This was David Baldacci’s first novel, and he clearly got off to a flying start.

A professional burglar breaks into an opulent house near Washington DC. He has done his research, and confidently expects that the house will be empty, as the occupants are supposed to be on holiday in the Caribbean. However, while he is in the property, he hears people coming into the house, and as luck would have it, they come up to the master bedroom, where he had been clearing out the contents of a large walk-in safe. He withdraws into the safe, pulling it closed behind him. At this point he realises that the mirror on the door of the safe is two-way, and from his vantage point he watches proceeding unfold.

And those proceedings are noteworthy. The newcomers on the scene are the young wife of the octogenarian owner of the house and her new lover, who happens also to be the President of the United States. Things do not go to plan, and the woman ends up dead, shot by members of the President’s security detail, who, it seems, accompany him even on such trysts. After the President and his party withdraw, the burglar makes good his escape, stopping only to retrieve a vital piece of evidence of what has taken place.

Initially unaware that a witness has been on the scene, the President’s party return to the scene to clear away al traces, and become aware that a burglar had been there, and that evidence has gone missing. This leads to a massive clandestine operation to discover who is involved, and what they might plan to do with their knowledge.

This may all sound rather contrived, but that is more down to my clumsy synopsis. To the reader, it all comes across with great urgency and plausibility, and I was caught up right from the start. I believe that before becoming a full time writer, Baldacci was a solicitor, but his spare and clear prose, and his ability to unwind a compelling and gripping story suggest he might also have made an admirable journalist. ( )

An entertaining crime thriller. It moves swiftly with shocking twists and turns and a good conclusion. ( )

very good political/murder thriller about the Secret Service's murder of the President's mistress.

I've watched the movie based on this book a number of times, and always greatly enjoyed it. And maybe that was the problem. I found myself bored with the book, most likely because I already knew what was going to happen. In a thriller, predictability is the kiss of death, but it's not the author's fault the movie was so well done. The novel itself is an easy read, and while the writing isn't stellar (Baldacci's later books are much better), it's not bad, either.
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Hoewel het uitgangspunt licht ongeloofwaardig is, bezorgt dit verhaal me echt veel leesplezier. Ik denk dat ik maar vaker iets van hem ga lezen. ( )