Slow start but good book incredible similarities to what I have learned about the world these days! ( )

I stopped reading about chapter 15. I found the plot to feel contrived and the writing clunky. It did not capture my interest. ( )

For a thriller, it had a slow start but picked up momentum. The plot is very interesting, the narration is top class, the setting is atmospheric. ( )

FROM AMAZON: In South America a 96-year-old man of great wealth reads a book late one night and an hour later he lies dead in his bed, the secrets of his past starkly revealed. Six months later another mystery man lies dead at the bottom of his pool in a villa in Provence. This time, however, there's a witness at the scene: Shaw, the shadowy operative from The Whole Truth, who barely escapes with his life. Meanwhile, a half a world away, photojournalist Katie James is working on a story of international importance. But shortly after her meeting with a potential inside source, she is smuggled unconscious onto an airplane headed to an undisclosed destination. In the days to come, Katie and Shaw will be reunited in a deadly duel of nerve and wits against a surprising, secretive enemy and led around the world at a breakneck pace. Filled with the kind of breathtaking plot turns and remarkable characters that only David Baldacci can deliver, it will be the most explosive thriller of the year.

Synopsis: ‘Evan Waller is a monster. He has built a fortune from his willingness to buy and sell anything…and anyone. In search of new opportunities, Waller has just begun a new business venture: one that could lead to millions of deaths all over the globe.
On Waller’s trail is Shaw, the mysterious operative from “The Whole Truth”, who must prevent Waller from closing his latest deal. Shaw’s one chance to bring him down will come in the most unlikely of places: a serene, bucolic village in Provence.
But Waller’s depravity and ruthlessness go deeper than Shaw knows. And now, there is someone else pursuing Waller in Provence: Reggie Campion, an agent for a secret vigilante group headquartered in a musty old English estate – and she has an agenda of her own.
Hunting the same man and unaware of each other’s mission, Shaw and Reggie will be caught in a deadly duel of nerves and wits.’ From the book cover.
Review: Way too graphic when it didn't need to be. Also, the ending leaves lots of loose strings relevant to the storyline. ( )