Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Simple Genius by David Baldacci

Simple Genius is the third book in the Sean King and Michelle Maxwell series.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the series, Sean and Michelle were both formerly members of the Secret Service.  At the end of the first book, Split Second, they decided to open their own firm and are working together to solve crimes.

The beginning of this book took a VERY different twist.  Michelle appears to have come unraveled, which results in an "incident".  This leads to her seeking treatment from a psychologist friend of Sean's by the name of Horatio Barnes.  This was a HUGE surprise to me.  Michelle is the ultimate overachiever and has a very strong head on her shoulders.  I could not understand why Baldacci took this angle with Michelle, but by the end of the book we have a much stronger understanding and appreciation of her character.

Sean is hired to investigate what was deemed to be a suicide by Monk Turing, a very respected scientist from Babbage Town.  Babbage Town is a residential research compound located across the river from Camp Peary, a top secret CIA facility.  Monk's body was found at Camp Peary.  The owners of Babbage Town did not believe Monk's death was a suicide and wanted to further investigate the situation. Shortly after Sean began working the case, another Babbage Town employee Sean had been questioning was murdered.  It became clear to Sean that someone was trying to eliminate all potential evidence before he could uncovering it and would stop at nothing short of murder.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all three of the King and Maxwell books I have read up to this point, but there is one thing that is driving me CRAZY.  These two are OBVIOUSLY attracted to each other.  They are both single, they are subtly dropping clues to each other about their interest, but NOTHING ever materializes.  Will these two ever develop more than a professional relationship?  Perhaps now that Horatio has discovered Michelle's past secrets, he will be able to help her get to a point in her life where a personal relationship will appeal to her.  I don't think she will have to look far to find a person of interest who will reciprocate her feelings.  I certainly hope this is one of the plot lines that will develop in First Family, which is the fourth of the five books currently available in this series.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    Teasing about a relationship between the two that may go beyond work is about tension. Get them in bed and the tension is gone. That’s my take on it.

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    1. I think you are absolutely correct. The tension does add to the story, but I still hope they eventually get together.

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  2. I love these two characters! I agree.

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