Book Review: Stone Cold (Camel Club #3) by David Baldacci

 Finished August 21, 2015

Synopsis at Good Reads

The #1 bestselling author of The Collectors and Simple Geniusreturns with STONE COLD...an unforgettable novel of revenge, conspiracy, and murder that brings a band of unlikely heroes face-to-face with their greatest threat.

Oliver Stone, the leader of the mysterious group that calls itself the Camel Club, is both feared and respected by those who've crossed his path. Keeping a vigilant watch over our leaders in Washington, D.C., the Camel Club has won over some allies, but it has also earned formidable enemies-including those in power who will do anything to prevent Stone and his friends from uncovering the hidden, secret work of the government.

Annabelle Conroy, an honorary member of the Camel Club, is also the greatest con artist of her generation. She has swindled forty million dollars from casino king Jerry Bagger, the man who murdered her mother. Now he's hot on her trail with only one goal in mind: Annabelle's death. But as Stone and the Camel Club circle the wagons to protect Annabelle, a new opponent, who makes Bagger's menace pale by comparison, suddenly arises.

One by one, men from Stone's shadowy past are turning up dead. Behind this slaughter stands one man: Harry Finn. To almost all who know him, Finn is a doting father and loving husband who uses his skills behind the scenes to keep our nation safe. But the other face of Harry Finn is that of an unstoppable killer who inevitably sets his lethal bull's-eye on Oliver Stone. And with Finn, Stone may well have met his match.

As Annabelle and the Camel Club fight for their lives, the twists and turns whipsaw, leading to a finale that is as explosive as it is shattering. And when buried secrets are at last violently resurrected, the members of the Camel Club left standing will be changed forever.

With unrelenting pacing, stunning reversals, and two of the most compelling characters in modern fiction, STONE COLD is David Baldacci writing at his breathtaking best.


My review at Good Reads
5 of 5 stars

I adore that in this series the good guys and bad guys are gun metal gray and silver rather than black and white in their MOs and motives. I’m not saying the lines between main character heroes and villains are blurred, but some of the supporting cast may change your mind...and change it back before you finish the book.

There are two stories happening separately and together in Stone Cold and they coexist very well with both complete and intense and neither one taking anything from the other. Let me ask you this: When is it okay to kill? Sure in self-defense, but revenge? And if revenge is justifiable when does it become justifiable? When a family member is killed? When you suspect a child may have been killed? What about when the same killer is still killing the people you care about many years later? Like I said; gun metal gray and silver.

The end of the book was more than I expected and the big question as I finished was “I thought there were more books in the series; HOW?” The very end could have gone one of two ways. It obviously wen the other one. I’m anxious to read what’s in Book 4!