“Deliver Us from Evil,” by David Baldacci

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 9

2.      Prose 7

3.      Plot 9

4.      Characters 8

5.      Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

There is a sameness to this sub-genre (“Thrillers” is the usual, more or less accurate label) that makes it wear a little thin for me.  The protagonist, a “Jack Reacher” type, falls just short of super-hero status, while the “villain” falls just short of The Joker in his ability to get away with almost anything until the climax.  Oh, and there is almost always a love interest between the male protagonist and the female protagonist.  These stories do tend to have unexpected plot twists, which manages to keep them unpredictable enough not to become formulaic; but that preponderance of plot twists itself can become cliché in an odd way.  I guess this predictability is true of pretty much any genre, but maybe I’m just not used to this one yet.  It certainly has a loyal following.  The premise here of having two organizations going after the bad guy, each unaware of the other, is superbly treated.  This is my first Baldacci book, so I don’t know yet how much he varies his plots, but this one is fun.  Low marks for prose, which occasionally visits James-Patterson-Land in its triteness and tendency for clichés; not bad, but just enough to chafe.  I do have my next Baldacci book already on my to-be-read shelf, and hope to get to it soon!