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Summary: Prose that flows smoother than honey
Review: It was a pleasure to experience this well written Baldacci book - my first from this fine author. Not only is it an imaginative and captivating story, but the words pour out smoother than the arguments of a country lawyer. I only had one minor complaint with this book. The villain ended up a little too coincidentally related to another character, which struck me as too odd to happen in a country of over 250 million people. Nevertheless, the action was gripping and the pages flew through my hands. I strongly urge all lovers of mysteries and thrillers to try out this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Started great and kept going downhill
Review: I thought the first half of the book was excellent - kept me interested and the characters were intriguing. Then...it just became predictable and I knew basically how it would end up. Second half of book very disappointing
Rating:
Summary: Too Predictable
Review: Most of the David Baldacci books that I have read have kept me very interested all the way too the end. This book started out fairly strong but then I began to feel I knew what was going to happen. It does have a great villian but the other characters relationships were very perdictable. I kept reading the book, hoping I was wrong. The book ended up as I expected and I find that disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: One excellent author
Review: I don't know why I skipped Baldacci over the years but I don't regret getting into his work now.
The winner is one of those books you just cannot put down. There may be some "holes" in his storyline but this is true of every piece of fiction written.
If you want to get a book that will keep you from doing anything else until it is read get this one and for sure check out the other works by this author
Rating: 
Summary: Baldacci is a Winner...
Review: I was recently referred to "The Winner" by a friend of mine, and I'm glad I gave Baldacci a try. I am normally hesitant to read books like this, as the "thriller" genre is very hit-or-miss in my opinion. This one caught me off guard... in a good way. Baldacci wastes no paper telling his tale. Every chapter and every scene is relevant to the story, and there is very little filler added to this novel. The characters are not quite as well drawn as you might find in other novels, however this didn't bother me very much... in fact, I find that for this kind of story the characters don't need to be overcomplicated. Their motivations are clear-cut, and made sense to me for the most part (The only exception to this would be the Charlie character's decision to remain with LuAnn throughout the book... I suppose it can be chalked up to Charlie's drifter tendencies.). As usual, I found myself rooting for the bad guy, who is quite well-realized and "made" this book for me. All in all, the plot twists and crisp writing made this book and Baldacci a welcome addition to my collection. Baldacci is easily an equal talent to Grisham, however I would have to draw the line before I award him Ludlum status...
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Summary: Another Big Score!
Review: This is a novel that defies you to put it down until you finish it. It is a lengthy but fast read. I thoroughly enjoyed Baldacci's ABSOLUTE POWER and the action here is no second banana. I highly recommend this book. You care about LuAnn and her crew and you ache to see the destruction of her chief nemesis. The character development of all of the characters is rich and believable. Baldacci has the knack of creating characters that you can easily visualize. The action is non-stop and you really don't care if the plot is a tiny bit flawed. After all this is fiction...very good fiction. Baldacci knows how to tell an intriguing tale.LuAnn Tyler is a twenty-year-old mother with a two-year-old child living in rural Georgia. She is smart, she is beautiful and she is trapped in a relationship with the abusive and lazy father of her daughter. LuAnn is trying to make the best of a bad situation when fate enters into her life in the person of a mysterious stranger named Jackson or so he calls himself at their first meeting: a meeting she believes is a job interview but she soon learns it is a meeting that is dramatically going to change the rest of her life. Circumstances engineered in part by the mysterious Jackson conspire to persuade LuAnn to participate in a lottery fraud that allows her to win a hundred million dollars. The only thing LuAnn has to do is promise to leave the country and to let Jackson manage her winnings. In LuAnn's forced sojourn she acquires an education, numerous skills and a pronounced degree of sophistication. For ten years LuAnn, her bodyguard Charlie and daughter Lisa move from place to place in Europe so as not to become a spectacle. Eventually however LuAnn wearies of her Bedouin existence and longs for home...no matter what the cost she plots her return. This, of course, promises to upset Jackson's intricate plan. Rather than allow that to happen Jackson plots his own intrigue to end the threat: a threat he views as having the potential of destroying him. The twists and turns on this rollercoaster ride should satisfy even the most cynical critic of this type of genre. Enjoy and hold on tight!
Rating:
Summary: Best suspense thriller novel EVER!!
