David Baldacci (born August 5, 1960) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

. An attorney by education, Baldacci writes mainly suspense novels and

legal thriller The legal thriller genre is a type of crime fiction genre that focuses on the proceedings of the Criminal investigation, investigation, with particular reference to the impacts on courtroom proceedings and the lives of characters. The courtroom ...

Biography

Early life and education

David Baldacci was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. He graduated from Henrico High School and earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, after which he practiced law for nine years in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He is of Italian descent.

Career

Baldacci began writing stories as a child, when his mother gave him a notebook in which to record them. He wrote for more than two decades, penning short stories and later screenplays without much success. While practicing law, he turned to novel writing, taking three years to write '' Absolute Power''. Published in 1996, it was an international best seller. To date, Baldacci has published 46 best-selling novels for adults as well as seven novels for younger readers.

Personal life and philanthropy

Baldacci resides in Fairfax County, Virginia, with his family. Baldacci and his wife, Michelle, are the co-founders of the Wish You Well Foundation, which works to combat illiteracy in the United States by funding adult literacy and education programs. Baldacci became involved with the

National Multiple Sclerosis Society The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in New York City as the Association for Advancement of Research on Multiple Sclerosis on March 11, 1946 by Sylvia Lawry. Ms. Lawry was a lawyer looking fo ...

after his sister, author Sharon Baldacci, was diagnosed with MS. Baldacci served for 10 years on the board of trustees of the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut. In 2019, he donated $1 million to the home.

Works

Baldacci's first novel, '' Absolute Power'', tells the story of a fictional American president and his Secret Service agents who are willing to commit murder in order to cover up the accidental death of a woman with whom the President was having an affair. It was adapted as a film, '' Absolute Power'' (1997), starring Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman. Baldacci wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of his novel '' Wish You Well''; the movie was shot on location in southwest Virginia with Academy Award winner

Ellen Burstyn Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...

Josh Lucas Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, including '' American Psycho'' (2000), '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), '' The Deep End'' (2001), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (2 ...

, and Mackenzie Foy in the lead roles. Baldacci was a consulting producer on '' King & Maxwell'', a TNT television series based on his characters Sean King and Michelle Maxwell.

Jon Tenney Jonathan Frederick Tenney (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor. He played Special Agent Fritz Howard in TNT's ''The Closer'' and continued in its spinoff '' Major Crimes''. Early life Tenney was born in Princeton, New Jersey. His mother ...

and

Rebecca Romijn Rebecca Alie O'Connell (née Romijn ; born November 6, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her role as Mystique in the original trilogy (2000–2006) of the ''X-Men'' film series, as Joan from '' The Punisher'' ( ...

starred. '' The Christmas Train'', Baldacci's eighth novel, was adapted in 2017 by Hallmark Channel as a Hallmark Hall of Fame feature presentation. The TV movie starred Dermot Mulroney,

Kimberly Williams-Paisley Kimberly Payne Williams-Paisley (née Williams; born September 14, 1971) is an American actress known for her co-starring roles on ''According to Jim'' and '' Nashville,'' as well as her breakthrough performance in '' Father of the Bride'' (199 ...

, Danny Glover and

Joan Cusack Joan Mary Cusack (; born October 11, 1962) is an American actress. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the comedy-drama '' Working Girl'' (1988) and the romantic comedy '' In & Out'' (1997 ...

and was directed by

Ron Oliver Ron Oliver is a Canadian writer, director, producer, and actor who started with the cult hit '' Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II''. He was also a host on Canada's YTV for the shows YTV Hits, The Ron Oliver Show, Oliver's Twist & Rock 'n Talk. He ha ...

. Baldacci's novel ''One Summer'' was adapted in 2021 for

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (formerly known as Hallmark Movie Channel, and also known as HMM) is an American digital cable and satellite television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings. The channel was spun off from sister network Hallmark Chan ...

and starred Sam Page,

Sarah Drew Sarah Drew is an American actress and director. She played Hannah Rogers in The WB family drama series ''Everwood'' (2004–2006) and Dr. April Kepner in the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2009–2018, 2021–2022). Early life D ...

and Amanda Schull. Baldacci's novels have been published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with over 130 million worldwide sales as of 2018.

