The Whole Truth

Many are the lawyers who have ditched the day job and had taken up an even more lucrative profession: that of writing thrillers. But of the army of hopefuls who have followed the example of John Grisham, few are as talented and inventive as David Baldacci, who (in such books as Simple Genius) has demonstrated a writing skill streets in advance of most of his career-shifting contemporaries. The Whole Truth continues his upward trajectory, and adds a new level of narrative complexity that still avoids getting in the way of sheer storytelling momentum.
Wealthy arms dealer Nicholas Creel is facing his own personal credit crunch, and needs to find a way to kickstart his business. Would starting a war help? Creel would hardly be averse to that. Anna Fischer is enjoying her professorial activities, but is growing dismayed at world events. Her life is transformed when her new lover proposes marriage — but there is a side to her boyfriends life that may threaten all she holds dear. Journalist Katie James is casting around for a way to salvage her stalled career, when something falls into her lap — a story with very dangerous elements. And the mysterious Shaw, operative for a clandestine intelligence organisation, wants to give it all up — but finds that an employer wants him to tackle one final all-important job.