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Amazon.com Review
Michael Connelly has been attracting fans by the droves with his hard-boiled, edgy thrillers. A former crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Connelly combines a poet’s ear for language with a deep understanding of the criminal mind to develop dark, dramatic stories that raise the adventure story genre to a new level.

In Blood Work, Connelly introduces a new character, Terry McCaleb, who was a top man at the FBI until a heart ailment forced his early retirement. Now he lives a quiet life, nursing his new heart and restoring the boat on which he lives in Los Angeles Harbor. Although he isn’t looking for any excitement, when Graciela Rivers asks him to investigate her sister Gloria’s death, her story hooks him immediately: the new heart beating in McCaleb’s chest is Gloria’s.

As McCaleb investigates the proof in the case, the suspected randomness of the crime gives way to an unsettling suspicion of a twisted intelligence behind the murder. Soon McCaleb finds himself on the trail of a killer more horrifying than anything he ever came across before.

From Publishers Weekly
Connelly follows up Trunk Music with a tautly paced, seductively involving adventure story when it comes to a murder that is less random than it seems. Ex-FBI agent Terry McCaleb is recuperating from a heart transplant when gorgeous Graciela Rivers walks up to his San Pedro houseboat, tells him that the donor of his new heart, her sister Gloria, was murdered in a convenience-store robbery and asks him to find the killer. Although his doctor warns him versus it, McCaleb can’t protest the case (any more than he could protest the serial-murder cases that caused his heart attack in the firstborn place). With no license and little joint operation from the police, McCaleb reviews the proof and connects a second murder to Gloria’s killer. But it’s only when he discovers that keepsakes have been taken from the victims that McCaleb realizes he is dealing with a type of killer with which he is all too familiar. Even working with seemingly shopworn material, Connelly gives rise to fresh twists and turns, and, as usual, packs his plot with believable, logical surprises. He adds a moral twist by establishing a dreadful bond amid the hunter and the hunted, intimately connecting his detective to the criminal’s guilt. Fans of Connelly’s Harry Bosch novels will feel right at home with this beautifully constructed, powerfully resonating thriller, and newcomers will see right away what all the fuss has been about. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Having made the best venders lists with The Poet, Connelly waves goodbye to protagonist Harry Bosch and welcomes former FBI agent Terrill McCaleb, in retirement after a heart transplant. But he’s back in action when he learns that the woman from whom he received the heart was murdered.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

When Graciella Rivers steps onto his boat, ex-FBI agent Terrell McCaleb has no idea he’s with regards to to come out of retirement. He’s recuperating from a heart transplant and avoiding anything stressful. But when Graciella tells him the way her sister Gloria was murdered it leaves Terry no choice. Now the man with the new heart vows to take down a predator without a soul. For Gloria’s killer shatters each rule that McCaleb ever learned in his years with the Bureau–as McCaleb gets no more second prospects at life… and just one shot at the truth. Blood Work is now a major motion picture from Warner Bros. directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. The movie likewise stars Anjelica Huston and Jeff Daniels. Blood Work hit bestseller lists nationwide, including those of the New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Dallas Morning News. It has over 900,000 paperback copies in print.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18975 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 6.75″ h x 1.00″ w x 4.25″ l, .55 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 528 pages

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful.
Michael Connelly at his Best
By Roz Levine
Terry McCaleb, ex-FBI profiler and serial killer point man in Los Angeles, is spending his days recuperating after a heart transplant by restoring the boat he lives on. Life consists of long daily walks, checking vital signs and taking anti-rejection medications. That is, until he looks up one day to see Graciela Rivers coming aboard with a request. She’s read about his career and new heart in the paper and wants him to privately take on the murder case of her sister, Glory, who was shot in the head and killed during a convenience store robbery. At first, McCaleb says no, he’s not in the business anymore, doesn’t need the stress and has to take care of himself. But when she reveals that his new heart belonged to Glory, she was an organ donor, he rethinks his answer and decides to look into the case. As he starts to look at the LAPD paperwork and crime scene tape, one thing becomes very clear, things are not as they seem. The detectives working the case, missed some important clues and it appears that Glory wasn’t just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but the actual target. And as McCaleb digs deeper, he knows his new heart will never rest easy, unless he solves the crime and finds the killer….. Michael Connelly has done it again. He’s written a great mystery/thriller with enough twists, turns and false starts to keep you turning pages to the very end. This is a book that has it all…a great, fast paced, suspenseful plot, well drawn, original characters and riveting scenes that come alive on the page. This is a novel you’ll definitely want to read in one sitting. So turn off the phone and lock the door, Blood Work is about to keep you up all night!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
It doesn’t get much better…
By Cynthia K. Robertson
I have enjoyed all the Michael Connelly books I’ve read lately, and Blood Work is even better than I have come to expect. While this isn’t part of Connelly’s Harry Bosch series, the protagonist, Terry McCaleb, has appeared in other books (including a Bosch).

