Stone Cold

My reading convalescence continues with "Stone Cold" (511 pages) by David Baldacci, the third book in the Camel Club series. From the author's web site:

"Oliver Stone, the leader of the mysterious group that calls itself the Camel Club, is both feared and respected by those who've crossed his path. Keeping a vigilant watch over our leaders in Washington, D.C., the Camel Club has won over some allies, but it has also earned formidable enemies - including those in power who will do anything to prevent Stone and his friends from uncovering the hidden, secret work of the government.

Annabelle Conroy, an honorary member of the Camel Club, is also the greatest con artist of her generation. She has swindled forty million dollars from casino king Jerry Bagger, the man who murdered her mother. Now he's hot on her trail with only one goal in mind: Annabelle's death. But as Stone and the Camel Club circle the wagons to protect Annabelle, a new opponent, who makes Bagger's menace pale by comparison, suddenly arises.

One by one, men from Stone's shadowy past are turning up dead. Behind this slaughter stands one man: Harry Finn. To almost all who know him, Finn is a doting father and loving husband who uses his skills behind the scenes to keep our nation safe. But the other face of Harry Finn is that of an unstoppable killer who inevitably sets his lethal bull's-eye on Oliver Stone. And with Finn, Stone may well have met his match.

As Annabelle and the Camel Club fight for their lives, the twists and turns whipsaw, leading to a finale that is as explosive as it is shattering. And when buried secrets are at last violently resurrected, the members of the Camel Club left standing will be changed forever.

With unrelenting pacing, stunning reversals, and two of the most compelling characters in modern fiction, STONE COLD is David Baldacci writing at his breathtaking best."

Obviously I like this series by Baldacci as it's the third book I've read of his this year. The writing is crisp and fast with great deatil into the military intellegence world written in a way that is easily understood by the reader. "Stone Cold" is more of a direct sequel to "The Collectors" rather than a stand alone novel like the first entry in the series. Again these kinds of thrillers usually aren't what I read on a regular basis but I really like the content of the stories and the many interesting characters that Baldacci writes.

Recommended by fans of the genre and the author, however since it's the third book in a series of stories featuring these characters, if you haven't read any of them it would be more enjoyable to start with the first book, The Camel Club.