Guest Review: First Family

I am so happy that Booking Pap Pap has retired and has so much free time on his hands to read! Here's his latest review of FIRST FAMILY by David Baldacci.

Summary: It began with what seemed like an ordinary children's birthday party. Friends and family gathered to celebrate. There were balloons and cake, games and gifts.

This party, however, was far from ordinary. It was held at Camp David, the presidential retreat. And it ended with a daring kidnapping . . . which immediately turned into a national security nightmare.

Sean King and Michelle Maxwell were not looking to become involved. As former Secret Service agents turned private investigators, they had no reason to be. The FBI doesn't want them interfering. But years ago, Sean King saved the First Lady's husband, then a senator, from political disaster. Now, Sean is the one person the First Lady trusts, and she presses Sean and Michelle into the desperate search to rescue the abducted child.

With Michelle still battling her own demons, and forces aligned on all sides against her and Sean, the two are pushed to the absolute limit. In the race to save an innocent victim, the line between friend and foe will become impossible to define . . . or defend. -- Grand Central Publishing

When I started to read First Family by David Baldacci I was immediately captivated by this suspense novel. Baldacci wastes no words in moving the storyline along as each and every page adds a new element that encourages the reader to continue to the thrilling conclusion. I couldn’t put the book down.

When the First Lady’s niece, Willa, is kidnapped she turns to Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, ex-CIA agents turned private investigators, to rescue the little girl. She trusts King because years earlier he prevented a political disaster for the President, then a young senator. The search is complicated by the involvement of the CIA and FBI and the normal political ramifications associated with the Presidency. Maxwell’s own family issues, made worse by the death of her mother, add further complexity to solving the case.

I was anxious to discover who actually carried out the kidnapping and the motives that led to it and Baldacci gets you there at a brisk pace. Along the way I was constantly trying to separate the good guys from the bad guys as the author continued to add new twists and turns that changed my view of the characters. I was impressed at the intricate plan Baldacci created for his abductors and totally surprised by the ransom request. The conclusion is a creative ending to a great novel. I recommend this book to anyone who has even a small interest in suspense thrillers. I certainly plan on reading other novels by David Baldacci.

A big thanks to my dad for writing this awesome review and for Grand Central Publishing for sending me this ARC.