Terry McCaleb is a retired FBI agent whose specialty was criminal profiling. His retirement was brought on when his heart was attacked by a virus, and he eventually had a heart transplant two years later. McCaleb is a mere two months past surgery and still recovering when a beautiful woman shows up on his boat. Graciela Rivers is seeking his help. Her sister was brutally murdered in a convenience store robbery. The LAPD are not much interested and think it was a random shooting. He begs off, saying that he can’t physically perform an investigation. He can’t even drive for another seven months. But then Graciela plays her trump card: McCaleb received her sister’s heart. McCaleb reluctantly decides to look into the case, and finds himself pitted against the LAPD and the FBI. McCaleb also discovers that this isn’t a random shooting and that the killer is in fact a serial killer.

In solving the crime, McCaleb also learns a lot about himself. He discovers that he misses the chase and the work. He’s still got it despite his physical limitations. This case also helps to heal more than his heart.

Connelly is so convincing because he writes like a cop (thanks to his years as a crime reporter). Suspects are “in the wind” (they have disappeared without a trace). Or McCaleb does the “hard tango” with other officers to get information (when they aren’t willing to share). Last summer I was on a James Lee Burke kick (Dave Robicheaux) and Connelly is also a fan. It was fun to find McCaleb wearing a Robicheaux Dock and Baitshop t-shirt in one chapter.

For any Connelly fan or even a lover of mysteries, it doesn’t get much better than Blood Work.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Engaging
By Eimear Coffey
This was the first Michael Connolly book I read, and because of it I have since bought five others. The plot is engaging from the very start. Ex-FBI agent Terry McCaleb, whose speciality was profiling serial killers, has retired from the Bureau after a heart transplant and is living on his boat in LA harbour. Having turned his back on fighting crime, he has no intentions of helping Graciela Rivers, a woman whose sister has been murdered, until he finds out that the transplanted heart that saved his life belonged to her. With this knowledge, he feels obliged to investigate Gloria’s death, against the express wishes of his doctor and knowing it could have serious consequences for his health.

All McCaleb has to go on is a video tape from a convenience store showing a masked man hold up the owner and then shoot the two witnesses. Add to this the hostility he receives from the two LAPD detectives assigned the case, and it seems like McCaleb isn’t going to get far. However, it soon becomes clear that the crime is not as random as it seems, and McCaleb is on the trail of someone a lot more sinister than an opportunistic thief.

Connolly writes “Blood Work” with an unrelenting pace and a real flair for knowing exactly how to string the reader along. You’ll be as hooked as one of the fish in the harbour!

