You have to question the American political system in the best of times and when writers give you a story of corruption like this, you sometimes wonder how much of it is fictional and how much might be grounded in reality. A chilling thought.

The U.S. Speaker of the House has been assassinated. A member of the Camel Club, Caleb Shaw, a librarian and rare books expert, comes upon his boss lying dead in a safe vault in the Library of Congress.  The cause of death just doesn't feel right to the Camel Club members, and they begin to look into it. Annabelle has just pulled off a sweet con job and is on the run with rabid Jerry Bagger, the Atlantic City casino owner hot on her trail, but then she discovers that the dead Library of Congress department head is her ex-husband...the one man she loved... and she joins the Camel Club's investigation. 

David Baldacci is a master craftsman whose fast paced, multi-level plot keeps you in suspense...I couldn't put this one down. There are touches of humor, and pages of sheer terror in this always entertaining novel. Baldacci gives us murder with an innovative twist,  an ingenious con job, a furiously psycho casino owner,  international intrigue with a clever assassin who is now free-lancing, and some lovable misfits who learn that someone may be selling government secrets to the highest bidder.

This is actually the first Baldacci novel I have read, but be sure it's not the last one.  I have a feeling that I have been missing out on some great reading...he's a genius.