The Collectors by David Baldacci

Review by Theodore Feit
 

The Camel Club has reconvened in this sequel to the book of that name.  The unusual foursome, led by Cemetery caretaker Oliver Stone (nee John Carr, former CIA operative), also includes Caleb Shaw, who works in the Rare Book Room of the Library of Co1ngress, which provides the starting point of this mystery.

 

Caleb comes to work one morning to discover the body of his boss, Jonathan DeHaven, dead, of undetermined but apparently natural causes, perhaps a heart attack (although he had received a clean bill of health the previous day at Johns Hopkins).  This death followed the assassination of the Speaker of the house, and the burning of his home.  These seemingly unrelated events set the stage for a haphazard investigation by the Camel Club.

 

Joined in their effort by Annabelle Conroy, con artist par excellence, the group encounters a master of murder who leads a spy ring selling secrets to foreign terrorists.  Along the way, Oliver is kidnapped, as are Caleb and Annabelle, by the opposition.

 

A couple of side stories provide some amusement.  Caleb is named executor of Jonathan's rare book collection in which he discovers a very rare book—the first ever printed in the United States.  Only 12 are known to exist and this is the 13th.  Is it real or a fraud?  Then there is Annabelle's long con in which she bilks a murderous Atlantic City casino operator out of $40 million.

 

Tightly written, this novel is as entertaining as its predecessor.  After it is all over, Oliver and Annabelle, who was married to Jonathan for a year and gave him the gift of the rare book, are left musing about the past and the future.  She came to Washington to attend Jonathan's funeral, changing her plans to flee the country to avoid capture by the casino operator.  Why is she still there?  Perhaps to set the stage for a third Camel Club adventure?  If so, we'll look forward to it.