Book Summary

Convicted of killing a girl on an army base twenty-five years ago, a man smuggles a desperate letter out of his prison cell claiming he was forced to commit murder.

With his New York Times bestsellers Absolute Power, Total Control, and The Winner, David Baldacci proved beyond a doubt that he can break new ground every time out of the box. Now he does it again with his most powerful work yet, a heart-pounding thriller that brings to life two vastly different worlds joined by a deadly secret, and by a man and woman searching for...

The Simple Truth

Behind the scenes, the U.S. Supreme Court is a battleground of egos, intellects, and power. Here brilliant young attorney Mike Fiske toils as an elite foot soldier. His colleague Sara Evans is clerking for a female Court justice who is powerfully connected to Congress. But Sara, whose career has limitless possibilities, is becoming a key player in a struggle that will link a convicted murderer to the Court.

Far from the imposing facade of the High Court is the world of street crime, prison time, and bare-knuckles criminal courts defense. In a Virginia military prison Rufus Harms is just one more lifer claiming innocence. Convicted of killing a girl on an army base twenty-five years ago, Harms smuggles a desperate letter out of his prison cell. It's a bombshell-an appeal to the Supreme Court-that claims he was forced to commit murder.

Suddenly everyone who has anything to do with Harms or the appeal mysteriously dies, including Mike Fiske. When his brother, John, an ex-cop, investigates and asks for Sara's help, they both face a conspiracy that is shaking the very foundations of power in Washington. And the one man who can help them, the one man who knows what really happened twenty-five years ago-and why-has escaped from prison and is running for his life.

From scenes of swift, savage violence to scenes of the cloistered, intricate workings of the High Court itself, from the heat of a summer night on the Potomac to the cold reality of a lifer's prison cell, David Baldacci has written a novel that is passionate, brawling, and electrifying-and as vividly courageous as only the truth can be...