The Whole Truth

March 3, 2008
Usually a sophisticated plotter, bestseller Baldacci (Absolute Power
) offers a story line and villain on a par with an average James Bond film in what's billed as his first “international thriller.” Nicholas Creel, the head of the Ares Corporation, a huge defense contractor, hires a “perception management” firm to start a second cold war by planting fake news stories on the Internet about Russian atrocities. The propaganda campaign soon turns violent with the massacre of the members of a London think tank, the Phoenix Group, apparently by a Russian hit team. Creel hopes that the Phoenix Group's links with the Chinese government will lead to war between Russia and China as well as feed a worldwide arms race that will profit his company. A shadowy operative, A Shaw, whose fiancée perished in the London attack, allies himself with a disgraced female journalist in an effort to thwart Creel's evil plot. While some readers may find it a stretch that a resurgent Russia should so easily overshadow all other world crises, Baldacci in an author's note makes an eloquent case for the very real threat of perception management.

March 15, 2008
Baldacci masterfully plays on the American paranoia in the wake of the War on Terror in this bizarre international thriller. Remember Constantin is the battle cry du jour across America after a frightening piece of video makes the rounds on the Internet. In it, Constantin, a young Russian, claims that the release of the video means he has been executed by the Russian Federation. The fear of a return to the cold war is so palpable that nations across the globe are preparing for the worst. But is it a hoax? Nicolas Creel, the Machiavellian head of the largest defense contractor in the U.S., and his buddy Dick Pender, the image-maker (think evil, cartoonish versions of Cheney and Rove, respectively), are hell bent on keeping the terror levels high so that they become the ultimate go-to guys. But Shawthats it, our heros names just Shawhas other plans and risks his life and limb in order to keep the peace. Shaw answers to a secret global intelligence agency, and though hes not too keen on their tactics, either, hes determined to stay with the good guys, however negligible the distinction may be. Meanwhile journalist Katie James is after the whole truth behind this twisted version of king of the hill. Baldaccis ability to make international intrigue light and readable is uncanny. It hovers on the verge of superhero nonsense, but the dialogue snaps forth on cue, the plot never slows, and the ending packs a genuine punch. Read-alikes? Tom Clancy, of course. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)