Product Description

When she turned the page and her gaze flickered over the date on top it was as though the lightning outside had somehow grounded right into her. A billion volts of pain, a shriek of anguish you could actually see, and feel, as it pierced her.

Camp David, USA. A birthday party turns into a nightmare when a child is snatched after the celebrations.

The First Lady enlists the services of Sean King and Michelle Maxwell to bring the child home safely. But she and King share a past. Years ago he saved her then senator husband from political disaster. And this may not be all that passed between them.

With Michelle still battling her own demons, the two are pushed to the limit, with forces aligned on all sides against them - and the line between friend and foe impossible to define . . . or defend.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #657 in Books
• Published on: 2009-11-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 659 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In adroitly written novels such as Absolute Power and Saving Faith, David Baldacci has long established himself as one of the most accomplished and imaginative crime writers at work today – and it’s a particularly fecund field at present. With his latest novel, First Family, he adds even more lustre to his reputation -- and tackles surprising new areas of characterisation and plot. The setting is the haunts of the powerful: the upper echelons of the political class.

A birthday party at the presidential retreat Camp David takes a nasty turn when a child is abducted after the party has finished. The First Lady needs the very best to help in this dangerous situation – and who better than top operatives Sean King and Michelle Maxwell to track down the child? (Baldacci enthusiasts will know his reliable protagonists from earlier novels). However, the First Lady and Sean King have had dealings before: he was instrumental in saving her husband (then a senator) from a very unhappy situation… and perhaps their involvement was more than political. Michelle Maxwell, as we know from earlier books by this author, is a woman with her own major problems, and everyone involved in the events of First Family will emerge chastened and changed from an incendiary situation.

As in his earlier books, David Baldacci is notably sharp at the cross-currents of tension within a family (while never forgetting pressing external threats). In the new book, he has the reader caught up in a spectacular and disturbing narrative, with the involvement of the most important family in America adding piquancy to an already gripping piece of writing. --Barry Forshaw

About the Author

David Baldacci is the author of fifteen previous consecutive New York Times bestsellers. With his books published in over 40 languages in more than 80 countries, and with nearly 70 million copies in print, he is one of the world’s favourite storytellers.

Customer Reviews

1st place for first family!
I have read quite a few David Baldacci books so generally knew what I was getting myself in for, from the opening page right through to the end of the book, was an unputdownable story of lust, love, hate and revenge. When after her 12th Birthday party is held at camp David, a little girl goes missing from her home, her mother (and sister-in-law to the most powerful man in the world) found brutually slain, and her brothers and sisters drugged, which all happens in the first 2 chapters you know something good is going to happen in the following 90 or so chapters. What does follow is a touching tale of how far a man will go to get justice for his daughter- even if that means taking out the first family!
Great Book well worth a read!

Mixed...
I like Baldacci's books, I've read all the Camel Club series and this is the first of the King and Maxwell thrillers I've been enticed to read.

Lately, and this book is no exception, I've felt that his books lack that certain something. Don't get me wrong, they're well written, short chapters, genuine mysteries that leave you wanting to read on, etc but I think his character development could be better. King and Maxwell are not exactly appealing, so who should I care for? And adding in personal stories for maxwell here lack depth.

Baldacci is a better writer than to head down Lee Child territory of a no-brainer of a novel.

Good story, could be better.

First time Baldacci reader
This is the first book I have read by David Baldacci, and I loved it. There were no boring parts, short chapters, suspenseful storyline.
The one thing I didn't much care about - and don't care about in other stories either - is the personal problems Michelle had. Often this sort of thing takes away from the main story and can drag on a bit, although here it didn't, I am glad to say.

I enjoyed reading about all the characters, but felt most sympathetic (and rooted for) Sam Quarry, although the girl Willa was my second-favourite character.