Hour Game by David Baldacci - 3 Stars

[Jeremiah]

Hour Game by David Baldacci
3 out of 5 Stars

A woman is found murdered in the woods. It seems like a simple case but it soon escalates into a terrible nightmare. Someone is replicating the killing styles of the most infamous murderers of all time. No one knows this criminal's motives...or who will die next.

Two ex-Secret Service agents, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, have been hired to defend a man's innocence in a burglary involving an aristocratic family. Then a series of secrets leads the partners right into the frantic hunt that is confounding even the FBI. Now King and Maxwell are playing the Hour Game, uncovering one horrifying revelation after another and putting their lives in danger. For the closer they get to the truth, the closer they get to the most shocking surprise of all.

To begin, let me be honest and say that a portion of why I only give this book three stars is because the King and Maxwell series just doesn't stand up against the Memory Man series. I read several of the Memory Man series in 2018 and was hoping coming back to this series would fill the gap until the next Memory Man book, but it just doesn't hold the same weight.

With all of that being said, the book is still really good. I have only found two writers, Baldacci and Michael Connelly that can actually craft the twists and turns in a way that make sense, but still fool me as a reader. I thought I had this one figured out early on and I completely missed it. Baldacci does a really nice job of weaving in details, of which I pay careful attention, that end up being distractors instead of clues. This makes the King and Maxwell series or any other a nice series to pick up.

Finally, I have listened to almost all of the Baldacci books on Audible. For most books I would be willing to read them in paper copy or listen, but for Baldacci I really do prefer them on audio. They are a treat to listen to.

[Joanne]

I have read two of the K&M series, and felt the same way, they are ok, but I like Amos a lot more! Nice review

[[deleted user]]

I have only read two books by him and it was the Camel Club series. I need to get back to those. I did not know of the Memory Man series. I will need to check those out.

[Joanne]

Rachel wrote: "I have only read two books by him and it was the Camel Club series. I need to get back to those. I did not know of the Memory Man series. I will need to check those out."


I loved Camel Club!

[NancyJ]

I love the Memory Man series too. I love the complexity of Amos, and the fact that isn't an athletic macho tough guy. I also like his friendship (not romance) with Alex Jamison. She's a great character. The first Will Robie book, The Innocent, is another favorite, along with the one that partly took place in North Korea.

I'm behind on both series now. I read other books of his in the past, but these two will be my go-to books when I have a light book club month (which I thought would be this month but ...).

My only problem with the audio versions is that they use the same narrators for many of his different series, making Amos sound like Will Robie. I need to space them apart quite a bit to avoid mixing them up. When they hired new narrators, I wish they used different people for each series.

[Viji]

I have the full collection of David Baldacci - thanks to a book exhibition held here. Somehow, I have not been able to get to read them. You have inspired me to start one soon. Thanks.

[NancyJ]

Viji wrote: "I have the full collection of David Baldacci - thanks to a book exhibition held here. Somehow, I have not been able to get to read them. You have inspired me to start one soon. Thanks."

That's a lot of books. It can be overwhelming. I think Memory Man might be a good place to start.