I listened to this one. Story kept my interest and I'm ready to listen to the second in this series.

The idea of perception management and who creates the truth in today's world of fast paced media--very interesting thriller

I've read many of Baldacci's books and enjoyed most of them. I can't say the same for 'The Whole Truth'.

Good plot. Unexpected twist with the fiance.

Enjoyable enough - lots of action, non-stop plot, likeable characters (except of course the ones you're supposed to hate). Had to suspend my disbelief in places but I kinda expect to do that with Baldacci's thrillers. I liked Shaw well enough to want to read the next book but I had a hard time not comparing him to Lee Child's Jack Reacher. Shaw is definitely not Reacher.

A interest though pessimistic view of countries and the WHOLE TRUTH. Worth a read just to learn the spinning the news does.

Catching up…

When this was dropped off as a donation to my Little Free Library Shed, I was reminded that I still hadn’t posted my review of it, even though I had read this a while ago.

So…

I am now bringing my review to Goodreads.

Baldacci isn’t afraid to create characters that we either like or not. What I believe he wants for his readers, is for us to get excited about what we are reading, and continue to turn pages at a fast pace so that we can find out what is going to happen next.

So…

How does it happen with this book?

Baldacci rewards readers with a suspenseful, brisk page-turning, international intrigue thriller.

And…

With this particular story, Baldacci is character-driven. We have at least 3 primary characters that are going to stand-out to readers…

1) Nicolas Creel, a multi-billionaire who runs a defense company, ARES Corporation.
2) Shaw. He works for an unnamed international intelligence agency that sends him on dangerous missions to help rid the world of evil.
3) Katie James. A Pulitzer Prize winning journalist holding a lot of guilt.

The anticipation for readers will be in finding out how these characters connect, and what is going to happen to them, once they do.

3.5 stars. I love the idea behind The Whole Truth; that one video can start a string of events that leads up to the entire world being at war. It shows that the general population is easily manipulated and that the mob rules. I enjoyed the main character Shaw, he isn't the most complex character I've read, but his story is entertaining and his motivations make sense. None of the other characters particularly annoyed me, and that is good enough for me in a plot centered mystery/thriller. I was pretty enthralled during the middle part of the novel when we aren't sure what is going to happen next, but once everything is planned out and all that is left is to hunt the bad guys, I grew a little bored. Since this story is told from multiple viewpoints the reader knows everything that is going on, while the main characters fumble around trying to figure it out. I'm not really into those type of stories because I don't like waiting for a character to figure out something I already know, it just feels like a waste of time to me. I know that many thrillers and mysteries are written this way, so I'm sure it can be done so that there is minimal repetition, but I've yet to come across one I was completely happy with.