First Family

by: David Baldacci

Published by: Grand Central Publishing (April release)

Reviewed by Andrea Sisco

Sean King and Michelle Maxwell return to David Baldacci’s world once again in First Family.

Willa Dutton’s twelfth birthday party was held at Camp David because her uncle happens to be the President of the United States. Following the party, Willa and her family head home where her mother, Pam will meet with former Secret Service agents turned Private Investigators, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell. King is a longtime friend of the family, but has no idea why the meeting has been called.

When Sean and Michelle arrive at the Dutton home they hear a woman scream. Guns drawn, the two former agents approach the house. After a skirmish and exchange of gunfire, King and Maxwell discover Pam Dutton dead, and two of the three children and their father, drugged and unconscious. Willa is missing.

The FBI becomes involved because of the family’s relationship to the President. The First Lady, Jane Cox (who knew King when he saved her husband’s political career years before), hires the duo to find her niece.

With Michelle battling her own childhood demons and experiencing the murder of her mother, the two investigators dive into a case that involves rape, a botched abortion, adoption and vengeance that can’t be sated. King and Maxwell don’t know who they can trust so they must depend on each other to find Willa and stay alive.

Baldacci’s First Family is a complex novel of narcissism, greed, political power, vengeance and family secrets. It’s difficult to determine who is good and who is bad because most of the characters have a bit of both within them.

The American people have lost confidence in those that govern them, and although First Family is a novel, it has the feel of being plucked from the pages of real life.

Armchair Interviews says: A page-turner.

Author’s Web site: http://www.DavidBaldacci.com