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From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Baldacci’s sequel to The Whole Truth (2008) lacks the originative plotting and masterful handling of suspense that marked his earlier thrillers. Evan Waller, outwardly a respectable Canadian businessman but secretly a humane trafficker who sells children into prostitution, has expanded into arranging nuclear weapons deals with Islamic fundamentalists. Shaw, the lead of The Whole Truth, sets out to stop Evan, as does Regina Reggie Campion, a British femme fatale, who works for a clandestine group that tracks down and executes war criminals. Reggie and Shaw, both of whom intend to make their move while Evan is on vacation in Provence, cross paths while sustaining their cover stories. Shaw becomes attracted to Reggie, even as he fears that Evan, who’s in fact a sadistic Ukrainian who served the Soviets, will abduct her. Crucial developments come throughout as contrived rather than clever. The uttermost solution will surprise few. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Ostensibly, Baldacci’s latest is another novel (after The Whole Truth, 2008) when it comes to Shaw, the enigmatic agent working for an enigmatic organization. But it feels a lot more like the launch of a brand-new series, as though Baldacci is using a intimate character, Shaw, to segue to a new series lead: Regina “Reggie” Campion, a finelooking and deadly woman who works for an even-more-enigmatic group committed to ridding the world of evil. Both Shaw and Reggie are after the same man, Evan Waller, though each of them is incognizant of it. To Shaw, Waller is a merchandiser in black-market nuclear materials; to Reggie, he’s the former Fedir Kuchin, a Ukrainian mass murderer. Reggie and Shaw both arrive in Provence, where Waller/Kuchin is vacationing. This is a very clever novel, and full marks go to Baldacci for pulling off an peculiarly difficult type of story—one in which neither of the central characters knows wholly what’s going on, while the reader is omniscient. It’s a lot of fun looking at the two scope each other out, attempting to determine whether the other is a threat (even as their mutual attraction grows). We become intensely involved in the story, wishing we could step inside the book and clue it is two protagonists into what’s going on. The only problem—for fans of Shaw, anyway—is that, in Reggie, Baldacci has devised such an interesting and engaging reputation that he might have made Shaw redundant. –David Pitt

Review
Equal elements Hitchcock and James Bond, it’s the perfective literary cocktail…One of Baldacci’s best.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch )

“It’s his eager, expansive imagination that drives his books . . . Like other adventure story writers, Baldacci depends on a mixture of inventive plotting, likeable characters, luck, and consistency. Unlike others, his books rely more on characters’ relationships than whiz-bang technology or procedural twists . . . What he offers is in numerous ways more unusual.” (Newsweek on First Family )

“A rousing success . . . Baldacci shows once again that he is a sort of adventure story Renaissance man: a master of plot, dialogue, and character.” (Booklist (starred review) for Divine Justice )

“High-stakes action, shadowy government agencies, and [a] neo-Cold War backdrop . . . Baldacci pushes his plot in front at such a blistering pace.” (Washington Post on The Whole Truth )

From David Baldacci-the #1 bestselling author of The Whole Truth and First Family-comes his most timely, surprising, and heart-stopping thriller, DELIVER US FROM EVIL.


Evan Waller is a monster . . .

He has built a fortune from his willingness to buy and trade anything . . . and anyone. In search of new opportunities, Waller has just started out a new business venture: one that could lead to millions of deaths all over the globe. On his trail is Shaw, the mysterious operative from The Whole Truth, who has tracked Waller to Provence and ought to prevent him from closing his latest deal. But someone else is carrying out or participate in Waller: Reggie Campion, an agent for a mystery vigilante group headquartered in a musty old English estate-and she has an agenda of her own.

Hunting the same man and incognizant of each other’s mission, Shaw and Reggie will be caught in a deadly duel of nerves and wits. Hitchcockian in it is intimate buildup of suspense and filled with the remarkable characters, breathtaking plot turns, and blockbuster finale that are David Baldacci’s hallmarks, DELIVER US FROM EVIL is one of the most gripping thrillers of the year.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52867 in Books
• Published on: 2011-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 7.50″ h x 1.25″ w x 4.25″ l, .67 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 576 pages

133 of 145 people found the following review helpful.
(4.5 Stars) Good vs. Evil Personified
By Tucker Andersen
Review of DELIVER US FROM EVIL – David Baldacci

WARNING – This story contains several extremely detailed scenes of torture and violence. It is not for the squeamish or individuals with a weak stomach or vivid imagination. They are not so frequent that I was unable to finish the book, and they are essential to the story so that it is difficult to skip them and fully comprehend the horror that is the basis of the narrative. However, if I had not been a fan of Baldacci and had not thoroughly enjoyed THE WHOLE TRUTH, the earlier novel in which the mysterious Shaw and his controller Frank were introduced, I might have chosen not to finish the story since I am not a fan of the type of gruesome scenes scattered throughout this book.

