BELIEVE THE POWER

In a secluded house not far from Washington, D.C., the FBI is interviewing one of the most important witnesses it has ever had, a young woman named Faith Lockhart. For Faith has done too much, knows too much, and she'll tell too much.

BELIEVE THE SUSPENSE

Feared by some of the most powerful men in the world, Faith has been targeted to die. But when a private investigator walks into the middle of the assassination attempt, the shooting suddenly goes wrong, and an FBI agent is killed.

BELIEVE THE ASTOUNDING NEW STORY THAT ONLY DAVID BALDACCI COULD WRITE...

Now Faith Lockhart must flee for her life -- with her story, with her deadly secret, and with an unknown man she's forced to trust...

Reviews

Baldacci's fifth high-concept premise in as many novels (The Simple Truth; Absolute Power; etc.) propels his hard-working new thriller: a renegade CIA faction attempts to reassert the agency's primacy over the FBI by manipulating members of Congress who fund both outfits. To do so, the CIA conspirators aim to take over a bribery scheme they've discovered. The scam was concocted by legendary lobbyist Danny Buchanan, who has been greasing the palms of lawmakers to gain their support of bills aiding the poor and hungry overseas. The spooks plan to assassinate Buchanan and his prot‚g‚, the lovely Faith Lockhart, and force the legislators, under threat of exposure, to support the CIA over the FBI. First, however, they'll have to kill the FBI person guarding Faith, for she has confessed everything to the bureau in hopes of working a deal for herself and Buchanan. But the CIA villains haven't reckoned on the resilience of the two lobbyists, nor on the grit of FBI agent Brooke Reynolds, nor on the skill of PI Lee Adams, who gets caught up in the attempted hit on Faith and her guardianÄ and who then goes on the run with the lobbyist. The novel evolves into a frantic, exciting chase, FBI after CIA after Lee/Faith, with a few nifty twists. Baldacci's characters continue to grow in complexityÄthere's an exceptionally fine scene in which Lee, drunk, nearly rapes FaithÄbut, alas, so does his plotting. This novel is overdone, with too many heroes and subplots and enough data withheld from readers to generate confusion. Baldacci's prose can still break the jaws of subvocalizers, too. The novel moves fast, though, and its players and suspense are strongÄas should be sales. Main selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club; simultaneous audiobook. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

In this thriller, complicated circumstances lead private investigator Lee Adams and Washington lobbyist Faith Lockhart to run for their lives from mysterious killers. Danny Buchanan, Faith's boss, has been bribing members of Congress for their support of bills aiding the poor in other countries, but ruthless Robert Thornhill of the CIA finds out and wants to blackmail the politicians into supporting his dirty operations. When Faith goes to the FBI, the agent protecting her is killed, and Thornhill's thugs are after her with Lee as her accidental protector. As with his other political novels, Baldacci is concerned with corruption in high places, but this convoluted plot is not imaginative enough and takes too long to become focused, being more than halfway through before Faith, Lee, and the reader have any idea why these events have transpired. Characters disappear for long stretches, and a romantic interlude lingers a bit too long. Despite the considerable skill of reader Michael Kramer, Balducci's tale comes to life at the violent end. Recommended only for collections where his work is popular.--Michael Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

"A LIGHTNING-PACED THRILLER". -- Chicago Tribune