Saving Faith

November 8, 1999
Baldacci's fifth high-concept premise in as many novels (The Simple Truth; Absolute Power; etc.) propels his hard-working new thriller: a renegade CIA faction attempts to reassert the agency's primacy over the FBI by manipulating members of Congress who fund both outfits. To do so, the CIA conspirators aim to take over a bribery scheme they've discovered. The scam was concocted by legendary lobbyist Danny Buchanan, who has been greasing the palms of lawmakers to gain their support of bills aiding the poor and hungry overseas. The spooks plan to assassinate Buchanan and his prot g , the lovely Faith Lockhart, and force the legislators, under threat of exposure, to support the CIA over the FBI. First, however, they'll have to kill the FBI person guarding Faith, for she has confessed everything to the bureau in hopes of working a deal for herself and Buchanan. But the CIA villains haven't reckoned on the resilience of the two lobbyists, nor on the grit of FBI agent Brooke Reynolds, nor on the skill of PI Lee Adams, who gets caught up in the attempted hit on Faith and her guardian-- and who then goes on the run with the lobbyist. The novel evolves into a frantic, exciting chase, FBI after CIA after Lee/Faith, with a few nifty twists. Baldacci's characters continue to grow in complexity--there's an exceptionally fine scene in which Lee, drunk, nearly rapes Faith--but, alas, so does his plotting. This novel is overdone, with too many heroes and subplots and enough data withheld from readers to generate confusion. Baldacci's prose can still break the jaws of subvocalizers, too. The novel moves fast, though, and its players and suspense are strong--as should be sales. Main selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club; simultaneous audiobook.

July 1, 1999
When lobbyist Danny Buchanan's bribery scheme gets him enmeshed with shady doings at the CIA, his partner, Faith, must run for her life.

Copyright 1999 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 1999
Bad guy Robert Thornhill, a deputy director of the CIA, hates the FBI because they have more money and clout than his own agency. So he comes up with a scheme to blackmail various members of Congress into supporting bills that will increase the CIA's power and, not incidentally, give his already considerable ego a major boost. Thornhill has a cadre of supportive CIA colleagues (including some nasty robo killers) to help carry out the scheme. And he's blackmailed lobbyist Danny Buchanan (a good guy) into helping him. Danny's longtime partner Faith Lockhart (another good "guy") suspects Danny is in over his head, so she tries to cut a deal with the FBI to save his skin. Meantime, Danny has enlisted the aid of Lee Adams (good guy number three) to keep Faith from squealing. Then Faith and Lee witness the murder of an FBI agent and become targets themselves. Of course, the danger stimulates the inevitable mutual-attraction hormones between Faith and Lee. Also part of the plot are two dogged FBI agents who get involved in lots of knife fights, stakeouts, and shoot-'em-ups trying to save the trio of good guys. Yes, the plot is too busy and more than a little improbable, but Baldacci makes it work with solid suspense, pithy dialogue, and plenty of hot but tender sex scenes. A must for action fans and a guilty pleasure for everyone else. ((Reviewed October 1, 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)