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Simple Genius by David Baldacci
Maxell & King series Book #3
4★’s
From The Book:
In a world of secrets, human genius is power.
And sometimes it is simply deadly . . .
Near Washington, D.C., there are two clandestine institutions: the world's most unusual laboratory and a secret CIA training camp. Drawn to these sites by a murder, ex-Secret Service agent Sean King encounters a dark world of mathematicians, codes, and spies. His search for answers soon leads him to more shocking violence-and an autistic girl with an extraordinary genius.
Now, only by working with his embattled partner, Michelle Maxwell, can he catch a killer...and solve a stunning mystery that threatens the entire nation.
My Thoughts:
I am probably one of David’s Baldacci’s top fans…especially of his John Puller, Will Robie and the newest…Amos Decker series… but Maxwell and King will always hold a favorite place in my heart. I was so sorry to see this series end. I was overjoyed when the Mystery & Suspense group voted to read this series as a book discussion. That being said…I had an issue with this book…not too serious but it did lose it half a star…at least for me.
In this… the 3rd book… we find Michelle Maxwell hitting an all time mental low as she nearly kills a total stranger for no other reason that he was dressed in military gear and he was simple there. The events after that incident offered some very good storyline and some very exciting moments. However…nothing is as it seems, in this tortuous tale.
As Michelle struggles with her emotional problems, Sean nearly bankrupts himself and their company paying for Michelle’s much needed help which brings us to his taking a job from his former lover, Joan, to investigate a compound of geniuses that have super computers and complicated codes at their finger tips. Here is where the majority of the remainder of the book takes place. Be warned…unless you have a degree in physics and computer sciences…you will want to skip over some parts of this or your head will implode. From here on it reminded me of the old adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely ". It is hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys and involves every spook agency in the government. I did find the look into code breaking and Alan Turing's work cracking the Enigma Code during WWII fascinating and very much enlightening..
The ending of the book…while diffidently being a wild ride of twists and turns was what lost it the extra half star that I had originally awarded it. David Baldacci is a superb writer…one of my favorites… who keeps the reader turning pages, and there is plenty of suspense, mystery and action….character development galore. You really get to know much more about King and Maxwell. It was exciting, fun, with an excellent plot. Those were the good points that got it the 4 stars to start with. What I had the main issue with was that Baldacci turned all the good people into bad people, the bad people into good people, and in one case back into a good person saying he was “just following orders”. Now where and how many times have we heard that excuse for bad manners, behavior and judgments? That defense failed at Nuremberg and it fails here.
