Absolute Power Abridged

Rating:
Summary: Turn the pages
Review: You will keep turning the pages of this book. You will be gripped by the plot. Mr Baldacci has the strenghts of Jeffrey Archer. A superb story teller. However, he also has the same weakness of absurd ignorance of some facts. A law firm that is "Legal caterer to hundreds of blue chip companies..." but later seems to depend almost entirely on one client. But you will not put the book down

Rating:
Summary: Grisham does it better.
Review: A lawyer as hero? Grisham does it better. This is an "ok" story, but it has to many "improbables". It's highly unlikely that the President can just happen to have, not one, but two secret service men willing to commit murder on his order. This goes well beyond the plausible. Maybe it's better as a movie

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Summary: A fast paced thriller you can't and won't put down.
Review: What a great read. It drew me in from the first page. A dark night, a man with night vision binoculars, a wealthy home, a stolen car. A burglary is about to be comitted. What you don't know is that this will not be just any burglary and it will certainly not be routine for the burglar. Instead, this burglary will hold far-reaching consequences for those involved, leading the reader on a pager turner that won't be put down. PS. The movie in no way compares to the book. The integrity of the book has been sacrificed to allow for big name stars to play the "heroes".

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: Read this book! I was up until 4:00 am on a work night reading this book. It's been a long long time since I've done this. Okay, so the premise is a bit far fetched. Who cares! Enjoy it for what it is. Great fiction!

Rating:
Summary: Pure garbage.
Review: Please! Correct me if I'm wrong about any of the following. A burglar breaks into the home of a billionaire using one of those "I lack the imagination or knowledge to write about a real burglary" machines. You know, press a few buttons and you're in. He goes up to the "vault", which hides $4 million BEHIND A GLASS DOOR!!!! Oh sure. He opens this door using the tv remote control. The Pres shows up, has a fatal encounter with a bimbo, and THEN THE UNCONSCIOUS PRES IS RAPED BY HIS CHIEF OF STAFF! Uh huh. Soon we get JACK GRAHAM! -- an attorney who is so beautiful that even the men stop and stare. His fiancee wants to buy him a $3 million mansion paid for with the interest of just one of her trust funds. Her daddy is yet another billionaire. She is, of cousre, beautiful. So beautiful that we get page after page of description of her massive breasts, beautiful face, stunning body, etc. But JACK GRAHAM! is in love with his old girlfriend. She too is, ahem, a beautiful attorney. Next we get the "interantional hit man" on the scene. His retainer is $100,000 a day. He is, young, beautiful, (what a shocker) and has an international politics degree from Dartmouth. No problem. What a load of insufferable crap

Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY SPELL-BINDING
Review: One of those exciting books that grabs you on the first page and never turns loose. What a marvelous web this author weaves throughout daring you to figure out what's next. Unfortunately, I can see this happening in today's political climate. I will see the movie....but it won't be l/l0th as good as this book

Rating:
Summary: A well thought out first novel.
Review: I would definitely have to classify this as a major work for a first novel. The prose is lively, the dialogue terse, and the plot devilishly believable. It is not hard to read between the very wide lines of the author's absolute loathing of Washington society and the political elite. A feeling which will enamor him to the majority of his American readers. The only problem I had with the novel was the absence of a Vice-President. Surely he would have played a role either in the investigation or in a possible pardon. Especially considering how political that particular office has become. Overall, however, a highly readable and impressive first effort.

Rating:
Summary: Good book
Review: This was an extremely entertaning book. However, I had a problem with the ending. It was never explained how the phones being "bugged" came to the attention of the detectives or Jack realizing what Luther was trying to tell him about the President

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Summary: The author has forgotten something critical.
Review: The beginning and the middle of this book were very good, but in the end this author forgets that the President has the power to pardon himself for anything he may have done before he leaves office. Therefore the President will always get away with murder. The author is apparently oblivious to this fact. This is why President Ford could pardon President Nixon even though Nixon hadn't been convicted of anything. Nixon could have pardoned himself. Presidential pardon powers are completely unrestricted. I hope the movie addresses this fact. A much better ending would be if the Secret Service agent would kill the President to make him pay for his crime.

Rating:
Summary: fast paced, full of surprises, reminescent of the firm
Review: exciting and hard to put down. the book opens with a bang and never let's up. balducci's writing is clear, easy to follow and riviting at the same time. just how far will you go to follow your bosses orders, even if he is the most powerful man on earth? a very impressive debut novel