He's copying famous serial killers and the game has just begun.
A woman is found murdered in the woods. It seems like a simple case but it soon escalates into a terrible nightmare. Someone is replicating the killing styles of the most infamous murderers of all time. No one knows this criminal's motives...or who will die next.
Two ex-Secret Service agents, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, have been hired to defend a man's innocence in a burglary involving an aristocratic, dysfunctional family. Then a series of secrets leads the partners right into the frantic hunt that is confounding even the FBI. Now King and Maxwell are playing the Hour Game, uncovering one horrifying revelation after another and putting their lives in danger. For the closer they get to the truth, the closer they get to the most shocking surprise of all.
Customer Rating: 



Review Summary: good ideas; poor execution
Review: I listened to this book on CD, so some of my impatience with the book may have stemmed from this.
As the story summarizes, we have a group of people going after a copycat serial killer. Each killing has aspects from some former serial killer.
We have, at the same time, a mystery about the theft of stuff from the local muckety-muck dysfunctional family. The case seems open and shut except it's almost certain the assumed culprit is innocent of this crime.
The main characters, with the exception of Sean King (who is practically a superhero), I found to be two-dimensional and frustrating. Michelle Maxwell is supposed to be a 9 year vet of the special service, and yet she can't seem to think. All she is is hired muscle, apparently. Pretty muscle, but muscle nonetheless.
The crimes are all gruesome. The ending is so protracted I felt fast forwarding.
The complexity of the plot and subplots were great. I don't think I've read better in a thriller. But the characters just bored me. I had no investment with any of them.
(*)>
Customer Rating: 



Review Summary: Baldacci is a great writer.
Review: I liked Baldacci's writing better than I liked the story in this one. The characters were great, but I have to admit the title and summary of the book had me expecting something else. The storytelling was very detailed, which bored me just a few places in the middle, but overall this book is well worth a read. I enjoyed it.
Customer Rating: 



Review Summary: An Enthralling Suspenseful Thriller
Review: I found Baldacci's novel excellent. The characters believable. The story seems to have to separate plots in the beginning, which nicely come together as one. There are twists & turns throughout the novel which centers around an elite family in a small Virginia town. The serial killer runs amok. There seems no plausible ties to his killings. Mr. Baldacci brings it all together extremely well at the book's conclusion. The story is very well thought out & attention gripping
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Review Summary: wow................
Review: I think this is the BEST book I have ever read. I read before work, after work & before bed. I have't even been watching TV. It is riveting....Read it...
Customer Rating: 



Review Summary: Good Read but....
Review: This was my first book with the Michelle Maxwell & Sean King characters. It was "ok". I enjoyed it, but the pace wasn't consistent. It did have a lot of characters, but was nonetheless interesting.
I enjoyed Simple Genius a lot more.