Product Description

LuAnn Tyler is an unwed mother striving to escape a life of endless poverty. Then a mysterious Mr Jackson makes her an offer he thinks no one can refuse: a guarantee to be the winner of the $100 million lottery. But LuAnn won't do it. Less than twenty-four hours later, she is fighting for her life and running from a false murder charge. Jackson's offer - and its condition that she leave the country forever - seems her only hope. However, ten years later, LuAnn secretly returns to the United States to begin a new life with Matthew Riggs, a man whose origins are as murky as her own. But a canny reporter has picked up her trail, as have the FBI - and Jackson. Matt Riggs is the only person who can help her. But is help what Matt intends or is he too closing in for the kill?

'Baldacci cuts everyone's grass - Grisham's, Ludlum's, even Patricia Cornwell's - and more than gets away with it'

PEOPLE magazine

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17448 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 592 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
What would you do to change your life? LuAnn is beautiful, young and dirt poor. She's married to a low-level drugs dealer whose infidelities and incompetent double-dealing put her and her child's lives at risk. Enter master-criminal "Jackson" who offers her vast wealth if she agrees to help him fiddle the lottery. She refuses until she finds herself on the run from false charges of murder. After years abroad she returns because she wants her daughter to be an American teenager. Can she escape the FBI, an inquisitive journalist and the murderous and endlessly ingenious Jackson?

The Winner is a departure for Baldacci. LuAnn is as plucky and resourceful as the heroines of Absolute Power and Total Control, but the plot she inhabits is a new departure for him. Normally he shows us a dark vision of how things really work, but here he brings to life and makes plausible what might have been pulp cliches. As in the description of Jackson, a master of disguise: "Sitting across from her was her double, or the double of the woman she had just become. The same short red hair, facial complexion, crooked nose, everything--it was as though she had suddenly discovered a twin". What's more, his method of rigging lotteries is clever and convincing enough to worry lottery organisers the world over. Perhaps the sunniest and least cynical of Baldacci's thrillers, The Winner is an intelligent, exciting and deeply moral read whose switchback plot is full of surprises and touching moments. --Roz Kaveney

Review
'Baldacci cuts everyone's grass - Grisham's, Ludlum's, even Patricia Cornwell's - and more than gets away with it' (PEOPLE magazine)

About the Author

David Baldacci is the seven-time New York Times best-selling author of ABSOLUTE POWER, TOTAL CONTROL, THE WINNER, THE SIMPLE TRUTH, SAVING FAITH, WISH YOU WELL and LAST MAN STANDING. His latest novel, SPLIT SECOND, is published in December 2003. He lives in Virginia with his wife and two children.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic!!!
This is one of the best books I have ever read. You could really feel for LuAnn Tyler and wanted everything to work out for her. This was my 1st book by David Baldacci and it prompted me to buy more of his work. Try 'Split Second'-Excellent! 'Absolute Power'-couldn't put it down. I've ordered more of his work today on Amazon and can't wait to get started.

The best I have read!
Baldacci is a great writer, the suspense and pace of Grisham but with more oomph! This is his best with a fast paced story and an excellent lead...cannot wait for a film verison.

Amazing action packed adventure
The Winner was the first David Baldacci book I read and was certainly the most exciting read in my last 5 years worth of books. The plot was absolutely gripping - it really would make an excellent film. After reading The Winner I had to buy his other books immediately!