The story, ultimately, is about the possibility of recreating one's identify, changing one's life, and leaving behind a less-than-happy past. For many, it might be wish fulfillment. Is it for you? If you could make yourself over again, what kind of life would you create? Who would you be, what would you do, where would you live? And what would you be getting away from? Spying/Terrorism Thriller - Yes Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: - power struggle within govt between two factions Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

A single mother is offered a guarantee to win the lottery and after initial hesitation, accepts. Circumstances force her to leave the country but her eventual return is not welcomed by everyone. In fact, when handing my money to the cashier at the sale, the lady said that this was her favorite David Baldacci book. She had good taste.

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. David Baldacci has been writing since childhood, when his mother gave him a lined notebook in which to write down his stories. (Much later, when David thanked her for being the spark that ignited his writing career, she revealed that she’d given him the notebook to keep him quiet, "because every mom needs a break now and then.”) For someone who is dirt poor, I don’t understand why she had all these qualms about accepting the offer to get the lottery money, albeit fixed. Even if she had refused, it would still be fixed and someone else would get it.

Were you satisfied by the ending? Did it fulfill your hopes? Was it predictable, or were you surprised? The rice-paper plot limps along towards a predictable, melodramatic, one-woman-army ending after which they all live happily ever after. I started reading The Winner based on a recommendation from my eye doctor, of all people. Frankly I'd never heard of the author before, but decided to give it a shot. And I'm glad I did. I'm even more glad I gave up on the hardcover library book and, instead, got the Kindle version (it's much lighter!). The group eventually witnesses a murder and decide to go after the party themselves rather than risk not being believed. Joining with Veteran Secret Service Agent Alex Ford, the group gets caught up in a complicated game of intrigue and conspiracy that goes all the way to the top. The books go deeper into the real identity of Oliver Stone and his history as a legendary assassin. In the follow up book The Collectors, the Camel Club once again must go to work when the Speaker of the House is assassinated. She is stunningly beautiful and unbelievably strong. To prove the point she is able to outrun an ex-FBI and cut logs competing with a seasoned farmer/ carpenter?! Why !? What do you want to prove here.David Baldacci gets catchy ideas for thriller plots. In his first novel, "Absolute Power," a cat burglar robbing a mansion inadvertently witnesses a murder, committed by the president of the United States no less. In his second novel, To let readers know where I'm coming from, my preferred genre is romance novels. The fact that I liked this should mean something since it is off genre for me. Throughout the book there was the underlying frustration of how can anyone ever stop this bad guy, but he gets it eventually. The story was excellent mechanically with good showing not telling. I would have liked more emotional draw to the characters. Not necessary, but I also would have liked more witty or thought provoking dialogue. I liked the LuAnn character a lot. She was physically very strong. Her strength of mind and body actually scared some men.

Until the last number: "Ever so slowly, even as LuAnn's heart threatened to cease beating, the two balls, as though carefully choreographed, again swapped places with each other in the swirling spray of hot air, even ricochetingThe Winner is a surprisingly interesting and good book. The characters seem very real and you choose your sides very early on. The plot is something else. Even though I'm a writer, I can't imagine coming up with something that intricately planned. It just baffles the mind the twists and turns in this book. Just when you think you've got something figured out, it takes another direction and you're left scratching your head. Baldacci writes under his own name except when published in Italy, where he uses a pseudonym because it is the homeland of his ancestors. I had seen the name many times, but had never read anything by David Baldacci until last week. That Baldacci is a prolific writer is evinced in any airport book store. I was expecting something light and easy like Grisham, but it was a whole lot worse. Above average plot with intricate developments, but it was missing the wow factor. Good but not great. He then graduated from the University of Virginia with a law degree. He then went to Washington, D.C., where he practiced trial and corporate law for nine years. While living in Alexandria, Baldacci continued to write, penning short stories and screenplays, without much success. It was then that he decided to try his hand at novels. He sat down and wrote his first novel Absolute Power, which was published in 1996. Today he lives in North Virginia with his wife and their two children and two dogs.

LuAnn Tyler is quintessential Georgia "white trash" - a young, beautiful, uneducated and unmarried mother with a typical Southern drawl living in a beat-up trailer with Duane Harvey, a no-account beer-guzzling low-life drug runner! But she is sharp enough to realize that her meaningless life is a dead end and she's trying to find a way out for her daughter. A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural whose heroine, a deft mix of compassion and attitude, would be welcome to return and tie up the gaping loose end Box leaves. The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read. And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out that Baldacci also wanted to make a political statement about lotteries being an irresponsible regressive form of taxation that prey upon the weak represented in their totality by LuAnn and her daughter. I think Baldacci was talking about the very story that he had his reporter Donovan attempting to chase down. You know ... he could be right! Because it is fiction, there is room for leeway, but the villian could have accomplished what he was trying to accomplish by much easier means...it just didn't make sense to make other people the lottery winners given financial gain was his primary objective. He could have done it all himself if he just won the lottery once by himself and invested it just like he did with other people's money. I have never read anything by David Baldacci before even though I have a few of his books in my to-be-read pile. The Winner appealed to me because of the story about an individual that wins the mega lottery. Isn't that something that we all wish for? You bet it is.Now in "The Winner," Baldacci has come up with yet another good one. LuAnn Tyler, of Rikersville, Ga., is a 20-year-old unwed mother with only her Daisy Mae good looks and her raw physical strength going for her. She's solicited