Rating: 
Summary: Absolute Power is Absolutely Compelling
Review: "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" --Lord Acton. That truer words have never been spoken is proven by David Baldacci's thriller "Absolute Power". Alan Richmond is the President of the United States, he is also an adulterer who finds himself in a lethal situation, when the woman he is beating up grabs a letter opener and tries to kill him. Poised outsided the door, Secret Service agents Burton and Collins hear him cry out for help and rush to his aid. They simultaneously shoot his attacker, the much younger wife of billionaire Walter Sullivan. Quick thinking by Chief of Staff Gloria Russell, begins a coverup that would have been effective if only aging burgler Luther Whitney hadn't been trapped in the one-way mirrored vault by the President's lustful intentions. Luther sees the whole thing, and is horrified. He fully intends to just keep his haul and fade into the background until circumstances dictate that he needs to step in. And so begins a page-turning thriller whose plot twists and turns in the established bestseller format. Absolute Power is a quick read and very hard to put down. It gives a view of what could happen if a corrupt President puts his loyal to the death Secret Service into an impossible situation. Very impressive for a first novel, I can't wait for the next one!
Rating:
Summary: This is, without a doubt, the best book I have ever read.
Review: I cannot say enough good things about this book. This is a story that grabs you from the first page and doesn't let go. I read it in 2 days, and I recommend it to everyone I know. This book has got it all - an unbelievably clever plot, characters you root for, bad guys, good guys, and just a tiny touch of romance. I LOVED THIS BOOK. Don't see the movie, it doesn't even BEGIN to do the book justice, and they eliminate one of the main characters, Jack, completely from the movie in order to make Clint Eastwood the hero. After reading this, I immediately delved into "Total Control" and "The Winner". David Baldacci does not disappoint. I have just this to say to him - PLEASE, PLEASE write another novel! I am a huge fan of John Grisham, Michael Crichton, John Sandford, and Richard North Patterson, but I have to say, David Baldacci blows them out of the water. I didn't want the book to end. This is one you CANNOT miss.
Rating: 
Summary: You've got to be kidding me
Review: 1. Great story...It's like The Simple Truth, but worse
2. The way was written could've been alot better
3. I found my self skipping whole chapters sometimes becuase it had nothing to with the story, just political stuff
4. Seemed to drag on...believe, it's his worst book yet. Try The Simple Truth or Split Second....It's worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Power is Absolutely Compelling
Review: "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" --Lord Acton. That truer words have never been spoken is proven by David Baldacci's thriller "Absolute Power". Alan Richmond is the President of the United States, he is also an adulterer who finds himself in a lethal situation, when the woman he is beating up grabs a letter opener and tries to kill him. Poised outsided the door, Secret Service agents Burton and Collins hear him cry out for help and rush to his aid. They simultaneously shoot his attacker, the much younger wife of billionaire Walter Sullivan.
Quick thinking by Chief of Staff Gloria Russell, begins a coverup that would have been effective if only aging burgler Luther Whitney hadn't been trapped in the one-way mirrored vault by the President's lustful intentions. Luther sees the whole thing, and is horrified. He fully intends to just keep his haul and fade into the background until circumstances dictate that he needs to step in.
And so begins a page-turning thriller whose plot twists and turns in the established bestseller format. Absolute Power is a quick read and very hard to put down. It gives a view of what could happen if a corrupt President puts his loyal to the death Secret Service into an impossible situation.
Very impressive for a first novel, I can't wait for the next one!
Rating:
Summary: Another lawyer turned writer -- but this one does it better.
Review: Absolute Power cast an absolute spell over me -- couldn't stop reading! This first novel by David Baldacci has unusual twists on the traditional tale of murder. Through a two way murder in a walk-in safe, a thief witnesses a murder and cover-up. It involves none other than the President of the United States. And that's just the opening chapter! Baldacci, like John Grisham, is a lawyer turned writer. Baldacci, of course, doesn't have the reputation of Grisham but I think he is a better writer. Unlike Grisham, each character in Baldacci's story is completely developed, although somewhat one-sided (good guys/bad guys) they are realistic.
