Review of The Sixth Man, by David Baldacci

The Sixth Man by David Baldacci

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am a Baldacci fan: he tells good stories, fast-paced--real page turners--with bad villains doing really bad things, yet still human, and flawed human good guys. He does his homework for what I call his technothrillers: in The Sixth Man I found his description of Cutter's Rock, "a secure, fortress-like Federal Supermax facility" for the criminally insane in Maine and its defenses and security provisions well-detailed and believable. True, they are something akin to fairy tales, as the good guys do win--although there are losses along the way, not every good guy makes it. There are other familiar tropes, such as the evil Government--or rather the Government is so big that little empires can be built with a lot of rule-bending along the way. Morality is often compromised in the name of duty and honor and truth, justice, and the American way--as his heroes are quite pragmatic. Power corrupts all too easily. Public officials like power and will betray the little guys to get it. Baldacci's stories are fun.

I don't think Cutter's Rock is real. Sigh.I googled it: not there--but there is a Federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, and it is described as being the only one in the US.

Anyway, The Sixth Man is the fifth installment of the Sean King/Michelle Maxwell saga. Baldacci describes them this way on his website:
"Sean King is a former Secret Service agent who allowed his attention to wander for a split second, an error that resulted in the death of the presidential candidate he had been protecting. Michelle Maxwell is a former Secret Service agent who "lost" the politician she was supposed to protect when the politician vanished behind closed doors while comforting a grieving widow. Their destinies converge when Michelle becomes obsessed with Sean's case, and when Sean needs the help of a new friend to solve crimes that implicate him as the culprit. Professional pride, romantic tension, and common causes bring together King and Maxwell as a crime-solving dynamic duo."

Yes, there is romantic tension and by #5 in the series, they have become very occasional lovers.

In The Sixth Man, Edgar Roy, a genius with eidectic memory, is locked up in Cutter's Rock accused of being a serial killer. Ted Bergin, an old friend and professor of Sean's calls him and Michelle to help work the case up in Maine. On the way up the interstate enroute they find Bergin's body. Now our intrepid duo must ask some tough questions in the face of growing resistance. Is Roy a killer? Who murdered Bergin? Sean and Michelle start digging and this resistance gets lethal with "obstacles, half-truths, dead-ends, false friends and escalating threats" from every location. Their tenacity puts them into confrontations with some major players in the US government who still stop at nothing to protect themselves and/or get their way. A lot of people get killed on the way. Sean and Michelle are not perfect heroes; they make mistakes; they get in trouble; and they still haven't sorted out what they mean to each other, although it is obvious they love each other.

Lots of good plot twists, tough fights, and back stabbing on the way and be careful who you trust: people don't always turn out to be what you think they are.

If you are a Baldacci fan, you will not be disappointed.



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