Summary: "Dick, I need a war."Nicolas Creel is a man on a mission. He heads up the world's largest defense contractor, The Ares Corporation. Dick Pender is the man Creel retains to "perception manage" his company to even more riches by manipulating international conflicts. But Creel may have an even grander plan in mind.
Shaw, a man with no first name and a truly unique past, has a different agenda. Reluctantly doing the bidding of a secret multi-national intelligence agency, he travels the globe to keep it safe and at peace.
Willing to do anything to get back to the top of her profession, Katie James is a journalist who has just gotten the break of a lifetime: the chance to interview the sole survivor of a massacre that has left every nation stunned.
In this terrifying, global thriller, these characters' lives will collide head-on as a series of events is set in motion that could change the world as we know it. An utterly spellbinding story that feels all too real, THE WHOLE TRUTH delivers all the twists and turns, emotional drama, unforgettable characters, and can't-put-it-down pacing that readers expect from David Baldacci-and still goes beyond anything he's written before.~amazon.com
Review: I've been a huge David Baldacci fan since reading a book by him several years ago on a business trip and been hooked ever since. Thank goodness my dad is a fan, so he typically buys his books for us. :) The Whole Truth
definitely does not disappoint. Enter Nicolas Creel, a billionaire on a mission to set the world straight by sending it back to the times of the Cold War. Nicolas Creel is definitely the villain in the story but I didn't hate him. I thought he was a bit egotistical but I somewhat understood his reasoning behind his creation of war. Enter Shaw, who is a mercenary who happens to step in to the chaos by accident. Along comes Katie James, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, who has fallen from grace and is scrambling to get her career back. She gets sucked into the main plot by circumstance and inevitably her and Shaw cross paths, separate and then reconnect. I think this book shed light on things that could happen and maybe even are going on in boardrooms/war rooms right now. The theory of M.A.D (Mutual Assured Destruction)is a theme throughout the book and an interesting one that does go back to the cold war. If anything this book does make you think about if we are safer now or if we were safer back in the days of the cold war. What does it mean to be safe? What are the consequences of some countries having all the power? Is it a bad thing? Is it good? Is it a better known than the terrorists from the Middle East?
I'm looking forward to seeing if Mr. Baldacci creates another book with Shaw and Katie James because it certainly was left open for that option.
At the end of the book Mr. Baldacci makes a statement about "perception management" and how real it is and how there are PR firms that specialize in this but it's kept quiet. I can't say that I'm shocked by this. I'm not a cynic but nothing really, truly shocks me anymore when it comes to world politics.
It wasn't his best book that I've read, but it definitely left me thinking about politics and consequences of too much power and money. If you like this book then I highly recommend Wild Fire
by Nelson Demille, it deals with some of the same themes but in a different manner. Final Take: 3.75/5
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