#1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci takes readers inside the nations most elite power club and shows how far its members will go to protect their darkest secrets. The Camel Club. Its where the most influential businessmen and politicians wine, dine, and often change the course of historyand where ruthless mercenaries spy unseen, recording every last bit of information to sell to the highest bidder. But when Harry Stonehomeless man and conspiracy theorist extraordinairewitnesses a gruesome murder, secrets begin to unravel. Stone steals a piece of evidence from the scene that links the Clubs founders to the murder of a high-profile government official, and theyll do anything to get it back. Secret Service Agent W. Frank Churchill begins investigating Stone as a murder suspect, but soon, with the help of defense attorney Kate Monroe, he unearths a shocking truth: One man is using the Camel Club for his own terrible devicesand to achieve his horrific goals, he must kill Stone....and anyone else who gets in his way.

Conspiracy theories--everybody has one. The difference with this conspiracy is that it's all too real. David Baldacci's The Camel Club takes readers inside the Beltway as four unlikely misfits struggle not only to survive, but to save their president and their country from a plot that will lead to nuclear disaster.

If anyone can make terrorism entertaining and ironically exciting, it's thriller vet Baldacci. New York stage actor Davis helps to brighten up a bleak subject with almost perfect pitch (his female characters' voices are often disconcertingly lodged in the baritone range), as he brings to audio life the adventures of a gang of four Muslim men who live in the Washington, D.C., area and meet regularly in isolated places to discuss and argue about international politics. Led by a likable chap who calls himself "Oliver Stone" because he and the film director share a supersized fascination with conspiracies, the Camel Club is basically an excuse for its members to feel involved and important. But when they accidentally witness a real high-level conspiracy in action, the four are suddenly at the center of a world class disaster which could lead to an American nuclear attack on Damascus. Baldacci works hard to balance all his many characters and their connecting stories, and Davis holds up his end with clever, sharp-edged subtlety that helps listeners stay in the picture.

Baldacci returns to Washington D.C., the setting of his first hit, Absolute Power (1996). The Camel Club is made up of four middle-aged men: Stone (in homage to the director Oliver Stone), Milton, Reuben, and Caleb, whose lives have led them to be suspicious of the government and politicians in general. Their late-night excursions mainly consist of White House stakeouts, until the night they discover two men carrying another man while on Roosevelt Island and killing him while making it look like a suicide. The men believe a conspiracy is afoot, and this time, they're right on the money. Secret Service agent Alex Ford, who has a passing acquaintance with Stone, is called into to investigate the death of the man, who happens to be a Secret Service agent, Patrick Johnson. Johnson was supposedly living far above his means and may have had drug connections, but Ford isn't convinced Johnson took his own life. The Camel Club is conducting their own investigation, and before long they realize they've got a massive conspiracy on their hands, one that could affect the global political arena. Baldacci is a master at building suspense, and the conclusion of his latest novel will leave readers breathless.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Kristine Huntley

Terrorism comes to the U.S. once again in Baldacci's newest suspense novel. The complex story has numerous characters featured, a characteristic that sometimes makes it difficult for the listener to follow the story. In fact, this is a story that requires the expert narration of someone like Jonathan Davis, who does an admirable job keeping the characters straight and, thereby, helping the listener stay on track. The plot lines and the many characters make the story a challenge for an audiobook, but these are also the qualities that make this book engaging and keep Baldacci popular. S.K.P.

length: (cm)17.1 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)10.7