Do you love a good crime thriller?

Are you excited to open a novel filled with conspiracies, murder, deception, and political intrigue?

If so, then David Baldacci is the author for you.

With his degree in political science and law, he creates stories that will have you turning the pages as fast you can read them, all the while trying to figure out what happens next.

With his flawed characters and elaborate plots, Baldacci’s novels will keep you riveted as you root for justice to prevail.

Set in small towns, Baldacci has a gift for creating a sense of atmosphere and history, making the places come alive and add to the overall story.

If you are looking for a novel packed with action, mystery, and drama, then pick one book off this list and immerse yourself in the shady world of politics and power.

1. Absolute Power

David Baldacci’s debut novel, Absolute Power, questions the reach of power and whether it can save you from yourself.

When a career criminal finds himself stuck in a room with the President and a married woman, he never imagines things could get more perilous. Until things get rough and the woman ends up dead, the bedroom staged, and himself set to take the fall for her death.

On the run for his life, he enlists the help of his daughter’s ex-fiancé who is a brilliant attorney. Filled with unexpected plot twists, this novel explores the lengths those in power will go to keep it and the lines they will cross to save themselves.

2. One Good Deed

This is David Baldacci’s first historical fiction novel, and it is a welcome change from his mainstream thrillers. It has a darker element, filled with mystery and intrigue.

This gritty crime thriller captures the elements of the ‘40s, setting the scene authentically. Following the story of Aloysius Archer, a WW2 veteran newly released from prison, the story is filled with poor decisions, misadventure, and misdirection.

You will become embroiled in the seedy underbelly of Poca City, and join Archer as he uses all of his skills to clear his name and save his life.

3. The Camel Club

In a world filled with conspiracy theories and those who live by them, this novel will make you question everything you think you know.

The Camel Club is made up of 4 eclectic men, each bringing something different to the table. They are interested in conspiracy theories and their credibility, but it isn’t until they fall into one that they begin to understand how dangerous they can be.

When they discover a terrorist plot, it thrusts them into a world of danger and deception as they try to uncover what really happened while they fight to stay alive.

4. Memory Man

What would you do if you lost everything?

Memory Man explores the depth of despair that can consume someone who has nothing left and how they can claw their way back.

Amos Decker loses everything when his family is murdered. Left with nothing but his extraordinary memory, caused by a sporting injury, he takes odd jobs as a private inspector.

When a tragic event strikes his town, he is the only one who can solve the puzzle, and it forced him to confront his past in his quest for answers…. and revenge.

5. A Long Road To Mercy

The first book in the Atlee Pine series, A Long Road to Mercy introduces us to FBI agent Atlee Pine.

Haunted by the violent kidnapping of her twin sister when she was 6 years old, Atlee has dedicated her life to chasing criminals. On assignment in the remote wilderness of the Grand Canyon, she never imagines that she would fight to save the country that she loves.

Having to decide between her career and her sense of justice, Atlee chases the demons from her past while trying to protect her future.

6. A Minute to Midnight

This second installment in the Atlee Pine series is just as gripping as the first book. We pick up with Atlee and her assistant as they travel to her rural hometown in Georgie in search of answers.

Still obsessed with the disappearance of her twin sister 30 years earlier, Pine searches for clues that could help her find answers to that fateful night.

What she doesn’t realize, is that while she searches the past for a killer, a new danger is lurking. When ritualistic murders have the town spooked, Pine will have to dig deeper into the past to protect those around her.

But sometimes the past can be more dangerous as Pine discovers.

7. Daylight

On sabbatical from the FBI to try to wrap up the case of her missing sister, Atlee Pine is as determined as ever in the third installment in the series.

Finally, finding a solid lead, she travels with her assistant to New Jersey, where she unwittingly steps into an active case. Working with John Puller, she follows the trail to the man she believes is responsible for her sister’s kidnapping.

But when bodies start piling up, Pine realizes she has become a target as she works to uncover a conspiracy that reaches beyond her sister, to the heart of the military and the government.

8. The Innocent

Will Robie is an assassin working for a three-letter agency in The Innocent. He is very good at his job until the day he refuses a hit.

Suddenly on the run for his life, he meets 14-year-old runaway Julie. She witnessed the murder of her parents and is being hunted by their killer.

When the bus they were both on explodes just after they get off, they don’t know who the bomb was meant for. Breaking all his rules, Robie keeps Julie with him as they fight to survive and uncover the conspiracy threatening both their lives.

