Rating: 
Summary: The Supreme Court is pristine
Review: David Baldacci mixes several lines of interest and plot very convincingly. Very convincing is the military plot of some people who performed experiments on privates without their knowing and agreeing with various drugs like LSD or PCP. The result is an interesting case, approached both through its sexual dimension (raped women in the armed forces) and the experimental dimension at the level of the Supreme Court whose functioning and even function are explored in details, particularly how a decision is built and agreed upon. Here the interest is to know if the armed forces are above the law and if personnel can suit them for compensations and damages when something wrong has taken place. Very convincing too is the career of a defense attorney who started as a cop and resigned after a shoot-out with young drug dealers. He wants the truth in the case that led to the death of his brother, a Supreme Court clerk. His procedure and the plot that builds the novel is very precise and credible. Convincing too is the love affair that develops between this defense attorney and another clerk of the Supreme Court. Both want the truth and are ready to fight and even endanger their position to get it. At this level the book is a perfect example of the rights of a citizen and the dangers and perils for being one to the end, to the dire and bitter finish. To be a citizen is to refuse any compromission with evil and evil elements in society, even if your livelyhood or welfare may be endangered by this action. It is this that is the real dimension of democracy and freedom, and those two values of ours are not untouchable in our societies. They always are the result of a fight within the society for them to be respected by everyone, including the institutions who should uphold them from the very start and by principle. An excellent book because it goes beyond a simple action plot.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
Rating: 
Summary: Do yourself a favor and skip it.
Review: A Supreme Court clerk learns about a conspiracy through an appeal filed by a lifer and is murdered to cover it up. His brother and girlfriend are soon on the case to track the killers. Baldacci's writing is frequently plodding, the characters are thoroughly stereotyped, and the plot is both predictable and ridiculous.
Rating: 
Summary: Just a good mystery
Review: Mystery books tend to be by-the-numbers. There's the conspiracy that one character knows and gets killed over. There's the conspirator on the phone whose identity isn't revealed until the last 30 pages. There's the red herring and there's the plot twists occuring at regular intervals. Naturally they rise and fall on the characters. If you like the characters you stay with it. If you don't, you throw it in the pile. Sara Evans and John Fiske are two fairly fleshed out characters. They are likeable. Now, Sara is a bit bland in places and you don't really believe the romance angle, but they have a workable chemistry. Rufus Harms is a little too innocent, but that's ok. What works and doesn't work at the same time is the relationship between John and his brother Mike. It's a little too fleshed out. It threatens to become the focus of the book. You suspect that the author wanted to write an Ann Tyler book about how families can spend years angry at each other before working out their petty differences. It makes for compelling characterization but it also makes for distraction. (spoiler)There are a couple of surprises but anyone whose ever read mysteries knows to focus on the character that seems to have nothing to do with the narrative except for just being a nice guy related to another character. But overall it's a fun fast read.
Rating:
Summary: Simply disappointing
Review: After reading my first Baldacci book and being pleased with the pacing, the characters, and the unexpected plot twists, I anxiously awaited the arrival of "The Simple Truth" to add to my summer fun reading. Whatever adeptness I saw in the Baldacci's earlier attempt was absent from this bit of story-telling. First, he kills off a fresh faced, promising character early in the story. I realize the attempt was to shock the reader and have the flawed older brother come in for a proper since of vengeance and self-vindication. As far as I was concerned, it didn't work. Also, I had guessed the big secret that the title refers to as the "simple truth" well before the book was half finished, but Baldacci leads up to the revelation likes its going to make you drop the book in disbelief. Come on -- John Rebus, Harry Bosch, Elvis Cole, Miss Marple, or the Hardy Boys would have figured this one out so soon they wouldn't have even written a book about it! Even if you lower your standards for summer fare, I wouldn't think this book would be worth the effort.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT A LEGAL THRILLER
Review: When I first got the book I thought it would be like John Grisham's books. It wasn't even close to it. The first half of the book was so boring. Only like the second half does the book get exciting. I wouldn't even call it exciting. This should be like a mystery book instead of a courtroom thriller. It didn't have like a big courtroom drama or anything like that. If you want a good courtroom thriller, look into John Grisham books.
Rating:
Summary: Worst book ever
Review: I'm annoyed that I have to give this book one star. It is perhaps the worst piece of fiction I have ever read. I'm just as willing as the next person to suspend disbelief when reading for entertainment's sake. However, this book goes way beyond that. As a licensed attorney, it's embarassing that Baldacci was once one as well and churns out an incredibly inaccurate, sensationalized, unrealistic depiction of the law and the Supreme Court in particular. Even aside from that, his writing is terrible. The characters have no depth, parts of the story are simply not believable, and the overall plot is tired and predictable. Baldacci utilizes so many of the cliches of the suspense genre, both cinematic and literary, that I found myself laughing at every flip of the page. I finished the book only out of morbid curiosity to see what he would try to pull next. Without giving anything away, all I can say is that 95 percent of the events and dialogue in the book would never happen, except maybe on Mars. Those unfamiliar with the law may find this book enjoyable. I urge you not to take it too literally, though.
Rating:
Summary: Audio Book Better than Book
Review: Reading prior reviews, apparently the audio book is much better than the book. The audio book omitted any reference to a sexual relationship between John & Sarah and didn't give an involved picture of Supereme Court operations, unlike the book. The book was a good fit as an andio book...very suspenseful and a lot of action. The ending explanation of "whodunit" was a little unbelieveable and rather convoluted, but that also made the ending a surprise.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely a hit
Review: This was the first of Mr. Baldacci's books that I had read and I really enjoyed it. The plot twists and turns are truly excellent and I was kept up late at night because I just couldn't find a good place to put it down! If you're going to be busy, don't pick up this book but if you've got a snowy day inside or just a bit of spare time, definitely consider this book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I believe that this book is one of Baladacci's best ever. Whoever likes legal thriller, should not miss this book!
Rating:
Summary: A Good Book - After the First 200 Pages
Review: I'm glad that I endured the boring parts - i.e. the first 200 pages - of this slow starter, because it does start to get interesting on about page 205. Then I started getting into it. The plot is actually very well crafted with an exciting ending, but in the first 200 pages of a 500-and-something page book there needs to be more than just introducing the characters and their particular neuroses. The protaganist, legal eagle and boy-wonder Michael Fiske, is such a goody-two-shoes that I was practically HAPPY when he's bumped off by the bad guys early on (not a spoiler - it's on the book's back cover.) Anyway, I found Baldacci's dialogue throughout the book between the characters fairly wooden and contrived - I had just finished reading John Sandford's "Easy Prey" and going from that book to this one was kind of like eating a steak at Morton's of Chicago and then eating a steak at the Red Robin - filling, nutritious, and yet: a disappointment. If I could have given this 2 and a half stars I would have.
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