''Simple Genius'' is a thriller novel by American writer
David Baldacci
David Baldacci (born August 5, 1960) is an American novelist. An attorney by education, Baldacci writes mainly suspense novels and legal thrillers.
Biography
Early life and education
David Baldacci was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. H ...
, which topped the New York Times bestseller list for the week ending April 28, 2007. The book was initially published on April 24, 2007 by
Grand Central Publishing
Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Warner Communications acquired the Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publishing business to Hachett ...
.
''Simple Genius ''was described by the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...
'' as "simply entertaining."
''Simple Genius'' continues the story of the characters Michelle Maxwell and Sean King from its predecessors, ''Split Second'' and ''Hour Game'', and combines themes such as "quantum computers, protective codes, breaking those codes, the CIA, psychological demons, and even buried treasure."
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Plot summary
Sean King, financially hard-pressed and trying to help his professional and platonic partner Michelle Maxwell, is forced to seek an assignment from his ex-girlfriend Joan Dillinger, a fellow ex-Secret Service agent who runs her own private investigation agency.
Joan gives him a case based at a laboratory, investigating the murder of a scientist, Monk Turing. During his investigations, he stumbles on Camp Peary
Camp Peary is an approximately 9,000 acre U.S. military reservation in York County near Williamsburg, Virginia. Officially referred to as an Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity (AFETA) under the authority of the Department of Defense, ...
, the CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
training facility which leads him to a more complicated investigation, on which he works together with Michelle, who has attempted suicide after a psychological breakdown. He encounters Turing's autistic daughter, Viggie Turing, who is also extraordinary talented, but is willing to trust only Michelle, and hates Horatio, the psychologist who is treating both her and Michelle.
Eventually, Sean and Michelle solve the case, but not before being tortured by their enemies. Sean gains a treasure, but generously shares it with others even though he is in financial difficulties.
Characters
* Michelle Maxwell: An ex-Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
agent, first featured in ''Split Second'' and again in ''Hour Game''. She is the partner of Sean King. Dark hair, attractive, five feet ten inches tall (about 1.75m), an Olympic medalist in rowing and an expert in combat. However she is psychologically fragile, as is shown in ''Simple Genius'', which describes her fight against her "inner demons".
* Sean King: Also an ex-Secret Service agent, Sean King is in his forties, six feet two (about 1.89m), and handsome. He is somewhat more controlled than Michelle and has had a relationship with another ex-Secret Service agent, Joan Dillinger, who continues to help him.
References
External links
*
{{David Baldacci
2007 American novels
Novels by David Baldacci