Well, I've said it before, I'm a sucker for mysteries/crime/thrillers. I always have been. While other people were soaking up Judy Blume, I firmly ignored the conversations between God and Margaret and stayed up all night reading The Pelican Brief and The Client. Now, there are two questions that pop up given that information: the first being the question of how was I allowed to stay up all night at 13 (or so) the second is what was I really doing reading those books? To the first question I'll say that, in defense of my parents, I usually (and probably very poorly) tried to cover up the fact that I had snuck back downstairs (better lighting) by turning off the light as soon as I heard any motion from upstairs as long as dawn was seeping through the window. If it was that early (or late, depending on how you look at it) that sound probably wasn't just the house settling. If my life were an actual detective novel and my parents actual detectives, had they placed their hands over the lamp's bulb, heat would have still been emanating and my cover blown. Who am I kidding, I'm sure my tiptoes up the stairs weren't nearly as quiet as I thought and they've known all along. They were probably just happy I wasn't at a sleepover where a liquor cabinet was present. Grisham they could handle, Beam would have been a completely different offense. However addressing the second issue, gets to the heart of this review, so I'll ruminate on that presently.There is something about the mystery genre that allows for the forgiveness of god-awful, terrible writing. Provided that the plot is there, a simple whodunit could, ostensibly, be written by a person with no more than a fifth-grade vocabulary and still be engaging. At least, that's my opinion. And that's why Grisham had to share nightstand space with my eighth grade graduation invitations. It's also why I'm conflicted on how to review David Baldacci's The Winner.Set in modern day, which according to the copyright on the book is 1997, The Winner tells the story of LuAnn Tyler, a hick from Hicksville (here called Rikersville, GA) who just wants a better life for her daughter. After being approached by a man capable of fixing the lottery, she must determine just how much she wants her life to change. I'll let a very minor spoiler slip in here, so be warned, she decides to take the lotto guarantee. The book then skips ahead ten years to pick up on the ramifications of LuAnn's decision. I'm going to do my best to make the rest of this as spoiler free as I can, but the fact remains that it's been 14 years since the publication of this book, so I'm not promising anything.The upside for me is that, despite several moments of having to put the book down in order to roll my eyes at the cornball nature of a sentence, I did continue to pick it back up. That could be because I was just thrilled to be reading something that wasn't mentally taxing or it could be because I was legitimately caught up in the suspense. I would like to give the benefit of the doubt and say that it was the latter. There is something there that kept the pages turning and there were some legitimate surprises that made me sit back and say "huh...nicely played Mr. Baldacci, nicely played". The idea itself is intriguing as well, I mean, who hasn't dreamt of their post-lottery-winning life, especially in the current economic situation? It's incredibly easy to relate to the decision to say yes to someone who offers you a completely new, debt-free life.Here's the downside: If I'm being completely honest, and remember this is coming from someone who has never been published, so certainly take it with even less than a grain of salt, there are moments when the writing is terrible. Usually, as I read, the scenario starts to play itself out in my mind and a cinematic quality begins to take shape as the faces and reactions of characters form. It all becomes a mental motion picture. I mean that's why we all read, correct? And also why so many people are loathe to accept adaptations? Well here, the only thing that formed was a Youtube playback of an over-acted high school play. That's the best analogy I can make. Despite the fact that his main character is indeed a heroine, Mr. Baldacci seems to have no idea how women actually think. By this, I mean to say that women do not speak, or think, like sentences from a romance novel, and we certainly don't assume that men think in those terms either. Here's a passage to illustrate the point...and remember this is NOT a Danielle Steel novel: "Her gaze seemed to be pasted onto his face, all the sunlight streaming through the window seemed to be blocked out as though an eclipse were occurring" (p.248)Amazing, right? His heroine also just happens to be that perfect mixture of independent kick-ass and damsel in distress often described using the help of feline adjectives and placing her body as the main focus of every sentence about her. It's clear that he's trying so hard not to objectify women that the end result seems to be the exact opposite. Lu-Ann Tyler comes off as a combination of Lara Croft and Maryann from Gilligan's Island. I'll try not to even mention the fact that the phrase "making love" is used in seriousness. Throw in the fact that he has to