Books: True Blue

True Blue
By David Baldacci
Audiobook - Abridged
Copyright 2010
Read by Ron McLarty
Approximately 8 hours

I was a long time warming to Baldacci, mostly because I don't read many cops, robbers, terrorist/CIA books. I finally picked up The Christmas Train simply because Baldacci is a Virginia author, and I enjoyed it. So I moved on to books featuring former Secret Service characters Michelle Maxwell and Sean King.

True Blue brings us Beth Perry, chief of the Washington, DC police department, and her sister, Mason "Mace" Perry. Mace was a police officer but she was framed for something and ended up a felon in prison. The story opens with her release. She then manages to involve herself in an ongoing crime investigation in hopes of clearing her name and earning her way back onto the police force.

I love reading about women who are strong and able to take care of themselves. Mason and Beth fit this bill but truly some of the story line was so unbelievable that it made it difficult to continue with the book. In the first place, would the police chief have allowed her felon sister near a crime scene? I think not. Would the chief forensic officer let a felon have a file of information on the case? I think not. Would a gangster called Psycho who ruled the area agree to let Mace and her boyfriend go because of a basketball game? Would a professional Russian killer/spy on assignment for the CIA (?!?) agree to a game of knives before she skewers her victim? You get the idea.

Additionally, this book had a number of loose ends. Since I was listening to an abridgement I can't be sure that wasn't the reason, but in looking at the reviews I see others complaining of the same issue so I suspect it was the story line.

Baldacci is a good writer and I hope that this is an aberration. If there are other books planned with these characters, perhaps next time the plot will be a little less unbelievable.

This is not a bad book, but I think the author can do better.