Reviewed by Ian Lipke
The latest book by David Baldacci, Hope Rises, presents all that it promises. We are assured that the hero, FBI informant Walter Nash will tread into dangerous waters when he tangles with master criminal Victoria Steers. Under her direction the once gentle and sensitive Nash discovers he has a hidden, lethal side. His one goal is to remove Steers to prison. It will take every element of Nash’s skill to bring about the fall of the great beauty. Yet there are complications that involve feelings that neither enemy can control.
Nothing new is to be found in this scenario. If anything, this is a ho-hum story that offers little that is new. But in the hands of a writer like Baldacci, the commonplace becomes original. Abrupt swings in the unfolding plot catch the reader unprepared. A classic example is the execution of Lyn Rider by long-term friend and colleague Victoria Steers. This most unexpected murder focuses the reader’s attention on the malevolent evil of the gangster while unsettling characters like Nash in no uncertain manner.
Steers is a character it is difficult to warm to. When opportunities arise for her to show some human warmth, she rejects the opportunity. She takes every opportunity to stress that she is in command. Criminals in a previous life had administered horrific physical injuries to her arm and back. Despite her claims to not promote her wounds she ensures that others learn of them. Steers is at the head of a vast drug chain, effortlessly poisoning millions of innocent people across the world.
Perhaps the one unlikeable character who plays a leading role in the story is Victoria’s mother Masuyo. If in the annals of literature, the title of most significant criminal is given to Lady Macbeth, then Masuyo is a strong and vicious competitor. The woman breathes evil with every breath she takes. Gangsters, such as Lord, with his drug running enterprise may be as bad but is not developed to the extent that Masuyo is.
The main ‘good’ character is the character Walter Nash, now travelling under the name Dillon Hope. The assumption is made, and the villain Victoria Steers subsequently confirms, that Nash has caused trouble to Steers in the past. If she were to identify him under his real name, he would be liquidated. Nash’s persona is developed to balance that of Steers. He is as strong as she is. Noteworthy is his taking care of the servant Thura who, begins penniless in Burma but finds success in the USA.
One of the giant turnarounds takes place to conclude the book. Here we are told that so many events we had witnessed did not, in fact, occur as first described. Lorna Ryder turns up healthy and well; Victoria has shed her drug supplying such that a difference is noticeable in the US economy; Victoria sells her business for $1, and so on. So abrupt is the turn around that reviewers can be forgiven for looking for alternative explanations. I find the changes unacceptable.
The book begins as a fine piece of work, it develops as such. It fails with its conclusion.
Hope Rises
(2026)
by David Baldacci
Macmillan
ISBN: 978-1037400421
$34.99;446pp