Hour Game by David Baldacci

Format: Mass Market Paperbound - Published: September 1, 2005 - 624 Pages - ISBN: 0446616494 - Published By: Warner Vision

 

Hour Game

by David Baldacci

‘Sean King / Michelle Maxwell’ series Book #2

As a series of brutal murders darkens the Wrightsburg, Virginia countryside, the killer taunts police by leaving watches on the victims set to the hour corresponding with their position on his hit list. What’s more, he strives to replicate notorious murders of the past, improving on them through savage attention to detail. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are already investigating a crime involving an aristocratic and dysfunctional Southern family, but when they’re deputized to help in the serial killer hunt they realize the two cases may be connected. Adding to the tension is the appearance of a second killer, this one imitating the murders of the first. Soon, the two killers are playing a game of cat and mouse, with King and Maxwell racing to solve the intricate puzzle of their identities – before the body count escalates.

Review: I finished this book on Monday, May 28th, 2007. Even though this is book #2 of a series, it was a Book of the Month read in another group, I’d never read the first, and although the author would reference back to the first book, I didn’t get the sense of being lost. I liked that.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, my first Baldacci. I thought the main characters complex, with distinct personalities that mesh well. The same with the rest of the cast; while some seemed like ‘yeah, that figures’ kind of characters, they don’t stay that way. 

The plot was well done, no slow spots, the action superb – just the right amount in the right places. A few twists of events keeps you guessing and, as the synopsis promised, I was comletely shocked at the outcome.

I believe I’ll be picking up more of his novels.

Rating: .5