My Promise Kept

You know that some promises are actually threats. I said I'd get back to you after I finished reading First Family by David Baldacci. So, here I am. This will not be a review (others can do that better) but I will make some observations.

With 609 pages in 89 chapters, it seemed to be longer than necessary but I liked the short chapters. With 60 million copies of his books in print in 80 countries and 40 languages, there are readers with critical powers so more reason not to judge.

At times I seemed to get lost as so often a new chapter reverted to an earlier situation causing a lapse in my memory but then it clicked in. As a repeat of the main characters from other books, people who enjoyed the couple initially no doubt were happy.

Considerable research seems necessary to describe places such as the White House although some of us wouldn't know the difference. The fictional president no doubt was easier to imagine but his sins found him out causing him to eventually resign. It happens but not always.

I found it interesting that Sean and Michelle, the single private investigators, often moralized with other characters in the book but their lifestyle and language often neutralized, for me, their admonitions. It is tough to walk the talk for many live and fictional characters. Even so, it was refreshing.

The plot was surprisingly creative but not terribly unlike other whodunits. There were deaths, both of the bad guys as well as “innocents” (inasmuch as they were not villains) but not excessively gory. Made me wonder how many mysteries and whodunits are written without killings essential to the plot.

The price was attractive for 600 pages ($9.99 US) thanks to mass printing and effective marketing. With so many titles hitting the market annually, there inevitably have to be good ones and bad with zillions between. I recently saw a 96 page piece of fiction for sale at $16.99 by an unknown author who doubtless didn't sell many books. But it might have been a worthy book with few readers.

Did I enjoy the book? Yes. It was hard to not put it down with all its twists and turns knowing that it would all come together in the final pages. And it did but not quite how I had imagined. But then, why read only the beginnings and endings when there is so much more in the middle?