| Baldacci’s
Saving Faith opens with high ranking men meeting
in an underground super bunker. Instead of gathering to discuss
politics, war, or terrorism, they’re planning the murder
of a woman who talks too much. Her named is Faith Lockhart.
We discover right away CIA deputy director Robert Thornhill
is in charge, and he’s the epitome of evil. It’s
not enough that Faith is turning on the CIA; she is now an
FBI witness. The CIA and FBI only work together in CTC (Counter
Terrorism Center), other than that they don’t like or
trust each other. They spend plenty of time and money spying
on each other. Faith is turning on her boss (a Lobbyist) and
various powerful men in Washington who are involved in blackmail
and bribery to get what they want and more. Faith’s
boss is Danny Buchannan and his relationship with Thornhill
is a twisted one – they use spy gadgets on each other,
and spar with threats, but they insist on seeing their plan
through. Thornhill advises the others that along with Faith,
a federal agent, and one other will die. Once the men in the
super bunker agree on the three murders the work begins.
A forgotten cottage
in Virginia is suddenly a place of interest -- first, a jogger
with a lock pick then a Russian assassin, and last Faith and
FBI Agent Newman. The jogger is Lee Adams, a man with a boring
past, but that’s about to change. When the shooting
starts its Faith and Lee who escape, and it’s an interesting
position they’re in – two strangers full of fear
and mistrust dependent on each other because the Russian is
still shooting. And here is where I recommend you get settled
in because this is just the beginning of a suspense-filled
read/listen.
In true Baldacci
style, readers get a complex storyline with unforgettable
characters. There are characters you know are bad and those
you will suspect until the last page. I have to say, Thornhill
is one heck of a character; the only world that exists for
him is the world of power and spies. Baldacci is an expert
at suspenseful dialogue and cryptic bad-guys comments, but,
for me, it’s the showdowns and revelations that leave
me speechless….
I enjoyed the
audio version, but it took some time to getting use to the
narrator. Michael Kramer’s narration was sometimes stilted,
and he sighed often at the end of each sentence. He does pull
off an evil Thornhill you won’t soon forget.
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