The focus of this story is the battle between good and evil. If the prospective reader has not read THE WHOLE TRUTH, I recommend that be read first to get the detailed backstory of Shaw; in addition, one of the key incidents in that book which changed Shaw’s life irrevocably is an integral part of this story and thus reading this book would destroy much of the emotional impact of that story if read later. Shaw and Frank develop a plan to capture Evan Waller, a totally immoral Canadian businessman who is both a trafficker in human beings and has a new sideline of selling nuclear material to terrorists. They plan to neutralize his omnipresent bodyguards and kidnap him while he is on a rare holiday in Provence. Meanwhile, a parallel operation is planned by a secret unofficial rogue vigilante group operating out of England who hunt down and execute unapprehended war criminals, and which knows that Waller is actually a deep cover identity for a Ukranian war criminal who faked his own death and disappeared decades ago. This group includes several members with various talents; however, the point person for this op will be Regina “Reggie” Campion, a young woman of steely determination the reason for which is only gradually revealed. Of course, the plans and motives of each operative are unknown to the other. Thus, there are three intertwined stories within the one novel. First, the backstory of Reggie and her team and their attempt to capture and execute Waller in a certain prescribed manner which will make him aware of the reason for his death while maintaining the invisibility of their organization. Second, the parallel efforts of Shaw and his group to capture Waller and achieve their goal of diverting the nuclear material and neutralizing the terrorists’ plan. Third, and equally intriguing, the gradual realization on the part of both Shaw and Reggie that the carefully constructed covers of each are just that and that they both have some relationship to Waller’s activities and how they attempt to carefully work around each other despite a mutual attraction.

I thought that the storyline was very well constructed, and while there were a few unbelievable coincidences even given the latitude I allow an author, they were minor and did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. Waller was truly evil personified, and his actions throughout were consistent with that portrait. The term sociopath hardly does him justice. The toll that Shaw’s career has exacted on his life was notched up even further, Baldacci’s implicitly sympathetic portrait of Shaw’s plight is a window into the lives of many undercover operatives. The events in Reggie’s life are both the definition of “tragedy” and a tribute to the ability of the human spirit to not only survive but also cope. And there is a thought provoking implicit and at some points explicit undercurrent to the story involving the examination of the morality of the tactics employed by such organizations and individuals in the pursuit of such objectives as justice or the elimination of terrorist attacks.

After much debate with myself I decided to rate this book five stars because I enjoyed the story despite the violence and thought that the plot was very clever. The author created enough tension that I was anxious to finish it for several reasons. First, I wanted to discover who lived and died, since the ending of THE WHOLE TRUTH was definitely bittersweet, with not all the `good guys” surviving and even those who did psychologically damaged. I assumed that the bad guy would eventually get his “just desserts”, but assumed that not all would end well for Shaw’s and Reggie’s teams. Second, I was anxious to discover if Katie James reappeared and if so if a relationship developed between she and Shaw in light of the introduction of Reggie Campion. Third, I was interested in whether Baldacci could create and sustain the supposed tension implicit in the incomplete knowledge of both Shaw and Reggie regarding the motives and plans of the other team, while the reader was omniscient in that regard although not with regard to author’s handling of the eventual outcome of the story. My satisfaction with regard to all three points is the reason for my high rating and why I anxiously await an inevitable sequel, while wondering what direction it will take and who the central characters will be. If you want a well written traditional thriller with action filled suspenseful twists and turns and you don’t mind gruesome violence, I recommend reading THE WHOLE TRUTH and then DELIVER US FROM EVIL. But beware – in order to bring the evil Waller to justice, the “good guys” will experience significant physical and psychological collateral damage.

Tucker Andersen 4/20/2010

81 of 91 people found the following review helpful.
Just a review of the story & a surprising discovery
By J. Lee
I’m not a Kindle owner, so I’m not involved in the price issue that makes up so many of the reviews currently. So, this is mostly just my thoughts on the story.

