Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsDefinitely riveting and timely, but stretches belief...
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 19, 2006
Nobody writes a conspiracy thriller like David Baldacci, and The Camel Club will keep you turning pages at breakneck speed. Unfortunately, his latest is not without some flaws and while many of his books defy belief, this one is even more of a stretch.
The Camel Club consists of four misfits (nearing senior citizen status) who form a secret conspiracy watchdog organization. The ringleader is "Oliver Stone," a man with a very secret and mysterious past. While meeting in a park during off-hours, the four witness the murder of a Secret Service agent, Patrick Johnson. Unfortunately, the two killers realize they have witnesses. Because of their checkered backgrounds, the Camel Club decides not to report this to the police. Instead, they go on the offensive, trying to discover not only the identity of the killers but also their motivation. At the same time, Secret Service agent Alex Ford is assigned to investigate the death of Johnson, but runs into trouble with the various agencies also looking into the murder (FBI, Metro Police, NIC, etc.).
As if this isn't enough going on, a group of Islamic extremists is plotting a terrorist act involving the US president. But not all of the plotters are Islamic or Middle Eastern. In fact, some are working from the inside.
Much of The Camel Club is very relevant to post 9/11 America. The FBI, CIA, NSA and other intelligence agencies are being forced to combine information, but infighting, jealousy and guarded secrets are still common. Government agencies are involved in illegal activities. The war is still raging in Iraq with Americans split on the issue. The issues are very similar to today.
But The Camel Club has just too many flaws. When three different sets of characters were introduced in the first three chapters, it took some time keeping them all straight. Between the FBI, CIA, NSA, NIC, etc, the spy organizations caused some confusion. It was made even murkier because Baldacci would often use the same initials for different things (NSA was either National Security Agency or National Security advisor). There was way too much going on in the plot. And as mentioned previously, much of it was totally unbelievable. The romance angle with Alex Ford and a young justice lawyer was especially unconvincing. Even the small details were far-fetched. For instance, the terrorists plan a major assault, but use tranquilizer darts so as not to kill anyone. Also, not to give away the plot, but what happens to Oliver Stone's daughter is just too incredulous.
So while I enjoyed The Camel Club and couldn't turn the pages quick enough, it's not the best Baldacci work. But even a mediocre Baldacci is better than the efforts of many other authors.
