Camel Club Series
Its fine for his Camel Club series. Not his best book ever but a good read.
Mostly very entertaining
In his twelfth novel David Baldacci weaves a complex plot involving assassinations, rare books, con artists, and high-stakes gambling. The story is told on three fronts. Roger Seagraves is an assassin, trained by the CIA, who's no longer working with the best interests of the government in mind. Annabelle Conroy is a formidable con artist for whom sleight of hand and deception are second nature. And "Oliver Stone" is a former CIA guy turned leader of a group of eccentrics, the "Camel Club," who act as an informal government watchdog group. The three threads of Baldacci's story eventually come together. Annabelle, fresh off of an unusually lucrative "long con," finds herself drawn into the Camel Club's current case.
Baldacci's story is a bit uneven, but mostly very entertaining. The hyper-competence of both Seagraves and Annabelle is fun to watch. The story is complex but told well, so that it's not hard to follow once you've digested the large number of characters that are thrown into the mix at the beginning of the book. The Collectors is a sequel to Baldacci's 2005 novel The Camel Club. I did not read the earlier book. (Indeed, I was not aware when I started it that The Collectors was a sequel, because the fact isn't mentioned on the jacket copy of my edition.) I did feel, reading The Collectors, that the background and raison d'être of the Camel Club were insufficiently explained, though following the book's storyline was not difficult for that reason. The other problem I had with the book is also related to the fact that The Collectors is part of series: while two of the three storylines in the book are concluded at the book's end, it's clear that there's more to come for Annabelle and the victim of her long con. This isn't a problem if you're reading the books in a series, but if you read The Collectors as a stand-alone novel you may find yourself disappointed at the lack of closure.
-- Debra Hamel
What happened to the Baldacci of The Winner????
This book, "The Collectors" is an example of formula writing if I ever saw it. I loved everything Baldacci wrote up to and including "Wish You Well". After that... milk toast. David Baldacci has suddenly become the new V.C. Andrews!!! The Collector's bland characters and disappointingly weak plot are unbelievable. Sorry David... I won't bother with "Stone Cold". "Camel Club" was weak enough but what's the deal with "Oliver Stone"? Some subliminal anti-Bush message there? Who's writing the books for you now... some left leaning college student? Anyway, I digress. This is not classic David Baldacci and now I just hope that Nelson DeMille can write enough great books to keep me happy.
better than the first installment!
imo,
more action, more humor, more wit!
looking forward to reading the third book in the series!
Good escapism
I thought this was better than the Camel Club - & the plot was top notch. It took a while to get into it & though he tidied the 2 separate plot lines, it was still a bit disjointed. Sure - it was a bit 'fantastical' in places but then again it didn't make a difference to the overall story. Good effort - i look forward to the next installment.
(147 reviews)
