A good read, and a well-done audiobook. If you aren't experienced with audiobooks, this would be a good one to try.

This is my 4th King/Maxwell book, and I enjoyed it more than the previous ones. There were 2 mysteries in the book, unrelated to each other. So, you get your money's worth here. I thought the main story was very good. The full story is disclosed slowly throughout the book, and by the end, it's not at all clear who are the villains and heroes. There's the President of the US and the First Lady, along with some relatives are on one side, against some crazy guy in Alabama with a home-made cabin enclosed in steel, and a mine he uses to hold some kidnap victims. Oh, and his team killed an innocent women during one of the kidnaps. So, making him seem to be even somewhat of a good guy takes a bit of doing. I guess it's all relative in this story, though.

If you're a fan of this series, there's a little surprise at the end to keep things interesting. Nuff said. ( )

In the follow-up to "Simple Genius, Vol. 3" their harrowing and near-fatal adventure. Returns in another mesmerizing thriller. A daring kidnapping turns a children's birthday party at Camp David into a national security nightmare, but the hostage is not who anyone would expect. Read it, I'm not going to tell you! ( )

Un audaz secuestro convierte una fiesta infantil de cumpleaños en Camp David, la residencia de vacaciones presidencial, en una pesadilla de seguridad nacional. Sean King y Michelle Maxwell, dos antiguos agentes secretos convertidos en investigadores privados, no desean involucrarse en el caso. Pero Sean King salvó años atrás al marido de la primera dama, entonces senador, de un desastre político. Ahora la esposa del presidente presiona a Sean y Michelle y ambos emprenden una búsqueda desesperada para rescatar a la niña secuestrada.

Fiction

This is a continuing series involving ex-Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell. As the book title implies, the book involves the President of the United States and his family. The President's niece is kidnapped, and King and Maxwell are hired by the First Lady to find her. An unnecessary side-plot involving the murder of ex-Agent Maxwell's mother is included, for reasons I couldn't understand other than it adds pages to the book.

Intentional or not, Baldacci's Presidential Couple could easily be based on the Bill and Hillary Clinton. The fictional President, Dan Cox, seemed to have difficulty keeping his pants on around young women, and the fictional First Lady, Jane Cox, proved to be a strong, powerful political animal who would do whatever was required to get things done her way. And the legacy of both Presidents were diminished by scandals during their second terms.

The main thread of the book involves King and Maxwell trying to catch up with the kidnapper Sam Quarry who is behind the kidnapping and trying to settle an old score. It proved to be a good book with an interesting plot, and while your suspicions are raised during the book, the full story stays well hidden until the concluding chapters of the book. ( )