David Baldacci and the book ‘Stone Cold’

In returning to a five-book series by David Baldacci, available as the Camel Club series of books, it feels good to read the third in a series of books that explores what it means when a history of gray shades of malevolence come calling. The book titled Stone Cold calls into question the stories one tells oneself about professional work and personal relationships.

(David Baldacci, pictured here, had his book Stone Cold first published on October 24, 2007).

The subject matter brings together two separate yet strong threads of revenge raised in the books The Collectors and The Camel Club, as reviewed here and here, respectively. The histories of characters Annabelle Conroy and Oliver Stone confront the Camel Club and folks we did not meet until The Collectors, with a parallel tale told the confronts who the two really are. The intrigue that underlies both was the moral and ethical lines of the past; the fact of political assassinations and how people were classified as traitors presenting a compelling tale that informs the rest of the novel. That Stone Cold ends with clear questions of whether the Camel Club perseveres, if Oliver Stone / John Carr will reemerge. That a character named Harry Finn underlines the action adds the glue that binds the work together.

(Alternative covers for Stone Cold as written by David Baldacci).

Overall, I grant Stone Cold by David Baldacci 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5 for its quality.

Matt – Saturday, January 14, 2023