clarify that the cell phone is "portable" as well as that modems and fax machines are high-tech, and it all just felt slightly dated for me, in 2011. Also, there's a whole lot of explanation instead of action that goes on, continually pulling you out of the book and back in to your own mind where you say to yourself "yeah, yeah, I get it, now move on".With it's short chapters and lengthy page count, it's not surprising that this isn't a great book. It probably wasn't meant to be. It was meant to keep people engaged at the beach, or in a cabin, and I can see, and attest to the fact, that it does just that, but re-reads will be unnecessary, and possibly painful unless you really love similes (especially involving trains) or think Matthew Riggs is totally dreamy.I thank the book for allowing me to check off another book read in my yearly tally, but wish that it would have kept up the Grisham vibe of the first part of the book before veering down the path filled with exclamations, stereotypes and worst of all, the use of the phrase "worldwide crime syndicate". Overall: 2 out of 5
Have you ever thought about winning the lottery? Think about all those items on your wish list you could buy? I know I have, and would bet most others have also. What if you knew the game was fixed to give you the winning numbers? Would the fact that the money was essentially stolen curb your enthusiasm? Would your ethics be strong enough to turn down millions in tainted money? This is the dilemma facing single mother LuAnn Tyler in David Baldacci's page turner of a novel "The Winner."Almost everyone in Rikersville, Georgia, grew up poor and would remain poor, perpetuating a cycle of poverty from one generation to the next. Lu Ann Tyler was no exception. Like most other girls her age, she quit school in 7th grade in order to get a job. After her mother's death left her with no place to stay, she moved in with loser-with-a-capital "L" Duane Harvey, and barely out of her teens soon had a baby girl, Lisa. Lisa became Lu Ann's pride and joy and reason for living. However working as a waitress at a truck stop brought in little more than enough to pay the bills. Most women in Lu Ann's position would resign themselves to living their remaining years with little to look forward to. But Lu Ann had a few things most others did not: despite her 7th grade education, she had an above average intelligence; extraordinary attention to detail; a stubborn streak and iron will; and exquisite beauty.Lu Ann received a telephone call for a job interview at a rented storefront in the local mall. The man on the phone said the pay would be $100 dollars per day for two weeks, maybe longer. With the $1,000 that she would make, Lu Ann was planning her getaway from Duane and Rikersville. However, at the interview Jackson, the man she had spoken to on the telephone, offered her a more enticing option: Guarantee of winning the lottery, no less than $50 million. Jackson did not tell her if she refused he would have her killed. Lu Ann knew if she accepted the money there would be conditions that went along with the payout. Nobody offers millions of dollars out of the goodness of their heart. But the thing that bothered her most of all was it would be no different than stealing, and Lu Ann was intrinsically an honest person.Jackson had given Lu Ann a deadline, after which the offer would expire. Lu Ann had resigned herself to follow her honorable instincts when certain events unfolded leaving her with the desire to leave Rikersville sooner rather than later. Lacking enough money to go anywhere, Lu Ann accepted Jackson's offer with only minutes to spare. Romanello, the assassin hired by Jackson, was in position to kill Lu Ann and was called off by his employer in the nick of time. Sensing there was something far bigger going on, Romanello decided to follow Lu Ann. When Jackson discovered the trouble Lu Ann was in, he was not pleased. Pursued by the authorities and a lethal assassin, Jackson agreed to help her change her name and get her out of the country as soon as she collected her lottery winnings, with the caveat that Lu Ann never return to the United States. But her desire to give Lisa a somewhat normal life caused Lu Ann, after an extended period of time, to reconsider the deal she had struck with Jackson.I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The pace was steady and picked up gradually until the very exciting conclusion. There was no cliff hanger as I expected the outcome that was presented, however the story was compelling enough to keep the pages turning. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to root for the underdogs in this world.
What do You think about The Winner (1997)?
This is one of the earlier book by David Baldacci and somehow he didn't have the mastery of his craft back then that he has now.I don't know what it is, whether it's the plot, or the characters but I stumbled through the whole book and never was captivated by the whole story and I have read a lot of the recent books by Baldacci ( like the John Puller serie or the Will Robbie and I was captivated by those and couldn't drop them).Anyway, somewhat of a miss for me, but that will not keep me away from other books by the same author.