Bibliography

Sean King and Michelle Maxwell series

* '' Split Second'' (2003) * '' Hour Game'' (2004) * '' Simple Genius'' (2007) * '' First Family'' (2009) * '' The Sixth Man'' (2011) * '' King and Maxwell'' (2013)

The Camel Club series

* '' The Camel Club'' (2005) * '' The Collectors'' (2006) * '' Stone Cold'' (2007) * '' Divine Justice'' (2008) * '' Hell's Corner'' (2010)

A. Shaw and Katie James series

* '' The Whole Truth'' (2008) * '' Deliver Us From Evil'' (2010)

John Puller series

* '' Zero Day'' (2011) * '' The Forgotten'' (2012) * '' The Escape'' (2014) * '' No Man's Land'' (2016) * John Puller guests in the Atlee Pine thriller ''Daylight'' (2020)

Will Robie series

* '' The Innocent'' (2012) * '' The Hit'' (2013) * '' The Target'' (2014) * '' The Guilty'' (2015) * ''End Game'' (2017)

Amos Decker series

* '' Memory Man'' (2015) * ''The Last Mile'' (2016) * ''The Fix'' (2017) * ''The Fallen'' (2018) * ''Redemption'' (2019) * ''Walk The Wire'' (2020) * '' Long Shadows'' (2022)

Atlee Pine series

*''Long Road to Mercy'' (2018) *''A Minute to Midnight'' (2019) *''Daylight'' (2020, John Puller crossover) *''Mercy'' (2021)

Aloysius Archer series

*''One Good Deed'' (2019) *''A Gambling Man'' (2021) *''Dream Town'' (2022)

Stand-alone novels

* '' Absolute Power'' (1996) * '' Total Control'' (1997) * '' The Winner'' (1998) * '' The Simple Truth'' (1998) * '' Saving Faith'' (1999) * '' Wish You Well'' (2001) * '' Last Man Standing'' (2001) * '' The Christmas Train'' (2003) * '' True Blue'' (2009) * ''One Summer'' (2011) * ''The 6:20 Man'' (2022) * ''Simply Lies'' (2023)

Short stories and novellas

* ''Waiting for Santa'' (short story) (2002) * ''No Time Left'' (short story) (2012) * ''Bullseye'' (short story) Will Robie / Camel Club (2014) * ''The Mighty Johns'' also known as ''The Final Play'' (novella) (2021)

For young readers

Freddy and the French Fries series

* ''Freddy and the French Fries: Fries Alive!'' (

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

, 2005), Baldacci's

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

for young readers * ''Freddy and the French Fries: The Mystery of Silas Finklebean'' (Little, Brown and Company, 2006)

The 39 Clues ''The 39 Clues'' is a series of adventure novels written by a collaboration of authors, including Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, Patrick Carman, Linda Sue Park, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Roland Smith, David Baldacci, J ...
series

* '' Day of Doom'' ( Scholastic Publishing, 2013), Book 6 in the " Cahills vs. Vespers" series of ''The 39 Clues'' books

Vega Jane series

* ''The Finisher'' ( Scholastic Press, 2014) * ''The Keeper'' ( Scholastic Press, 2015) * ''The Width of the World'' ( Scholastic Press, 2017) * ''The Stars Below'' ( Scholastic Press, 2019)

Adaptations

* ''Absolute Power'' (1997 film), starring Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, and

Ed Harris Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in ''Apollo 13'' (1995), '' The Truman Show'' (1998), '' Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award ...

* ''King & Maxwell'' (2013 TV series), starring

and

* ''Wish You Well'' (2013 film), starring Mackenzie Foy,

, and

* ''The Christmas Train'' (2017 film), starring Dermot Mulroney,