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| The Whole Truth | 
 enlarge | Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $26.99
Buy Used: $4.50
You Save: $22.49 (83%)
New (67) Used (100) Collectible (11) from $4.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  96 reviews
Sales Rank: 886
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.5
ISBN: 0446195979
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780446195973
ASIN: 0446195979
Publication Date: April 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Very good condition with minimal shelfwear. We ship daily and appreciate your business!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Another Baldacci Masterpiece! May 6, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
The villain of this novel is Nicolas Creel. He is the CEO of Ares Corp.
Ares is the largest weapons manufacturer in the world. According to Forbes
Creel is the 14th wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $20 billion dollars. He needs unrest and conflict to help his profits and
income. Dick Pender is a spin master who works for Mr. Creel.He is a
specialist in "perception management. He is using
his talents to create a negative perception of Russia. He is creating the
Red Menace. The hero of this story is Shaw who works for an intelligence
group. His handler is Frank Wells. An organization called the Phoenix
Group is killed by a group posing as Russians. The Phoenix Group is bank-
rolled by the Chinese. Katie James is a journalist who was a previous winner of two Pulitzers but is now ruined in journalism. She stumbles across this story and hopes to use this opportunity to revive her career.
The world is on the brink of war between Russia and China. It becomes
Shaw's job to stop it. There is nonstop action in this fine book. Be sure to read it.
A Powerful Global Adventure! April 22, 2008
8 out of 13 found this review helpful
Nicholas Creel wants to control the world and if all goes according to plan, he just might. Creel owns the world's largest defense contractor, Ares Corporation, and he will do anything to protect the future of his company. Creel hires perception manager Dick Pender to pull off the largest media, political, and international conflict scam imaginable. With careful manipulation of internet blogs, news feeds, and viral online videos, Pender sets in motion a series of events that will end with two of the world's superpowers on the brink of all out war. As both sides respond in acquiring more firepower, Creel moves in to make the sale ensuring long-term stability for his company.
Meanwhile, a man named Shaw finds himself smack in the middle of Creel's deadly game when he loses a loved one in the crossfire of this fabricated global conflict. Fueled by rage, Shaw embarks on a quest for truth using his black-ops training to hunt down those responsible. Along the way, he befriends American reporter Katie James who helps him realize that all is not as it seems. Together they will uncover a shocking truth with staggering global implications.
David Baldacci graces us with a powerful global adventure that is as frightening as it is compelling. The story unfolds at a brisk pace as Baldacci weaves a multitude of characters and locations together giving us all sides of this brilliant tale. The action is relentless and the suspense steadily builds in intensity as we are reminded of a very possible reality that is alarming to say the least. Baldacci reveals just how easy it is to manipulate the media and the internet to cause the public to believe a lie. I really hope Baldacci is way off on this one, but something tells me he's not. What a fantastic story! What an unsettling truth! This is another intriguing offering from Baldacci that cannot be missed.
exciting thriller April 26, 2008
7 out of 17 found this review helpful
CEO of Ares Corporation, a major Defense Department contractor, Nicholas Creel wants to drum up business so he needs a new crisis as Iraq only goes so far, but is nothing like the glory days of Reagan's Cold War. He hires "perception management" guru Dick Pender to create a Cold War. Soon false news stories and supporting disinformation surface on the Internet with news bloggers and hounds having a feeding frenzy over "documented" Russian atrocities. Nicholas is ecstatic.
However, when the London based think tank, the Phoenix Group, is allegedly slaughtered by Russians, Nicholas hopes Pender can connect the murders to a Beijing government sponsored hit; hoping that leads to the immense profits to be made from a Russian- Chinese war. However, undercover operative Shaw is outraged as his fiancee died in the Phoenix Group mass murder and with the help of a defrocked reporter begins to uncover THE WHOLE TRUTH behind the perception management driven crisis.
This is an exciting thriller due more to the PM concept than to the Ares vs. Shaw contest. The PM crowd makes up truths using the Internet and other mass communication techniques to tell a Big Lie and not as David Baldacci says afterward "spin the facts". In fact some in Congress claim this technique was used by the Administration leading to the Iraq invasion. Although the prime plot is entertaining, it is the perception management big lie that makes the difference of what otherwise would be another well written thriller.
Harriet Klausner
 Woefully disappointing May 12, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Had this been my 1st Baldacci read, I'm afraid my literary curiosity would have ended here. I have enjoyed Baldacci's previous work, some more than others. The charactors in this novel were about as "empty" as I've ever seen on paper. Shaw inspired no sympathy over his loss, other than to bemoan it at each and every turn. "Beat it to death", in my view.
The plot itself could have been a very interesting concept, but Baldacci failed to develop it in any creative or interesting manner. I had the impression that the dialogue was developed by a Jr high school student.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I gave it a 3. Most of his previous works rated much higher. Too bad. Very disappointed.
Wondering if I'll finish the book May 14, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
I love David Balducci's books, but this one seems like he wrote it just to make money, not to tell a story. I have a few chapters to go til the end and I am just forcing myself to finish it. That doesn't happen very often. It's a quick read. Kind of interesting to learn about perception management, but not really worth the time and money.
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