True Blue

September 21, 2009
This promising first in a new series from bestseller Baldacci (First Family
) introduces Beth Perry, chief of the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police, and Beth's younger sister, Mace Perry, a former police officer dubbed “the Patty Hearst of the twenty-first century” after she was seized by bandits, drugged and taken along on a series of armed robberies around Washington. Mace, who's just getting out of prison after serving a two-year sentence, is willing to risk everything to clear her name and reclaim her life as a cop by cracking a big case on her own. The rape-murder of a powerful lawyer as well as the killing of a prominent U.S. attorney provide Mace an opportunity to vindicate herself. While Baldacci draws his characters in bright primary colors, and some of the action reaches comic book proportions, he delivers his usual intricate plotting and sets the stage nicely for highly competent Beth and impulsive, streetwise Mace to take on more bad guys.

Baldacci fans may be disappointed on two fronts by this highly anticipated offering. First, the novel itself strays from Baldacci's signature strength: a tight action-filled plot advanced by believable characters. Too many situations in TRUE BLUE require imaginative leaps, and the characters are clichéd. The second shortcoming lies in the performance of celebrated narrator Ron McLarty. His voice is clear and pleasant to listen to, and he maintains a good pace. However, he does not offer sufficient variation in tone or timing to differentiate the characters, making the dialogue difficult to follow in places. Also, the insertion of music at seemingly random points in the action does not enhance the production. M.O.B. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

October 19, 2009
Only true cops bleed blue. Baldacci's latest (after First Family) begins with ex-D.C. cop Mace Perry being released from jail after serving two years for a crime she did not knowingly commit. When her police chief sister unwillingly takes Mace to the crime scene of a dead lawyer found stuffed in a refrigerator, Mace begins to plot a path to reclaiming her job and reputation. Mace and her unofficial partner, lawyer Roy Kingman, track down clues, but the killers always seem to be one step ahead. As the duo close in on the mastermind behind this murder, they may end up as the next victims. Verdict Fans of Baldacci's Camel Club series will relish this novel-and especially its rebel-with-a-cause heroine. Highly recommended for readers who love fast-paced thrillers and rooting for an underdog. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/09.]-Susan O. Moritz, Montgomery Cty. P.L.s, MD

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2009
Baldacci (Divine Justice, 2008, etc.) presents a law-enforcement sister act, curtain-raiser for a new series that has every chance of keeping the pot boiling.

Beth and Mace Perry are loving, totally supportive of each other and remarkably untroubled by anything resembling sibling rivalry. Yet they are very different. Beth, the older, is rock-solid reliable; Mace is flamboyant, tempestuous, hard-wired for heedlessness. After years of worthy performance, Beth has become D.C. chief of police. Mace is an ex-con, albeit through no fault of her own; she was kidnapped, framed, dismissed from the police force and sent to prison for two years. Now she's out, and Beth, a by-the-book officer if ever there was one, knows that her life is about to become complicated. Because Mace, who bleeds blue, wants her badge back and will risk whatever she must in order to make that happen. And Beth will be in her sister's corner, even if on occasion that leads to behavior not sanctioned by any applicable book. Enter Roy Kingman, a susceptible young lawyer immediately drawn toüber-feisty Mace. He trails behind him a big-time murder case that has the sweet smell of opportunity for Mace. If she can solve it, she tells herself, reinstatement will inevitably follow. But this murder case has dark and dangerous ramifications that stretch across oceans and into terrorist enclaves. Powerful people, it turns out, don't want the case solved, people as ready to shoot the moon as Mace is.

Gracelessly written, often implausible and inescapably pulpy, but also fast-paced and entertaining.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 1, 2009
Baldacci is either taking a break from his best-selling Sean KingMichelle Maxwell and Camel Club series to write a stand-alone thrilleror testing the waters for another new series. Washington, D.C., cop Mace Perry served two years in jail after the drug dealers she was investigating turned the tables, drugging her and making her participate in armed robberies. Now, tagging along at a murder scene with her sister, Beth, the chief of police, Mace decides to earn her way back onto the force by solving the crime. Attorney Roy Kingman, the man who found the corpse, becomes her unlikely partner. Unfortunately, the deceased knew something for which an intelligence agency was willing to kill to protectand now Mace and Roy are in the crosshairs, too. Baldacci has proven his ability to write well-paced thrillers that combine crime and politics in locations ranging from mean streets to opulent mansions. The diminutive yet die-hard Mace, however, is so hard-charging as to be hard to like, and a subplot about a rich guy who hires her to recruit poor people for a life-changing internship feels gratuitous. Our credulity is tested, too: Would a police chief visit so many crime scenes? Would a bad guy play basketball to decide the heroes fate? Readers enjoyment may hinge on their desire for last-minute rescues and neatly tied endings, where the snarling villain is vanquished in public.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)