You may have heard of the author David Baldacci, and this is because he is behind many incredibly successful stories, and is known for the massive volume of books that have his name on them.
He has published novels, some anthologies, some shorter stories, and even some non-fiction, all of which will be addressed in this guide.
If you are tempted to read some of David Baldacci’s work, but because of how much there is, you are intimidated, we understand!
He has a massive range of work, and even though he does have a distinct writing style, with so many stories, there is a good chance that while you will likely enjoy some of these stories, you are unlikely to like all of them.
Because of this, we have put this guide together to ensure that you have all of the information you need to know which of his stories you want to read, and where the best place to start is!
So, if you are interested in the works of David Baldacci, keep reading!
More About David Baldacci Books
David Baldacci’s books have been incredibly successful, and they have currently been translated into over 45 languages, and have been published in more than 80 different countries around the world.
The author himself has been writing ever since he was young, and he directly credits his mother for being the person who gave him his passion for writing.
David Baldacci has now been a published author for decades, and is specifically well known for his political mystery thrillers, with some being successful enough to have movie adaptations!
David Baldacci Books In Order
Something that makes David Baldacci and his books stand out is that he is never seemingly happy with just sticking to one thing.
He has dipped his hands into many different projects and genres, and that is why this list is so extensive. We are going to start in the easiest place going over his standalone works in detail.
After this, we will go through each of his series and give you some information on each and if you are interested, you will get our recommended order on how to read the series!
Standalone
Firstly, we will go into David Baldacci’s standalone stories. As the name of this section suggests, these stories are not interconnected, and you do not have to read them in a specific order to enjoy them.
However, if you want to see how David Baldacci’s writing style has evolved, and get to see how the type of stories he works on has changed, then we recommend reading them in order of release.
This section will give a short description of each standalone story so you know what to expect!
We follow Luther Whitney who is a break-in artist and an incredibly talented thief.
He has managed to get stuck behind a two-way mirror that is in an estate that was strongly guarded and found out in the countryside of Virginia.
However, what he hears when he is stuck there does not only shatter any confidence he has that he will be able to escape unscathed but also questions everything that he has ever held dear to him.
Following this is a massive abuse of unjustified power all entangled within a criminal conspiracy.
There are individuals who are appointed to work with the USA President with the goal of pulling off a massive cover-up, and Luther is the only one who knows about it.
Pros
An incredibly engaging mystery, and a great starting point if you want to start working your way through David Baldacci’s standalone series.
Cons
The pacing is not the best, but this is justified by getting to spend more time with Luther, the incredibly enjoyable and unconventional protagonist.
We follow Sidney who seemingly has everything she wants out of life, an amazing husband, a good job, and an adorable daughter but this all changes when an aircraft crashes nearby and Sidney finds that there is no one that she can trust.
Then there is Jason, her husband who works for Triton, the largest tech firm in the world, and is a young executive that is working his way up.
But he does not know that he has entered a dangerous life and that his family might pay the price.
He is going to vanish, and his wife is going to be left to sort out the lies from the truth, and then there is an accident team to work out how the plane crashed.
Pros
Sidney is a very interesting protagonist to follow.
Luann is 20, gorgeous, but poor, and she wants nothing more than for her daughter to have a better life, but then she wins the lottery, $100 million.
Now she has everything she needs to change her name and leave the US. But when she gets entangled in a game of fate, violence is forcing her hand to bet it all.
There is a financial mastermind who has the power to take it all away whenever he wants, and she has to outsmart them.
Pros
The relationship between Luann and her daughter is a great heart to the story.
Cons
Some of Luann’s decisions are incredibly frustrating to read.
We follow Rufus who was convicted of murder 25 years in the past, and he believes that he did it. But a hidden memory is awoken when he gets a letter from the army telling him that he is not guilty.
Rufus files an appeal with the Supreme Court, but what he does not know is that the real killers have already caught up with him.
Pros
The narrative takes plenty of twists that you will not be able to predict.
Cons
Rufus’s character can occasionally be frustrating to read.
The story starts with an FBI interrogation of one of the most important witnesses they have ever got, this being Faith, and she is in a remote location not too far from DC.
However, Faith knows far too much and has accomplished enough to know just how much she should reveal.