9. The Hit

If you couldn’t get enough of Robie in The Innocent, then you will love the second installment in the series, The Hit.

With a complex storyline, this book finds Will Robie hunting down one of his own. When he is told that another agent, Jessica Reel, has gone rogue, they call him in to take her out.

When Reel targets members of the CIA, Robie suspects that there is a bigger problem at play. The more Robie learns the more frightening the global implications are, as he is caught in a cat-and-mouse game with deadly consequences.

10. A Gambling Man

A Gambling Man continues the story of Aloysius Archer after his dangerous encounter with Poca City.

Archer is on his way to California to start a new life with a PI. When his bus makes an overnight stop in Reno, his carefully laid plans begin to unravel. After winning some money, a car, a traveling companion, and made a few enemies, Archer arrives in California.

He is put immediately to work and finds himself embroiled in a deadly scandal that takes him into the underbelly of California. Drug rings, brothels, secrets, and corruption abound as Archer tries to survive the would-be paradise.

11. Deliver Us From Evil

In Deliver Us From Evil, Bill Shaw is on the trail of Evan Waller. As far as villains go, this one is as bad as they get.

Making his money from mass murder and human trafficking, he is now looking at selling nuclear weapons to Muslim extremists. But Shaw is determined to stop him and follows him to Provence.

Little does he know that someone else is after Waller as well. Reggie Campion works for a vigilante group trying to bring down Waller.

Soon Shaw and Campion release that they will need to work together not only to catch Waller but to survive.

12. Zero Day

Based on CID investigator, John Puller, Zero Day is another hit from David Baldacci. When a Defence Intelligence Agency officer and his family are murdered, they assign Puller the case.

Already suspicious that he is the only agent sent to the small town of Drake, Puller works with local detective Samantha Cole to solve the gruesome murders. When another three bodies turn up, Puller and Cole are led to believe that terrorism is involved.

But there is more to the story than that, and as they delve deeper into the murders, they uncover a plot that could leave millions dead, including them.

13. The Last Mile

If you loved Memory Man and Amos Decker, then The Last Mile will have you riveted. Picking up with Decker’s story, he is on a special FBI team, making use of his incredible gift.

When Melvin Mars is falsely imprisoned for the murder of his parents and put on death row, he thinks his life is over. But minutes before his execution, someone else confesses to the crime.

Finding frightening parallels between his life and Mars, Decker convinces his team to take on the case and investigate who the new killer is. As they delve deeper into the past, they come up against conflict, bigotry, and danger that could have tragic consequences.

14. Split Second

When secret service agent Sean King fails in his duty to protect a presidential candidate, his career is destroyed.

8 years later, Michelle Maxwell has a similar situation when a presidential candidate is kidnapped on her watch. Determined to find him, Maxwell enlists the help of King, drawing on his previous experience.

After noting the similarities of their situations, King and Maxwell discover that there is a larger plan and their incidences are no accident.

With bodies piling up, King and Maxwell are in a race to reveal the truth before they can no longer.

15. Walk the Wire

Another book in the Amos Decker series Walk the Wire takes place in London, North Dakota. The small fracking town is a hotbed of corruption, deception, conflict, and greed.

When a woman’s body is discovered in the woods, already autopsied, Decker and his partner Alex Jamison are called in to investigate.

The plot thickens when the woman turns out to be a schoolteacher in the nearby religious community while also be a prostitute. The more Decker and Jamison discover about Irene Cramer, the more people die.

All of this happens under the weight of the nearby government facility and Decker and Jamison soon discover that the town of London, is more dangerous than they could have imagined.

So, if crime thrillers are your thing, then you should definitely try a David Baldacci novel

Filled with murder, mystery, deception, and political intrigue, David Baldacci’s books will have you turning the pages until late at night.

He weaves a spell that leaves readers hungry for more and rooting for their favorite flawed characters.

With his exceptional skill, Baldacci keeps readers guessing until the last pages, and the plot twists are exciting and dramatic.

What keeps readers on their toes is the fact that we live in a world murky with dirty cops, political scandals, and conspiracies. This makes Baldacci’s books more realistic and all the more terrifying.

Whether you are a seasoned crime thriller junkie or a newbie, just dipping your toes into the murky waters of conspiracies, David Baldacci is a must-read author.