Total Control [Mass Market Paperback]

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Total Control [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Details

Mass Market Paperback: 720 pages
Publisher: Vision (December 1, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446604844
ISBN-13: 978-0446604840
Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

By : David Baldacci
Price : $7.99

Customer Reviews

My first introduction to David Baldacci was back in 1996 when People Magazine picked his first book, Absolute Power, as the "Page Turner of the Week". I thought the premise of that book was phenomenal and I became an immediate fan. For some reason, I skipped over Total Control and went on to read his third and fourth books, The Winner and The Simple Truth. Both were good reads but nothing compared to Absolute Power. I'm glad I went back and read Total Control because it's in true Baldacci form in my opinion.
In this offering, Baldacci takes the typical American family, Sidney and Jason Archer and their little daughter Amy, and pits them against corporate greed at its worst. Sidney (the wife with a man's name) is a corporate attorney. Jason, the husband, is an executive with a technology company. Since Sidney is working on a deal that will merge her husband's company with another major technology firm, she is privy to many things that could lead to trouble. Jason, on the other hand, is struggling to make more money so that his wife can become a stay-at-home mom to their daughter. While this concept is characteristic of many American families, sometimes this drive can lead to a downward spiral of events from which there is no return. When Jason disappears, it is up to Sidney to try to clear his name while trying to save her own job at the same time. This book is replete with all the scenarios that followers of the thriller genre have come to expect. There's a plane crash, a car chase, espionage, kidnapping, phone-tapping and the usual sinister characters you find in most of Baldacci's books.
I read most of this book on the plane traveling from Minnesota to Philadelphia. It never seems to fail that when I'm flying, I'm usually reading a book that involves a plane crash. The good thing about this book is that it is so fast-paced that I arrived at my destination without even realizing I had been in the air over three hours. If you're looking for something that is suspenseful and believable, I think you'd enjoy this one. I'd like to add that as I looked around to see what other people on the plane were reading, I was not surprised to see other readers with Baldacci titles in their hands. I guess he's come a long way since that first book back in 1996. Kudos to you David Baldacci for your well-deserved success.

Total Control begins with two high-tech companies, both in need of technological infusion, pursuing a smaller firm whose advanced technology will guarantee future success. The potential for conflict is immediately evident as the same high-powered law firm is representing both companies in their bids. Attractive corporate attorney Sidney Archer is handling the affairs for one company, but it just so happens that her husband Jason is the main person collecting records pertinent to the sale for the same company.
Matters quickly fall apart when in the midst of a high level meeting involving all the principals of the deal, Sidney discovers that her husband has supposedly met his death in a plane crash, after having told his superiors that he would be home doing odds and ends. Suspicions multiply when the loss of millions from corporate accounts is discovered, not to mention the death of a high-level banking official on the same flight.
The story kicks into high gear when crusty FBI agent Lee Sawyer tries to make sense of it all. Of course, what would a story set in the cut-throat world of corporate high-tech be without the obnoxious, ruthless CEO; the brilliant, but slighted, guru; and lots of corporate security involving former CIA and FBI agents. Sidney is desperate to discover the truth about her husband. She finds herself somewhat clumsily navigating through building security systems, surveillance, phone taps, cryptic E-mails, computer security, and strange phone calls. It becomes evident that more than a Bonnie-and-Clyde caper is underway, and the bad guys have vast resources and are playing for keeps.
The book is entertaining but not without some problems. For this reader the writing seemed stilted or awkward - it didn't flow too well. There were these constantly introduced little twists like "Sidney did not see the man lurking across the street." It feels like reader manipulation. Some of the high-tech seemed either fanciful or was made to seem more difficult than it is. It is understandable that a shrewd attorney would have the wherewithal to pursue the mysterious death of her husband, but the slippage of her role into one of wonder woman, physically confronting truly bad guys, was not convincing. FBI agent Sawyer was probably the most compelling character. For such a lengthy book, the ending takes far too predictable of a turn, but it also manages to be incomplete, as the reader will see.
There seems to be a lot of love it or hate it reviews. Yes the book was too long, a bit unrealistic, and somewhat predictable. But it compares favorably to most books of this genre. There are not many Le Carre's or Clancy's out there. It was an acceptable read. I'm not dissuaded from trying another one of his.