—Aildiin
An uneducated, dirt-poor single mom goes to an interview for what appears to be a great temporary job offer, only to find out that the real purpose of the meeting is a lottery fix. Her end of the deal? All she has to do is ask no questions, do as she's told, take her winnings and live happily ever after. There's only one hitch in the giddy-up: our heroine, Lu Ann Tyler is sharp as a tack (as we're constantly reminded by the author) and knows that there's something crooked about the deal. She has only a few days to give "Jackson" her answer and, unbeknownst to her, will be murdered if she declines. The story vehicle is fantastic, as Jackson proves to her that he can in fact fix the national lottery. Does she say yes and gamble on the consequences, or refuse and return to her hellish and impoverished existence? And whichever decision she makes...what of the implications for her baby?It is that "vehicle" and other aspects of this story that, at least initially, made this a book that leaves the reader anxious to see what's going to happen next. "The Winner" had all the aspects of a 5 Star work but, alas, I kept reading and things slowly began to unravel...meandering from great storytelling to redundancy. From there, it just got ridiculous.This could have been a great short story/ novella, had the author stopped at a certain point but, more than 400 pages later, the reader is reminded that this wasn't the case. This work had more holes than a giant block of cheese. First of all, the author should've received a commission for every instance where he violated the basic "Don't tell me, show me" rule of writing. How many times did we need to be reminded by David Baldacci that LuAnn was beautiful, incredibly smart and resourceful and stronger than Superman? Yes, she could kick the crap out of any man...and did a time or two. And yet, this incredibly smart woman does some inexplicably stupid things like stealing a drug dealer's car after stumbling upon a murder. She then makes a call using his cell phone. She then uses her real name when buying a train ticket so she can flee to New York and obtain her lottery winnings. After discovering that she's wanted for murder, she is ordered by the mysterious Jackson to leave the country and never return. But...she does. After the author skips 10 years, the smart, resourceful LuAnn comes back, buys a mansion in a prominent neighborhood in Charlottesville, Virginia and files a tax return. Her mother had left Charlottesville, Virginia to go to Rikersville, Georgia? Okay...never mind.All of this is to say nothing of the other improbabilities in this book. We have a six-foot tall mom who is breastfeeding because she can't afford formula, but she's still stronger than the average NFL lineman, still looks like a supermodel and suddenly switches the baby to a bottle before she obtains any money. Then there's the fact that all of the characters are one-dimensional and live in a world of fortuitous coincidences- all of them can call a "friend" or a "contact" and obtain any information they want or need at any time. They live in a world where revolvers have safeties, a 44 magnum can be hidden in a coat pocket, and where experienced former FBI agents break into private homes and touch everything without even bothering to wear gloves. These characters abide in a world where breasts and shoulders "quiver"; a world where romantic dialogue makes a Harlequin romance look like Dostoevsky by comparison. "Jackson" had the potential to be a memorable villain. But in the world of this book, David Baldacci turned him into something that made me think I was a kid again, watching reruns of the original "Batman" series with Adam West- he takes the time to explain what he's done, why he did it and what he's about to do before killing them. He even explains to one victim his tools for disguise...Somehow, we have a shopping mall in the crossroads town of Rikersville Georgia. We have an incinerator in Charlottesville, Virginia, and we have a super villain who reunites with his sister by disguising himself as a cop, bonding with her and then murdering her (after he removes the disguise and after she stops fainting). If you think this review is boring, try reading the book. I give it three stars because, again, the story had immense potential and was "a real page-turner" at least halfway through. If you have an affinity for what could've been but was ruined, check this one out. If you don't mind bad writing style, cheesy dialogue and one unbelievable coincidence after another, read "The Winner" by David Baldacci. Otherwise, let this one go.
—Victor Wilkie
Ever since school got out for the summer, oddly enough, I have been reading a lot. I picked up a few books at a local church book sale. I have heard really good things about David Baldacci (mainly because of the movie based on his book, Absolute Power) and I found this book for $.50 so I thought I would give it a try. In fact, when handing my money to the cashier at the sale, the lady said that this was her favorite David Baldacci book. She had good taste. Short overview for you:LuAnn Tyler had nothing at all going for her. She then gets a mysterious call from a man saying that he can guarantee her $100,000,000.00. She accepts but not under the best circumstances so she must go on the run. But after 10 years, she returns. However, some are still looking for her. I will let you read it to fill in the blanks. This book is a good page-turner and it has some good points throughout. There are a few points of predictability but I guess that is expected if you read as much as I do. But if you pick it up, you will enjoy it.
—Jason
