Simple Genius was first published in 2007 and is the third book in David Baldacci’s King and Maxwell series. With every new book in this series, it goes from strength to strength. This thriller will keep you on tenterhooks throughout the entire book.

Following on from the last book and it’s the story King and Maxwell have moved back to Washington DC. Maxwell is unwell and seeking solace in the demon drink while she cruises bars looking for fights. She picks the biggest guy in the bar and almost kills one. Sean King has to step in and rescue her from herself. She has been given a warning by the police to seek psychological help or go to jail. She seeks the help of Horatio Barnes who is the very man to dig right into her psyche. While in ‘recovery’ which she is receiving reluctantly Maxwell discovers something odd is going on and is able to put an end to it.

King needs to find work to pay for the treatment that Maxwell is receiving, and he turns to his ex-wife Joan. She throws him a bone as she needs someone needs to head down to Babbage Town in Virginia. The town is a company town, and they want to know if Monk Turing committed suicide or was murdered. The only problem was that Turing’s body was found inside Camp Perry the training base of the CIA commonly known as The Farm. It makes things a little harder.

Babbage Town is just across the York River from The Farm, and the town is a guarded community full of geniuses. There are a lot of secrets either side of the river and dead bodies keep appearing and then the morgue is blown up which makes things a little more difficult. There are also dark flights landing at The Farm usually at night and nobody knows what is happening out at the airfield. Can King save the genius of Babbage Town and Maxwell from herself?

This is a fabulous read with a nod to Bletchley Park with secret codes, a great read. ( )

I wonder whether I may now have read too many of David Baldacci’s books within too short a period. I found this third outing or Sean King and Michelle Maxwell rather irritating, and I ran out of patience with the unnecessarily convoluted plot.

I think I will leave a longer break before picking up the next of his books that I bulk bought on offer from Amazon. ( )

FROM AMAZON: Former Secret Service agents turned private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have seen their lives splinter around them. Michelle lies unconscious in a hospital bed after a night of suicidal violence. And Sean is forced to take on a thankless investigation into the murder of a scientist just inside the CIA's razor-wire fence near Williamsburg, Virginia.
Soon he is uncovering layers of disinformation that shields a stunning world of elite mathematicians, physicists, war heroes, spies, and deadly field agents. Amid murder, a seemingly autistic girl's extraordinary genius, and a powerful breakthrough in the realm of classified codes, Sean learns enough to put his life at risk. Now, he needs Michelle, at her best, to help stop a conspiracy of traitors operating in the shadow of the White House itself.

From Michelle's courageous struggle to defeat her long-buried personal demons to a centuries-old secret that surfaces in the heat of the action, Simple Genius pulses with stunning, high-intensity suspense. The heroes of Split Second and Hour Game are back as you've never seen them before.

I listened to this on audio and it was engaging enough that I didn't repackage the disks in disgust (as I did after trying to listen to a Janet Evanovich book, and a Mary Higgins Clarke book). But after loving the first King & Maxwell novel, and giving up after three attempts to feign interest in the follow up, the third volume in this series has mostly convinced me that David Baldacci is a wildly inconsistent writer. I may yet give him another shot - - after all, billions of readers can't be wrong (can they? ) - - but for now I am turning my attention to a totally different genre. ( )

Simple Genius is an interesting book. The main characters, King and Maxwell are definitely super heroes. The book is about decoding, treasure hunting, murder, smuggling and justification. Four stars were given to this book. Definitely a good story. ( )