Stone Cold by David Baldacci Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Stone Cold
Book Review: The best yet in the Camel Club series!
Summary: 5 Stars
The eclectic crew of the Camel Club are back in action and better than ever! First, if you have not read the The Camel Club or The Collectors I highly recommend you do before starting this book. Especially read The Collectors as this is a continuation of a story line from that book. The Stone and the boys' skills are tested as they try to protect Annabella Conroy from the crazy casino owner Jerry Bagger, who Annabella has conned Millions from (see The Collectors). But Stone's attention is soon diverted when old deeds and causes come back to haunt him. Don't want to ruin the surprises but a new deadly Villain is waiting in the wings, and is killing Triple Six members one at a time, is Stone next on the list. This is a gripping, fully loaded thriller, with surprising twists that delivers on all cylinders!
Book Review: Thrilling, Political Undertones and Secrets.
Summary: 4 Stars
A most interesting piece of fiction that every reader will enjoy. The work contains different suprises at every turn of the page. I would strongly suggest the reader get a copy of the "Camel Club" first by the same author before reading this work. The characters are vivid, the action exciting, and the ending somewhat unexpected.Book Review: Trite
Summary: 1 Stars
The story is comprised of a predictable set actions and circumstances by cartoon mystery-thriller characters. Had to force myself to finish it. Boring.Book Review: Well written...but a bit too long....
Summary: 3 Stars
My first Oliver Stone read, "Stone Cold" is a well written mystery, tying in a vast array of characters and sub plots.
I enjoyed it immensely but when I was three quarters of the way through the novel, it just became somewhat convoluted and too long.
However, Balducci has a wonderful writing style and I would definitely read more of his books in the future.
Book Review: Who proofreads and edits Baldacci's books?
Summary: 1 Stars
First of all, I was shocked with how little introduction Baldacci gave for the members of his so-called "camel club". Unfortunately, I did not read the previous entries to this series and was dumbfounded when I realized that I was supposed to "know" these characters. I would not recommend this book as a stand-alone novel to any reader.
Furthermore, Mr. Baldacci tries too hard to make his book read like a movie script. Very short chapters "twists and turns on every page" that would make every USA Today reviewer jump up and down with joy. It just appears he is trying too hard.
The story itself starts out fairly interesting, but the confusing array of unnecessary characters makes it tedious to read. The novel becomes progressively less interesting and is too long for it's own sake. The action becomes very unrealistic and Clive Cussler'esque. I would expect more realism from Baldacci.
His technical research: This is an area where Baldacci is absolutely to sloppy. Another reviewer already pointed out that Baldacci refers to the desktop computer case as a "CPU". You do not need to be a computer wiz to know that this is incorrect. This is unacceptable in this day and age. In addition, during one of the "action scenes" he uses the age old trick of blinding agents, who using night vision scopes, by turning on the lights. This does NOT work - you do not loose your eyesight for days (not even minutes) when exposed to bright lights when wearing night vision goggles. I believe Mr. Baldacci has watched too many spy movies.
Last, but not least, I must say that any passage in the book that involves the Finn character having interactions with his kids is absolutely unreadable. The way these kids talk are not even Hollywood - it is so corny and unrealistically saccharine it gave me horrible toothaches.
I strongly suggest Mr. Baldacci gets a better editor before he releases his next novel. He has shown in the past that he can spin a decent yarn, but his work needs fundamental editing and proofreading.
Baldacci - if you read this give me a call - I'll do it!