I did, however. read parts of this on a Sony eReader, and was surprised to find that the ebook has extras – like an alternative ending not found in the printed book. After the review of the story, I’ve added my thoughts separately on these.

Short Summary: Woman who’s a part of a group of international vigilantes goes after people like ex-Nazi’s and KGB agents who have slaughtered masses. Her path crosses super-secret spy agent Shaw’s as he goes after the same guy for a different reason. Will they get him? Or will he get them? And, will Shaw get the girl in the end?

Here’s the ups and downs of it to me:
1. Fast-paced international plot and action:
As always, Baldacci keeps the plot and action just zinging along – and this time on a globe-trotting trip through Europe the U.S., and a trip down world history memory lane. That along with his ability to keep the twists and turns coming,kept me turning the pages.

2. Interesting, occassionally over-the-top cast of characters:
Reggie is a highlight, as the dedicated hard-core vigilante with a heart. She’s a nice match-up for Shaw. The evil guys are really evil, and enjoy wallowing in their evilness. For me, this went over the top sometimes, creating bad guy caricatures. It seems torture scenes and violence were thrown in, just to be sure we get that head evil guy is REALLY, REALLY evil.

3. I really had to force myself to suspend disbelief on this one:
Half-way through the book, I realized the complicated plot the vigilantes use to trap the bad guy vs. other options is just ridiculous. On top of that, the characters just keep making such unbelievable and dramatically stupid choices (like all of them riding into a known set-up by the REALLY EVIL guy with no back up plan). It became a bit frustrating. Add on a big over-the-top EVIL, EVIL GUY with GOOD GUYS against incredible odds ending, and it really brought the whole thing down a bit for me. This has been a problem for me lately w/ his books. If you’ve thought his last couple were great, you’ll enjoy this one more than I did.

4. Not really a stand alone book:
Do you remember the story from The Whole Truth? Who Anna is and what happened? Who Katie is and what happened betweeen her and Shaw? I read it and could only vaguely remember – and you probably need more than that to get full enjoyment of this one.

The Enriched ebook: The ebook version is for people who want a behind-the-scenes look at how a book is written. It has pictures of the actual places Baldacci used for characters homes and settings, an alternative ending, hand written outline, first draft manuscript pages, etc. It even has web links to some of the art showings and other things discussed in the book (that my ereader can’t access). Still, I loved this! It’s like the Directors cut of a DVD.

Bottom Line: An entertaining, fast-paced action thriller with some over-the-top characters, implausible action and references to a book I couldn’t remember well – that brought it down to just an above average thriller, and less than I want from Baldacci. Still, for a light read on the beach or an airplane ride – it’ll keep the pages turning and make the time fly. And, if you loved his last one -you’ll love this one.

47 of 54 people found the following review helpful.
Perhaps his worst – for Patterson fans
By Scott J. Teichman
Baldacci is usually an interesting read so this was a complete and total disappointment. There are plot holes, completely cartoonish characters, lousy dialogue, and the book takes entirely too long to set up the action. The most glaring plot hole might be the fact that there is a mole inside Reggie’s “Shadow Organization”. This is brought up numerous times before being dropped without identifying said mole. Probably setting up a sequel that I will most certainly not read.
Baldacci has been gradually going downhill since his outstanding early novels. Unfortunately the speed of his descent seems to be picking up as he has started to churn out a couple of books a year. Memo to David – take your time go back to releasing one book a year rather than a couple of lousy reads.
The spy game does not seem to be Baldacci’s area of expertise, one wonders if there was any research done here at all. If you want to read a spy novel try Daniel Silva or Vince Flynn. If you want action try Lee Child.
A final complaint with Baldacci is his Pattersonesque two and three page chapters. Absolute Power his first book has twenty nine chapters. Deliver Us From Evil has over one hundred chapters. Three pages is not a chapter – it makes the book incredibly choppy. My guess is that the publishers wanted four hundred pages so the easy way to get there is to have a ton of blank space every third page when each “chapter” ends. Maybe Baldacci wants to be the next James Patterson and release as much junk a year as he can but if he wants to write books that you remember more than five minutes after you finish them, then he needs to take a hard look at what direction his writing and editing have taken.

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