She has spent considerable time being targeted by the most powerful people in the world, however, another attempt on her life went wrong when an FBI agent took the hit instead of her.
Pros
Learning the truth about Faith’s character is incredibly engaging.
Cons
Faith is the heart and the rest of the characters kind of lag behind.
We follow Louisa who is an incredibly talented 12 year old living in 1940 New York, but when there is a disaster, both Lou and Oz, her younger brother, need to relocate to their grandmother’s home in Virginia alongside their ill mother.
Lou finds herself in a completely new environment, but manages to make a new friend, and experiences some fresh adventures, but not everything can stay perfect for long.
Pros
Lou is a charming protagonist to follow.
Cons
Following such a young protagonist can be quite jarring if you are coming off Baldacci’s previous standalone stories.
We follow Tom who is a tired journalist who wants to get away from DC and get back to LA for Christmas, and his only available mode of transportation is the train.
His journey is filled with awakenings and adventures with a healthy dose of Christmas magic as well!
Pros
A very sweet Christmas read if you want something to get you in the Christmas spirit.
Cons
Quite a jarring read if you are coming off one of Baldacci’s political thrillers.
We follow Mason who has one of the toughest officers on the DC force up until she is falsely accused of a crime, kidnapped, and then sentenced to 2 years in prison.
Once she is out her only goal is to become an officer again, but her only hope of being able to do this is to solve a case by herself.
In another Christmas story by Baldacci, we follow Jack who is terminally ill, and his family are not celebrating the holiday as he is preparing his final goodbyes.
But when his wife is murdered and the children are split, Jack has to fix everything before time runs out.
Pros
One of Baldacci’s most emotional reads.
Cons
You have to be in a very specific headspace to enjoy this one.
The most recent book from Baldacci follows Travis who is a former soldier now working as a financial analyst looking to work out all the corruption in the new world he has been thrust into.
The Camel Club is a group of odd partners who have the objective of working out the truth of the media, politics, and the news, which for being based in DC can be a pretty tough task.
However, they also have the help of some strange helpers like Secret Service member Alex, con artist Annabelle, and activist for the homeless Adelphia.
The leader of the group is Oliver who is a former Green Beret and a current member of the prestigious but also fictitious Triple 6 squad in the CIA.
Then there is Rhodes who quit the DIA to become a protester and ended up running into Oliver who got him a job unloading trucks for his club, and this is how he enters their world.
In a break from his previous series and some of his standalones, this duology of stories from David Baldacci is intended for younger readers.
We follow Freddy who is a fan of coming up with ways to boost the revenue of his family’s fast-food restaurant with a health twist, however, his plans rarely turn out as intended.
He and his best friend Howie try to prove that brains will always persevere over muscle, however, when mistakes happen like making the fries become alive, things are not always that easy!
David Baldacci’s next series is another duology and this one follows Nicolas Creel who is the CEO of the Ares Corporation as well as a man who has a purpose.
His company is the largest defense contractor in the world. Creel hires Pender to perception manage his company when they are growing off the exploitation of international issues, however, this is not all Creel wants to do.
Then there is Shaw who has no first name and a different plan. He travels the world doing the work of a multinational agency to keep it secure.
And then there is Katie who wants to get back to the top of her profession, but then gets the opportunity that only comes once in a lifetime.
These 4 main characters get entangled in a peril that none of them saw coming.
If you are interested in indulging yourself in this David Baldacci thriller duology, the two stories are; The Whole Truth (2008), and Deliver Us From Evil (2010).
John Puller Books
This series follows Puller who is a combat veteran who is a top military detective in the USA army.
He is following the legacy of his father who was also a legendary fighter in the army, however, he is also battling the reputation of his brother who is a famous criminal who is spending his life in prison for his treason.
But Puller has a spirit that is unbreakable and a strong desire to work out the truth of his situation.
He spends his days working out what has happened in incidents related to the army, and his first story shows him investigating an assassination of a military family.
He manages to track the serial murderer to West Virginia, but when he starts to gather evidence, he realizes there is more to his case than he initially expected.
Then there is David Baldacci’s Will Robie series, the FBI has hired him to be the person to deal with the criminals who are beyond the police’s reach, but also beyond the military, the government, and the FBI themselves.
