FROM AMAZON: Former Secret Service agents turned private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have seen their lives splinter around them. Michelle lies unconscious in a hospital bed after a night of suicidal violence. And Sean is forced to take on a thankless investigation into the murder of a scientist just inside the CIA's razor-wire fence near Williamsburg, Virginia.
Soon he is uncovering layers of disinformation that shields a stunning world of elite mathematicians, physicists, war heroes, spies, and deadly field agents. Amid murder, a seemingly autistic girl's extraordinary genius, and a powerful breakthrough in the realm of classified codes, Sean learns enough to put his life at risk. Now, he needs Michelle, at her best, to help stop a conspiracy of traitors operating in the shadow of the White House itself.

From Michelle's courageous struggle to defeat her long-buried personal demons to a centuries-old secret that surfaces in the heat of the action, Simple Genius pulses with stunning, high-intensity suspense. The heroes of Split Second and Hour Game are back as you've never seen them before.

I listened to this on audio and it was engaging enough that I didn't repackage the disks in disgust (as I did after trying to listen to a Janet Evanovich book, and a Mary Higgins Clarke book). But after loving the first King & Maxwell novel, and giving up after three attempts to feign interest in the follow up, the third volume in this series has mostly convinced me that David Baldacci is a wildly inconsistent writer. I may yet give him another shot - - after all, billions of readers can't be wrong (can they? ) - - but for now I am turning my attention to a totally different genre. ( )

Simple Genius is an interesting book. The main characters, King and Maxwell are definitely super heroes. The book is about decoding, treasure hunting, murder, smuggling and justification. Four stars were given to this book. Definitely a good story. ( )

First edition as new with remainder mark

I'm reading through Baldacci books like bonbons, not really satisfied but can't stop. Again, this one has so many things going on through most of the book, with no clear idea of who the bad guy is or what crime is happening despite the body count, to a violent whirlwind ending. Great characters, though. I felt a little bad that South Freeman didn't get anything out of this, not even a few Revolution-era coins . ( )