I think you'd enjoy this one. I'd like to add that as I looked around to see what other people on the plane were reading, I was not surprised to see other readers with Baldacci titles in their hands. I guess he's come a long way since that first book back in 1996. Kudos to you David Baldacci for your well-deserved success.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Would make a great silent movie, October 9, 2000

By	T. Blikre "tblik" (Redmond, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Total Control (Mass Market Paperback)

Interesting idea, but oddly written. I'm not talking grammar and syntax, like some other reviewers. I refer to the over-the-top style. Everything is a crisis!!! On every page characters are wincing or gimacing, their throats are constricting, they cannot breathe. I spent a lot of my time rolling my eyes. Why didn't I just put it down? Good question- it is just compelling enough to keep turning those pages.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Dynamite!, April 29, 2002

By	A. Harrell "[e-mail]" (Denver, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Total Control (Mass Market Paperback)

I am recommending this book to all my friends who love a real heart-pounding thriller. I refused to put this book down until I finished it...Total Control has all the verve and excitement of Absolute Power but is infinitely more intriguing. The high-tech aspect of this novel was well researched. I love Baldaccis treatment of his women characters: in Sidney Archer he has created a smart, determined and savvy tigress who exhibits extraordinary resolve and courage in her quest to find out about her husbands surprising death. She is as adept at dealing with hired hit men as she is with slick corporate lawyers. The plot itself is a rather convoluted maze with enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing about the next plot line: chapter by chapter. This is pure David Baldacci. There is no filler here. If you want to read an exciting novel that holds your interest with each page this is it.