David Baldacci
David Baldacci was born on the 5th of August, 1960 in Richmond, Virginia (USA).
Baldacci has been writing short stories since his college years, but it took him 5 years to write his first novel and to get it published in 1996.
Before he got published, he worked for nine years as a lawyer.
His first novel, Absolute Power, was not only his breakthru, it's also his only book (to date) that has been turned into a movie, starring the Wild West legend Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman.
Fun fact is that the movie that Hackman did before Absolute Power (1997), was another book that was turned into a movie by "colleague" writer John Grisham. He also starred in the first book that John Grisham wrote, that also was turned into a move called "The Firm" (1993).
Baldacci's books are often recommended to people who like John Grisham's books. This is partly because of the mix of Conspiracy and Legal conflicts that give Baldacci's books a familiar feel.
Besides Conspiracies and Legal matters, a few locations and government agencies make regular apprearences in his books.
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Locations
- Virginia, USA
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Washington, USA
- Potomac River
- WFO (FBI Field Office for the Washington Area)
- Greece
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Government Agencies
- Secret Service
- FBI
- CIA
- NIC
Baldacci has written 9 stand-alone novels, 3 series for adults and recently started writing a series of childrens books. The first series is called "Sean King & Michelle Maxwell". The second is "The Camel Club" and last, but not least, "Shaw & Katie James". The series he writes for children is called "Freddy and the French Fries".
Even though his books might look like they are 400-500 pages, the usually are only in the low 300's. The second thing thing you might want to take into account is that he only writes 2-4 pages per chapter, most of his books have around 100 chapters, which results in a lot of white space. This is only a drawback because I like his books so much: they are over before I want them to end.
The last thing you might want to take into account, is that he tends to keep you in the dark for about 80-90% of the book, ending in a big unraveling.