Baldacci has two characters, Seth Frank and Bill Burton who are family men with children. Baldacci could have padded pages with tender family scenes. Instead the reader only knows of them as the plot relates to them. Scenes that would naturally pull them into the picture, as when Seth is in the hospital, are deftly manuevered. Seth Frank and Bill Burton are foils for each other and the book, in a classic style, abounds with foils -- Kate Whitney and Jennifer Baldwin, Luther Whitney - the thief and Alan Richmond, the President.
This is a well crafted story. I hope to see more from this promising new writer.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read
Review: Absolute Power is a fast paced,highly suspencful novel.When Luther goes to work, no one knows about it.For he would be arrested if they did.Being in his 60's Luther dreams of one last job to put him into retirement permanantly.He would then have nothing to worry about ever again.Except one thing,the love of his daughter that he had lost.He still heeps in distant touch with the love of his daughter's past. But when it comes time to pull this last job off.There were a few major complications, to keep Luther from easilly pulling this off without the knowledge of others.When people start to die for what was witnessed that particular night.Luther begins to wonder what to do next.And why the president has anything to do with this whole mess of untimelly circumstances.
Rating:
Summary: Negitive -10 stars
Review: Here we have the president of the US screwing his mentor's, the richest man on earth, way too young wife. The Pres and the girl are stinking drunk. Turns out the Pres is a violent screw and starts to choke the girl. She fights back, the Pres's two body guards hear the noise, burst into the room and blow her head off. The Pres passes out on the bed. His Chief of Staff, a woman, is also there and when she enters the room decides they will clean up the mess and make it look like a burglary. So she tells the two body guards to go put on a pot of coffee cuz it's gonna be a long night. As soon as they leave she runs over, locks the door, jumps over the dead girl's body, stripes off her panty hose, straddles the naked, unconscious Pres and proceeds to rape(?) him till she gets her rocks off. Then puts herself back together and unlocks the door. IS THAT SICK OR WHAT!! What the heck was Baldacci and his editors thinking of when they left that Chief of Staff part in. I never made it past that scene when first I tried reading this book a couple years ago. This go round I forced my self to read on. It gets better for a very little awhile....then falls apart when the eye witness (a burglar) to all the above , who's been arrested for the murder, refuses to talk to his lawyer (a long time friend) about what he saw. YEAH RIGHT. Give me a break. I don't know about you but if I witnessed the above murder I'd be talking my head off ASAP. And then the bodies start to drop, starting with the eye witness. Too many bodies are dropping with out any one making a fuss. I mean the richest man in the world is killed and nothing happens. An utterly ridiculous book
Rating:
Summary: Now I want to see the movie again
Review: This is the second book that I've read by this author, and it was definitely a page-turner. However, there weren't any characters that were really likable. The only character that I warmed to somewhat was Luther, a lifelong burglar who had spent a good part of his life in prison. What does that tell you about the rest of the characters in the book? Jennifer, Kate, and Jack, although not criminal in a legal sense, were devastatingly emotionally immature and stunted. Their tragic lack of insight and common sense despite their towering academic and professional achievements were incongruities that we have all witnessed over and over again of those in power. Jennifer, in particular, seemed to be an archetypal caricature of those in certain social classes who are chronically afflicted with a haughty lack of humanity. (...). On a technical note, Luther proclaims that he voted for the current president, yet he's a three-time felon who lost his voting privileges a long time ago. Nonetheless, this book was a fun read, and I'm sure I will seek out this author again.
Rating:
Summary: A great book, Baldacci is great
Review: This was a compelling, intriguing story that had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. The movie ruined the story--but that's Clint for you.
Rating:
Summary: I have a pair
Review: I havent read this book yet but from the other reviews i have seen that it is a good book. I have read a few pages and it has keep me on the end of my seat. I'm sure i'll have a great time reading it ms. B. This will be better than doing a community service project.
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