From Publishers Weekly
Baldacci's implausible fifth Camel Club novel (after Divine Justice) disappoints with cartoonish plotting and characterization. The night after the U.S. president persuades former assassin Oliver Stone (aka John Carr) to re-enter government employment to tackle the growing threat of Russian drug gangs, Stone finds himself in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, when gunfire breaks out and a bomb explodes. Apparently, the intended target was the visiting British prime minister, who was scheduled to walk across the park before an ankle injury modified his plans. Taken off his original mission, Stone seeks to identify the forces behind the assassination attempt. Stone's old Camel Club allies involve themselves in his search, which includes the de rigueur mole hunt and the McGuffin of choice these days, a lead on Osama bin Laden's whereabouts. Those who prefer intelligence in their political thrillers will have to look elsewhere. (Nov.) (c)
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From Booklist
Shortly after the events related in Divine Justice (2008), Oliver Stone, former CIA assassin and now the leader of the shadowy group known as the Camel Club, is whisked away to a top-secret meeting with the president of the U.S. Russian drug cartels are operating on American soil, possibly with the approval—if not the direct supervision—of the Russian government. Stone’s mission is to go to the drugs’ point of entry, Latin America, and find a way to shut the cartels down. But before he can even begin his mission training, Stone finds himself in the middle of what appears to be a terrorist attack on the life of the British prime minister. Teaming up with a British intelligence agent, Stone attempts to determine if the attack is connected to the Russian drug-smuggling operation. The latest Camel Club novel is, as usual, skillfully constructed and very difficult to put down. Baldacci keeps peeling back layers of Stone’s psyche, revealing him to be a man full of unresolved conflicts and a potentially self-destructive amount of guilt over his past actions. Another winner. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Since Baldacci’s first novel, Absolute Power, appeared in 1996, he has owned a place on most best-seller lists. His latest Camel Club novel won’t break the string. Author tours and all the attendant hoopla will get the ball rolling. --David Pitt