David Baldacci is a #1 New York Times Bestselling Author and popular writer of twenty-six novels as well as three children’s books. He has sold over a 100 million copies worldwide in print of his novels and over 3 million eBooks. His books have been translated into over forty-five languages and his books are sold worldwide in eighty-eight countries. Baldacci’s novels deal with scandals and compromising situations, cover ups and pursuits, romance and the search for the truth. In addition to being a bestseller, Baldacci entered into the International Crime Writing Hall of Fame in 2011. He is also a contributing editor for Parade Magazine.
David Baldacci was born and grew up in Richmond, Virginia in 1960. He would write stories as a child but later went into law, graduating from Henrico High School. He later attended college at Virginia Commonwealth University where he received a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He then graduated from the University of Virginia with a law degree. He then went to Washington, D.C., where he practiced trial and corporate law for nine years. While living in Alexandria, Baldacci continued to write, penning short stories and screenplays, without much success. It was then that he decided to try his hand at novels. He sat down and wrote his first novel Absolute Power, which was published in 1996. Today he lives in North Virginia with his wife and their two children and two dogs. He also supports and runs a family charity, the Wish You Well Foundation, supporting adult literacy by helping support programs that promote literacy and education. He also works with multiple charities including the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and the American Cancer Society. Baldacci is also a National Ambassador for the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.
David Baldacci’s first novel Absolute Power was a bestseller in 1996 that in 1997 was made into a movie directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. It begins with Luther Whitney breaking into a home, something he does often and for a living. Baldacci explains that Whitney doesn’t carry a weapon, but rather prefers to rely on his skills to do the job. One night Whitney is witness to an unexpected tryst in the bedroom, trapped in the closet and unable to leave without revealing himself and possibly getting injured. As the lovemaking between the man and woman turns violent, Whitney unintentionally is the sole witness to murder. The man in this instance turns out to be the President of the United States with the Secret Service trying to pin the homicide on Luther. In the adaptation, Clint Eastwood plays jewel thief Luther Whitney with Gene Hackman as Alan Richmond, the President of the United States. The film also stars Ed Harris and Laura Linney.
The Sean King and Maxine Maxwell series are comprised of six books and have inspired a 2013 television show airing on TNT, called “King & Maxwell”, starring Rebecca Romijn and Jon Tenney. The series is about two Secret Service agents who have fallen from grace after the political candidate King is guarding gets assassinated and the person Maxine Maxwell is guarding gets kidnapped. Split Second is the first book in the series published in 2003. In it, Maxwell is drawn to King’s case which is a good thing since a string of murders have him under suspicion. The action and pressure heat up as they get deeper into a series of coincidence that may have more to do with the past than the present. In the second book, Hour Game, Maxwell and King are back when their burglary investigations continually lead them to a murder investigation of a mocking, exhibitionist serial killer and a series of twists and turns. There are four more books in the series: Simple Genius, First Family, The Sixth Man, and finally, King and Maxwell(2013).
The Camel Club series is about a club of four men led by the mysterious Oliver Stone who study the workings of the country and have informal, unusual conversations. The group eventually witnesses a murder and decide to go after the party themselves rather than risk not being believed. Joining with Veteran Secret Service Agent Alex Ford, the group gets caught up in a complicated game of intrigue and conspiracy that goes all the way to the top. The books go deeper into the real identity of Oliver Stone and his history as a legendary assassin. In the follow up book The Collectors, the Camel Club once again must go to work when the Speaker of the House is assassinated. The Club discovers a spy is selling secrets, and with the help of an unexpected ally, they may just be able to triumph.
The Shaw and Katie James series consist of two books, The Whole Truth and Deliver Us From Evil. James is a journalist about to get her breakout story and Shaw is a mysterious man with a past and a plan. In Zero Day and Forgotten, John Puller is a combat veteran and a military investigator, searching for the truth in cases and in the sequel investigating the death of his own aunt. Additionally there are the Will Robie series consisting of The Innocent and The Hit. A highly skilled assassin on par with Jason Bourne, Robie is contacted to bring in another assassin who has gone off course. Robie finds out that the assassin he is pursuing and the motives for her going rogue are not everything that they seem.
In addition to Absolute Power being made into a movie, Wish You Well. The film stars Ellen Burstyn and Josh Lucas, finished shooting in 2012. David Baldacci has been featured on real-life crime show “Murder By The Book”. “Hardcover Mysteries” aired on the Investigation Discovery network in which he hosted an episode revolving around the death of Mary Meyer, who was alleged to have been having an affair with President Kennedy. The show featured crime writers who had fiction inspired by real life crimes. King & Maxwell airs their pilot June 10th, 2013, on TNT. Baldacci continues to write novels and appear in shows while producing and writing television shows based on his works.
Books published in order by series:
Sean King & Michelle Maxwell Books
| Split Second | (2003) | |
| Hour Game | (2004) | |
| Simple Genius | (2007) | |
| First Family | (2009) | |
| The Sixth Man | (2011) | |
| King and Maxwell | (2013) |
Camel Club Books
| The Camel Club | (2005) | |
| The Collectors | (2006) | |
| Stone Cold | (2007) | |
| Divine Justice | (2008) | |
| Hell’s Corner | (2010) | |
| Bullseye | (2014) |
Freddy & The French Fries Books
| Fries Alive! | (2005) | |
| The Mystery of Silas Finklebean | (2006) |
Shaw Books
| The Whole Truth | (2008) | |
| Deliver Us From Evil | (2010) |
John Puller Books
| Zero Day | (2011) | |
| The Forgotten | (2012) | |
| The Escape | (2014) | |
| No Man’s Land | (2016) |
Will Robie Books
| The Innocent | (2012) | |
| The Hit | (2013) | |
| Bullseye | (2014) | |
| The Target | (2014) | |
| The Guilty | (2015) | |
| End Game | (2017) |
39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers Book
| Day of Doom | (2013) |
Amos Decker Books
| Memory Man | (2015) | |
| The Last Mile | (2016) | |
| The Fix | (2017) | |
| The Fallen | (2018) | |
| Redemption | (2019) | |
| Walk the Wire | (2020) |
Vega Jane Books
| The Finisher | (2014) | |
| The Keeper | (2015) | |
| The Width of the World | (2017) | |
| The Stars Below | (2019) |
Atlee Pine Books
| Long Road to Mercy | (2018) | |
| A Minute to Midnight | (2019) |
Standalone Novels
| Absolute Power | (1996) | |
| Total Control | (1996) | |
| The Winner | (1997) | |
| The Simple Truth | (1998) | |
| Saving Faith | (1999) | |
| Wish You Well | (2000) | |
| Last Man Standing | (2001) | |
| The Christmas Train | (2002) | |
| True Blue | (2009) | |
| One Summer | (2011) | |
| No Rest For the Dead | (2011) | |
| One Good Deed | (2019) |
Short Stories
| No Time Left | (2011) |
Anthologies
| The Mighty Johns | (2002) | |
| Face Off | (2014) |
Non-Fiction Books
| Origins of Wish You Well | (2000) |
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