Creel, although philanthropic at times for his own benefit, is all about creating a war between Russian and China with Ares supplying the weapons. To that end, Creel hires Russians to murder all of the employees of The Phoenix Group (owned by the Chinese) a think tank based in London. This event is observed by Aron Lesnik who survives the massacre and reports the events to Katie James winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for journalism but of late an alcoholic relegated to writing the obits.

Lesnik claims these Russians were discussing that the Russian president approved the mission in recompense for the Chinese lies about Konstantin. But, is this The Whole Truth?

Every thriller needs a hero. Brad Thor has Scot Horvath. Lee Child has Jack Reacher. In The Whole Truth we meet Shaw (no first name). Shaw works for an international law enforcement agency and is of course strong, smart, indestructible, and resourceful. Shaw has personal motivation to discover who wants to start World War III between Russian and China. Join him as he travels to Edinburgh, Dublin, London, Italy, and Washington D.C. as he searches to find The Whole Truth.

This may be on of Baldacci's best books yet. Combine interesting characters and current events with unexpected twists and turns and short chapters and the result is a great escapist summer read.

In addition, The Whole Truth has an underlying message regarding the dissemination of false information. This should cause each of us to pause and consider how some recent events have affected our lives and perhaps search for the truth ourselves.

--Jerry Solot