Review: I read David Baldacci's books Total Control and Absolute Power which were terrific, well written and very suspenseful. I have never read a book as fantastic as The Winner. It is the very best book I have ever read - of any category. I couldn't put it down. I referred it to several friends who read it overnite! I cannot properly describe this book to give it the justice it deserves. The story is far fetched but at the same time, the way Baldacci writes it, seems and very possibly could be extremely real. I recommend that everyone read this book!! In fact, I wish I could read it, then forget what it was about so I could read it over and over again.
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Summary: New Baldacci reader says..
Review: This is my first novel to read for David Baldacci. I read the book in two days. Down with a the flu, I wasn't able to do anything but read. I'd checked the book out of the library a few days earlier on a tip. The book started out holding my interest and it held my interest. I kept turning the pages to read what was going to happen next. This is the goal of any author...keeping a reader's attention. After I'd finished the book, I told myself I did enjoy the book, but honestly thought the book was a little too long. I almost knew what was going to happen, or I guess I had the plot figured out before I got to the end of the book. I like a story that keeps me guessing about whodunit...and this story didn't. Baldacci is a mystery writer and although he injected a dab of romance, it was weak. Naturally, if you have a beautiful woman and a FBI agent, you should have a touch of romance. I think Baldacci had a good plot going, but I'll have to agree the coincidences in the timing of the events in LuAnn's life from start to end were a little far-fetched. And I have a hard time believing a guy like Jackson could be so talented as to mimick voices and make someone believe he is a 10 year old girl. Still, I'll give credit where credit is due. The story kept me going and wanting to keep reading. That's the name of the game with any writer. So when I take this book back to the library, I'll check out another Baldacci book. I'd recommend this book to anyone that likes mystery.
Rating:
Summary: The Winner
Review: This book was great! Baldacci does an excellent job in developing the major characters to the point where you really feel what the characters are feeling. You feel their hopes, their desires, and their fears. You root for the good guys, you curse the bad guys. The book keeps you in suspense with some surprising twists and turns.
Luann Tyler is a dirt poor, but very attractive, 20 year old women with a 7 month old baby and a 7th grade education. She works as a night waitress at an all night truck stop and lives in a run down dirty trailer with her unemployed womanizing boyfriend. who unfortunnately for Luann, wants nothing out of life but to get drunk at the local tavern at night and sleep most of the day. Luann is a very headstrong and determined young women who wants desparately to break out of a seemingly never ending cycle of poverty and provide a better life for her baby daughter.
Jackson enters the picture, a highly intelligent character who has managed to fix several lotteries and has no qualms about killig to keep his secret safe. He offers Luann the opportunity to become filthy rich beyond her wildest dreams. He explains to her that he can guarantee her that she will win the government lottery now up to 100 million dollars. Luann needs the money but her conscious tells her that this is very wrong. She is torn as to what to do. She quickly decides to take Jackson's offer when an unfortunate event in her personal life results in an urgent need to leave the country. She buys the winning lottery ticket, gets her share of the proceeds from Jackson, and flees the country. She is told by Jackson she must change her name leave the country & never return to the U.S. lest she risk spoiling his scam.
l0 years later due to a combination of homesickness and her defiant nature, she returns to the U.S. Jackson realizes that her return could eventually expose his scam and bring down his billion dollar empire he has built over the years with other lottery fixes. Her return also gets the attention of a suspicious investigative reporter and the FBI.
The book is fast paced and very suspenseful. It's got murders, kidnappings, and even a great love story towards the end.
I have read other David Baldacci books, including "The Simple Truth", "Absolute Power", and "Total Control", I have yet to be dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: THE WINNER INDEED!
Review: I don't read many suspense/thriller novels, but I'm sure glad I read this one....Jackson is a brilliant, evil psychopathtic killer who is able to "fix" the national lottery. He is a master of disguise and eludes capture for many years....LuAnn is a young parent of a baby girl and they are stuck in a cycle of poverty. She got involved in a killing in self defense and was pursuaded by Jackson to allow herself to win in his lottery scam. However she has to leave the country.... Charlie who worked for Jackson goes with her and becomes her very good friend and protector.....After 10 yrs. in exile they return to the USA and Lu Ann is in constant danger from Jackson....Tom Donovan, a newspaper reporter and Matt Riggs. a former FBI agent befriend her and they also face much danger...This is a fast paced story with a few surprises toward the end..... A romance is also part of this great tale....I recommend this "must read" book. You won't be sorry if you read it, but you might lose some sleep because you will hate to put it down at the end of the day.
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