The Camel Club (Camel Club Series #1)

It exists at the fringes of Washington, D.C., has no power, and consists solely of four eccentric and downtrodden members whom society has forgotten. Their simple goal is to find the "truth" behind their country's actions.

One man leads this aging, ragtag crew. He has no known past and has taken the name "Oliver Stone." Day and night, Stone and his friends study wild conspiracy theories, current events, and the machinations of government, hoping to discover some truth that will hold America's leaders accountable to its citizens. Yet never in Stone's wildest nightmares could he imagine the conspiracy the Camel Club is about to uncover...

After witnessing a shocking murder, the Club is slammed headfirst into a plot that threatens the very security of the nation, full of stunning twists, high-stakes intrigue, and global gamesmanship rocketing to the Oval Office and beyond. Soon the Club must join forces with veteran Secret Service agent Alex Ford, who becomes an unwilling participant in one of the most chilling spectacles to ever take place on American soil. It's an event that may well be the catalyst for the long-threatened Armageddon between two different worlds, and all that stands in the way of this apocalypse are five unexpected heroes.

In The Camel Club, bestselling author David Baldacci paints a frighteningly vivid portrait of a world that could be our own very soon, and the few people who have a chance to stop the chaos...

David Baldacci is the author of ten previous consecutive New York Times bestsellers and #1 international bestsellers: Absolute Power, Total Control, The Winner, The Simple Truth, Saving Faith, Wish You Well, Last Man Standing, The Christmas Train, Split Second, and Hour Game, as well as his Freddy and the French Fries children's series. With his books published in over 35 languages in more than 80 countries, and with nearly 45 million copies in print worldwide, David Baldacci is one of the world's favorite storytellers. He's also the cofounder, with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America.

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
When four decidedly eccentric members of a Washington, D.C. based conspiracy watchdog organization witness the brutal murder of a National Intelligence Center employee, they become entangled in an all-too-real drama that includes an intricate terrorist plot to kidnap the president -- and ignite WWIII. The purpose of the Camel Club is to scrutinize those in power: to find the real truth behind the actions of political leaders. Led by an enigmatic cemetery groundskeeper who calls himself Oliver Stone, the group of misfits -- who include a rare books specialist, a former Jeopardy! champion, and a former Defense Intelligence operative -- meet weekly to discuss possible conspiracy theories and what, if anything, to do about them. But during a late-night meeting on the secluded Theodore Roosevelt Island, the group witness two men murder a man in cold blood and then take steps to make it look like a suicide. As Stone and crew try to figure out who the murderers are, a terrorist cell in and around D.C. -- led by a high-level government leader -- mobilizes for an event what could be very well be the beginning of the end of the United States Thanks to its combination of chilling real-world events with radical conspiracy theories, fans of political thrillers will absolutely devour Baldacci's The Camel Club. With a cast of misfit characters that is as endearing as it is memorable and an intrigue-laden plot to rival any contemporary suspense thriller, this is Baldacci (Absolute Power, Total Control, et al.) at his very best -- action packed, thought provoking and, above all else, wildly entertaining! Paul Goat Allen

About The Author:

David Baldacci's authoritative legal thrillers operate on the irresistible notion that a sinister undercurrent threads through the country's most powerful institutions.

While his stories hinge on the complex machinations behind the presidency, the FBI, the Supreme Court and other spheres of influence, Baldacci (a former Washington, D.C.-based attorney) finds his way into a mystery through the eyes of the innocents. Semi-innocents, at least: small players who often don't realize they're players at all end up hunting down answers, and their hunt becomes the reader's.

According to Baldacci, reading John Irving's The World According to Garp convinced him that he wanted to be a novelist. Absolute Power -- in which a thief finds himself accidentally connected to a murder involving the president and the ensuing coverup -- was hardly Irvingesque; but it did begin Baldacci's friendly relationship with the bestseller lists, which has continued over his writing career....

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Name:David Baldacci

Current Home:Northern Virginia

Place of Birth:Richmond, VIrginia

Education:B.A. in Political Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1983; J.D., University of Virginia, 1986

* David Baldacci's official web site

Biography

David Baldacci's authoritative legal thrillers operate on the irresistible notion that a sinister undercurrent threads through the country's most powerful institutions.

While his stories hinge on the complex machinations behind the presidency, the FBI, the Supreme Court and other spheres of influence, Baldacci (a former Washington, D.C.-based attorney) finds his way into a mystery through the eyes of the innocents. Semi-innocents, at least: small players who often don't realize they're players at all end up hunting down answers, and their hunt becomes the reader's.

According to Baldacci, reading John Irving's The World According to Garp convinced him that he wanted to be a novelist. Absolute Power -- in which a thief finds himself accidentally connected to a murder involving the president and the ensuing coverup -- was hardly Irvingesque; but it did begin Baldacci's friendly relationship with the bestseller lists, which has continued over his writing career.

Baldacci's style is brief and plot-driven, but he's not afraid to linger on macabre and vivid details, such as a rosary clenched in a plane crash victim's hand, or hard-learned lessons from a sniper's life (pack your food so you can find it at night, by touch). These small but memorable -- indeed, almost cinematic -- details give his books another layer that distinguishes them from the average potboiler.

Although the author has occasionally departed from his usual fare (examples include the tenderhearted coming-of-age tale Wish You Well and the holiday-themed adventure The Christmas Train), it is high-octane thrillers that are his true stock in trade. Whether it's a taut stand-alone or a new installment in his Camel Club series, readers know when they crack the spine of a new Baldacci book, they're in for an action-packed page-turner.

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Good To Know

Baldacci was a trial lawyer and a corporate lawyer for nine years in Washington, D.C.

He worked his way through college as a Pinkerton security guard and by washing and detailing 18-wheel trucks.

Baldacci writes under his own name except when published in Italy, where he uses a pseudonym because it is the homeland of his ancestors.

Bill Clinton selected The Simple Truth as his favorite novel of 1998, according to Baldacci's web site.