David Baldacci had me pulled every which way in his latest page turning political thriller novel entitled FIRST FAMILY. The different threads of story background came together pretty neatly at the conclusion of the book, but Baldacci had me wondering at the beginning with the introduction of each new thought and how he in the world he would tie it all the angels together. There were also moments where my heart strings were tugged as he showed both sides of several key characters as you really felt and understood the dilemmas they found themselves in.
The story begins with a birthday party. This is not your everyday run of the mill birthday party however. This party, held at the Camp David, was intended to be a day of laughter and celebration but ends in terror as a child is kidnapped and this quickly becomes a national security issue. At the request of the First Lady Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are called in to investigate this kidnapping. Both King and Maxwell are the only people the first lady trusts to find and rescue the kidnapped child.
I found the study of the two key “bad guys”, Sam and Jane Cox , particularly intriguing. The information regarding the inner workings on White House security had a ring of authenticity to it. Whether it is accurate or not I don’t know but Baldacci did a good job of making believe it was though. There were also moments that I laughed with a few descriptive terms from the author that I had never heard before such as “thunder burps”, and the term “long heels” to describe high heels worn by women. These are little things that I find humorous and cause me to chuckle.
Overall, FIRST FAMILY is a fun, fast, emotionally and engaging novel that had me hooked from the opening pages. On a personal side I applaud the author for using minimal profanity and non-graphic sex portions. This book intrigued me so much I immediately went to the library and picked up another of his books. His books are great rainy day reading which are engaging and fun.
Reviewed by Jae Anderson