Robie is an assassin who never questions his orders and always gets the job done.
Throughout this tense series, he becomes a target of persecution from the people who he is working for, and all the while runs into a teen fleeing from their parent’s killer. Robie has the dilemma of prioritizing himself or the teen.
Later in the series, Robie becomes familiar with Jessica Reel who is at a very similar level of killing capability as he is, and their cat-and-mouse dynamic takes them over nations which leads to the pair uncovering an international conspiracy simultaneously.
There is also a notable crossover event where Robie becomes a hostage alongside Oliver from the Camel Club series, so if you are missing that series, you should definitely check this one out.
This series follows Vega Jane who assumed that no one would ever be able to escape Wormwood.
Wormwood is the jungle that is full of death and danger, however, the night she witnesses Quentin run away, her perception changes. Quentin did not just flee Wormwood, but he was being hunted too.
On top of this, Quentin left clues that all pointed toward the deadly plot that Wormwood is entangled in.
Jane knows that if she follows the clues she will only attract the attention of those who are trying so hard to keep the secrets they point to hidden.
All she should do is keep her head down and her intentions hidden, but unfortunately, backing down from a fight is not something Vega Jane is capable of.
With the Amos Decker series, David Baldacci returns to his political thriller roots and this is one of his most popular series because of it.
Decker has a perfect memory that has served him well throughout his career as an investigator. But now he must work out the crime of a family’s murder.
He leaves the force after he is unable to work it out and starts to live a life of depression. But years later someone enters the station and confesses to all of these killings.
Decker has the option to uncover the truth about the case that ruined his life, but will learning these clues ruin his life even more?
In this series, we follow Atlee who has spent most of her life looking for Mercy, her twin sister who was kidnapped when they were both 6 and since then has never been seen.
Of course, the family was devastated and this got even worse when the parents abandoned Atlee, for now, explicable reasons.
So, Atlee with Carol, her assistant, travels back to Georgia, Atlee’s home and where she was born, to see if there is any more information to find about Mercy’s kidnapping.
Soon after they return to the town, a local woman is killed in a manner similar to a ritual with her face hidden underneath a bride’s veil.
Soon after this, there is a second murder with odd circumstances that are all difficult to explain.
All the while, Atlee is discovering the reasons why her parents left her so suddenly, and perhaps why her sister was kidnapped.
But there is also proof that her sister both survived and escaped her kidnapping, so where is she now?
The final series we are discussing which was worked on by Baldacci exclusively is a historical thriller that takes place in 1949 that follows protagonist Aloysius after his prison sentence has ended.
He has to return to his parole officer regularly and find a job as soon as possible.
However, the community he lives in is more confusing than he remembers, and he is soon hired to work as a debt collector for a prominent businessman in the community.
But, when he witnesses a murder, everything starts to get much more confusing for Aloysius.
This is a series of adventure books for children, this is not actually a series that just David Baldacci worked on, with other stories in the series being written by well-known authors like Rick Riordan.
On top of his full length stories, David Baldacci has also written some shorter stories and novellas too.
If you have finished his full length stories and want something new to indulge in, trying out one of these is definitely worth doing if you are a fan of his work!
David Baldacci has also contributed to a few anthologies throughout his career with the oldest being in 2002 and the most recent being in 2014.
If you want a good way to be introduced to authors who have a style similar to David Baldacci’s then reading one of these anthologies and seeing the works he is surrounded by is a great idea.
Hopefully, this guide has given you an insight into the types of books that David Baldacci writes and has spurred you on to try reading some of his stories.
It is worth noting that since he has written such a wide variety of stories you do not need to attempt to read all of them since a lot of them have very different target demographics, so while you might love one of his series, another might not suit you at all.
Because of this, make sure to refer to our section on David Baldacci’s different series so you know what to expect from his work!
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is David Baldacci Known For?
David Baldacci is a famous American author who has penned a wide variety of different book series, however, the stories he is most well known for are the Camel Club and the Amos Decker series!
Hi, my name is Anna Davis and I have been working with books for five years now. I got a job at my local library, so I could be closer to all of the books! I created this website in the hopes of inspiring others to start reading again. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your new favorite book from my site!
